US Supreme Court says Pa. school wrong to suspend cheerleader over obscene post

FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHT UPHELD

TO SAY FUCK ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Brandi Levy, who was upset that she didn't advance from the junior varsity to the varsity cheerleading squad, was punished by her school after sending a profane Snapchat to 250 friends while she was hanging out at a local convenience store on a Saturday in 2017. Photo by Danna Singer/via ACLU

June 23 (UPI) -- In a key freedom of speech case, the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled in favor of a former Pennsylvania cheerleader who sued her high school when she lost her spot on the squad over an obscene social media post.

In the 8-1 ruling, the high court decided that Mahanoy Area High School was wrong when it suspended Brandi Levy over the social post. Levy was 14 at the time and made the post, while off-campus, in a fit of anger over not making the school's varsity cheer squad.

After Levy made the post, as a freshman in 2017, Mahanoy coaches decided that she'd broken team rules that required her to show respect for others.

Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled the school's actions to suspend her from the junior varsity team for a year violated Levy's First Amendment rights.

RELATEDCheerleader's profane Snapchat could define free speech off-campus

The justices considered whether a 1969 decision that allowed public schools to regulate certain speech applied to this case, since Levy's post occurred away from the school.

"Off-campus speech will normally fall within the zone of parental, rather than school-related responsibility," Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the majority.

"From the student speaker's perspective, regulations of off-campus speech, when coupled with regulations of on-campus speech, include all the speech a student utters during the full 24-hour day," he added. "That means courts must bemore skeptical of a school's efforts to regulate off-campus speech, for doing so may mean the student cannot engage in that kind of speech at all.

RELATEDSenate Republicans block voting rights act in 50-50 vote

"When it comes to political or religious speech that occurs outside school or a school program or activity, the school will have a heavy burden to justify intervention."

The court also called public schools in the United States "nurseries of democracy."

Another point made by the high court ruling is that Levy's post didn't identify the school or target anyone with vulgar language and was only circulated among Levy's social followed

The lone dissenting justice was Clarence Thomas.

"Using broad brushstrokes, the majority outlines the scope of school authority. When students are on campus, the majority says, schools have authority in loco parentis -- that is, as substitutes of parents -- to discipline speech and conduct," he wrote.

"Off campus, the authority of schools is somewhat less. At that level of generality, I agree. But the majority omits important detail. What authority does a school have when it operates in loco parentis? How much less authority do schools have over off-campus speech and conduct? And how does a court decide if speech is on or off campus?"

Lower appellate courts sided with Levy, which led to her reinstatement on the Mahanoy cheer team. The school district appealed those rulings to the Supreme Court.

LET A THOUSAND CONSPRACIES BLOOM
Antivirus creator John McAfee found dead in Spanish prison cell

By Daniel Uria
JUNE 23, 2021 / 5:17 PM

McAfee antivirus founder John McAfee was found dead in a prison cell in Spain while awaiting extradition to the United States, authorities said Wednesday. File Photo by Saul Martinez/EPA


June 23 (UPI) -- Antivirus company founder John McAfee was found dead in a Spanish prison cell on Wednesday after he was ordered to be extradited to the United States on charges of tax fraud.

Authorities said they believe McAfee,75, died by suicide in his cell at a prison in Spain's Catalonia region, El Diario reported.

Pending an autopsy, police had not found any evidence of criminality connected to McAfee's death, El Pais reported.

The software mogul's death came after a Spanish court ruled that he was to be extradited to the United States where he faces charges of tax evasion and willful failure to file tax returns for failing to pay taxes from 2014 to 2018 despite earning millions from promoting cryptocurrencies, consulting work, speaking engagements and selling the rights to his life story for a documentary.

McAfee and his associate, Jimmy Gale Watson, have also been charged with conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy for plots to fraudulently promote cryptocurrencies qualifying under federal law as commodities or securities.

In his final tweet last week, McAfee denied hiding cryptocurrencies.

"The U.S. believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association," he wrote.

The US believes I have hidden crypto. I wish I did but it has dissolved through the many hands of Team McAfee (your belief is not required), and my remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association.
I have nothing.
Yet, I regret nothing.— John McAfee (@officialmcafee) June 16, 2021

McAfee founded the antivirus software company, McAfee, in the 1980s and it was later purchased by Intel with him no longer associated in the country.

In 2012, he was reported fleeing his home in Belize after authorities sought to question him as a person of interest in the death of his neighbor.

He also filed paperwork to run for president in the United States in 2015

Michelangelo's statues cleaned with 

flesh-eating bacteria

Alexandra Larkin
Tue, June 22, 2021

Nearly 500 years ago, Duke Alessandro de Medici was lured with the promise of spending the night with a beautiful widow, but instead met the end of a knife from an assassin — hired by his cousin — who stabbed him to death. The ruler of Florence's body was placed in his father's tomb.

Now? He's leaking.

Italian art historians and restorers noticed in 2019 that the marble statues in the Medici Chapel, which was commissioned entirely by Michelangelo, were starting to appear dirtier than usual. Staining had been recorded as early as 1595, but the tools to remove it didn't exist then.

In November 2019, Italy's National Research Council figured out what was behind the grime: Bodily fluids leaking from the improperly embalmed corpse of Alessandro de Medici, along with other compounds accumulated over time from glue and plaster. Alessandro's fluids had seeped into the statues of Dusk and Dawn that adorned his father's tomb.

Anna Rosa Sprocati, a biologist at the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, hand-picked from her catalog of more than 1,000 bacteria to test against the stains. They had successes and failures, with some of the bacteria eating not just the human remains, but the delicate Carrera marble, too. But the chapel's museum believed that bacteria would be more effective than harsh chemicals or abrasives.

One of the statues stained by Alessandro de Medici's improperly embalmed corpse, before its bacterial bath. / Credit: Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images

Sprocati's all-female team picked the eight most promising bacteria and tested them on a gridded section behind the altar of the church. The ones that worked were then put on the tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo, specifically the statues of Night and Day. The bacteria successfully cleaned Night's hair and eyes of accumulated residue.

After a brief pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the team released their best flesh-eating bacteria, Serratia ficaria SH7, by way of a microbial gel onto the tomb that was becoming stained. There were even button-shaped deformations.

"SH7 ate Alessandro," Monica Bietti, the Medici Chapels Museum's former director, told The New York Times.

"It ate the whole night," said restorer Marina Vincenti, according to the news outlet.

Visitors can book tickets to the Medici Chapel online.

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Save Michelangelo Sculptures From Destruction

Michael Walsh
Thu, June 24, 2021

Michelangelo
Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet (1475-1564)


“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” That’s how the great Michelangelo described his process of turning stone slabs into stunning works of art. That approach clearly worked for him. His impossibly long list of masterpieces includes “The David” and “La Pietà.”

But some of his sculptures involved more than just freeing the work within. They involved putting someone’s remains inside of them. Like his tomb where Florence’s Duke Alessandro de Medici rests. Which caused a problem even a brilliant mind like Michelangelo couldn’t foresee. Alessandro’s remains threatened to destroy the memorial the famed artist built for the Duke’s family.

That was until flesh-eating bacteria came to the tomb’s rescue.

A marble tomb from Michelangelo, with a seat sculpture above and two statues lying down on a tomb below.

CBS News reports (in a story we first heard about at DesignTAXI) on the ingenious, all-natural way Italian authorities saved one of Michelangelo’s works from decay. Duke Alessandro’s family interred him in the Medici Chapel. He’s buried in the tomb of his father, a piece sculpted by the Renaissance master. In 2019 historians and restorers recognized the tomb was much dirtier than normal. Later that year Italy’s National Research Council identified the culprit responsible: a leaky Duke Alessandro.

It turns out his body had not been properly embalmed. So, a mixture of bodily fluids and compounds of glue and plaster applied to the tomb over the last 500 years was responsible for the stains accumulating on the two statues below Alessandro’s body. Those of Michelangelo’s sculptures of Dusk and Dawn.

The curators of the chapel believed harsh chemicals and abrasives would damage the marble. Instead, they turned to biologist Anna Rosa Sprocati of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies. Forget cleaning the damage. They’d solve the problem at the source. Sprocati and her team searched through more than 1,000 bacteria to use against the issue. That involved plenty of trial and error. Some of the bacteria they tested ate both the stains and marble.

Finally, they settled on Serratia ficaria SH7, a flesh-eating bacteria. Using a microbial gel to apply it, the bacteria did the job both efficiently and thoroughly. The flesh-eating organism finished its, ahem, meal in a single night.

Michelangelo believed his sculptures already existed inside a slab of marble. He merely had to free them. In a strange way, his chisel worked the same way as this flesh-eating bacteria. Each eliminated all the parts the sculpture didn’t need.

The post Flesh-Eating Bacteria Save Michelangelo Sculptures From Destruction appeared first on Nerdist

From rewilding to plant-based diets: What we must do to tackle the climate and nature crises together

Daisy Dunne explores a major scientific report on how governments and citizens can help halt the destruction of the planet

Thursday 10 June 2021 

Animal agriculture emits 10 to 100 times more greenhouse gases per unit product than plant-based food, scientists say
(Getty Images)

Humans and livestock account for nearly 96 per cent of the mammals on the planet. That is just one of many staggering statistics included in a major report from more than 50 of the world’s leading climate and nature scientists.

The peer-reviewed analysis warns that global temperatures are already up by more than 1C since the start of industrialisation, while more species are at risk of extinction now than at any other time in human history.


The report, the first collaboration from the UN authorities on the climate crisis and biodiversity loss, argues that both issues must be tackled together to be successfully solved.


Within its list of 41 recommendations, the report points to a range of potential “win-win” solutions that offer promise for tackling both temperature rise and nature decline. Below, The Independent explores some of the options.
Recommended

World will fail unless climate and nature crises are tackled together, says major report

Plant-based diets

The world’s food system accounts for around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions, the report says. Farming is also a major driver of wildlife loss, with a recent study finding that 17,000 species are set to lose at least part of their habitat if agricultural expansion goes on uncurbed.

Animal agriculture – particularly beef production – is particularly polluting. The main reason for this is because cows and sheep are “ruminants” – meaning they belch out large amounts of the greenhouse gas methane when digesting food. In addition, livestock production requires large amounts of forested land to be cleared to create space for grazing cattle or to grow animal feed, which causes further greenhouse gas emissions to be released.

The report recommends that rich countries switch to plant-based diets, containing more fruit and vegetables and less meat and dairy, to help to tackle the climate crisis and biodiversity loss.

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“Our management of the land is not good for either the climate or biodiversity,” said Professor Pete Smith, report author and chair of plant and soil science at the University of Aberdeen.

“Animal agriculture not only emits 10 to 100 times more greenhouse gases per unit product than plant-based food, it also uses 10 to 100 times more land. So a shift toward more plant-based diets would reduce the pressure on land, meaning farming could be done in a more environmentally friendly way.”

The extent to which people should cut back on meat varies from country to country, he said. In the UK, meat eating must fall by 10 per cent by 2025 and 35 per cent by 2050 if the country is to meet its climate goals, according to its independent climate advisers.

Prof Smith added that switching to more sustainable agricultural practices, such as including trees in cropland and taking care to replenish soils, could also play a role in minimising the environmental impact of the food system.

Rewilding

One of the most important ways the world can tackle the climate and nature crises is by halting the destruction of carbon-rich and biodiverse ecosystems, the report says.


Around 77 per cent of the world’s land and 87 per cent of its oceans have been degraded by humans – putting more species at risk of extinction than at any other time in human history, according to the research.

The assault on natural spaces is also a major driver of the climate crisis, with the clearing of forests and other carbon-rich ecosystems causing long-held stores of CO2 to be released into the atmosphere.

But in addition to stopping the destruction of ecosystems, humans must go further by rewilding and restoring degraded land and ocean environments, the report authors say.

Rewilding damaged landscapes could help to remove CO2 from the atmosphere while providing more space for nature, said Prof Camille Parmesan, a report author and ecologist at Plymouth University

.
White storks are one of several species benefiting from rewilding in England
(Getty Images)

“We cannot avoid dangerous climate change without sucking up some of the carbon we’ve already put into the atmosphere,” she said.

“At this point reducing emissions is essential, but not enough, and the best way to suck up carbon is to use the power of plants.”

In the UK, protecting and restoring the country’s carbon-rich peatlands could deliver a “win-win” for the climate and nature, said Prof Smith.

“The big-ticket option in the UK is peatlands, particularly in the north and west of the country where we have large areas of peatlands – over 80 per cent of which are in relatively poor condition, they’ve been drained for grazing or otherwise mismanaged,” he said.

“They emit huge amounts of carbon. A degraded peatland can be emitting over 30 tonnes of CO2 per hectare per year. To put that in context, an average family car emits about four tonnes of CO2 a year.”

“Switching off that big source of emissions is something that is really important and really good for biodiversity.”

Combining nature and technology

Pursuing solutions that combine natural techniques with new technologies could also offer promise for the climate and wildlife, the report says.

One way this could be achieved is by combining technologies to produce renewable electricity with natural ways of restoring the land, the scientists say in their report.

“The combination of nature-based and technology-based climate change solutions on land and at sea is in its infancy but may provide co-benefits for climate and biodiversity,” the report reads.

“For example, [cattle] grazing underneath solar panels can enhance soil carbon stocks, and grazing as well as cropping associated with solar farms could provide food.”

In addition, city planners should prioritise building “green infrastructure” that aims to tackle the climate crisis while providing space for nature in urban areas, the report adds.

“Urban greening, including the creation of urban parks, green roofs and urban gardens, reduces [heat], enhances urban biodiversity and improves quality of life including physical and mental well-being,” it says.


 Comments

SU
SunnyUplands

13 days ago
It's a consciousness awkening and it's humanities only hope for a tolerable future. The animal slaves and the planet's ecosystems are suffering in a human created hell


My Name Is Private

13 days ago

The selfish bacon-munching, 4x4 driving, Tory-voting horde of philistines will not change their greedy lifestyles one iota to save the planet; they don't care about anything and anyone beyond their garden gate, the rest of us can go to hell and it just adds to news items for their amusement. Not until there is no NHS, their home floods or burns, no police come when they are robbed or burgled, they get red-meat-induced cancer will they give a damn...and then only about the impact on themselves. 'Tis pointless attempting to educate or persuade them; look at the ignorance of Johnson, Trump, Bolsanero et al for their modus operandi.

Feral capitalism and its mendacious self-obsessed children are going to be the death of everything. The best way to go forward is not to have any children...why inflict the coming suffering on a new generation?

The only way to win is not to play.

LE
LeeBlue

13 days ago
Sure ! All great ideas to better things !

But , a massive but !

Until the likes of Trump and Johnson ,( I use those two names as the epitomy of greedy capitalism, there are of course many more, and it runs very deep in all societies to the point of creating divisiveness in the extreme ) and the "system" that is continually in search of the "Holy Grail" of "Growth"!

Until this is extinguished,there is absolutely no hope for the human race or this planet, as we know it today !

How can it be expected of the lumpenproletariat, to change their habits of eating and regard for the Planet,in order to bring about change, when their so called leaders , and their entire "machinations", promote excessive wealth, excessive consumption, and as we have seen during this pandemic, excessive "wanting" of foreign travel, Pubs ,Restaurant's and Entertainment for the masses ,using all sorts of pollutantsi.e. mass travel,mass events,mass everything, to accomplish the need for profit !

The circle of greed must be broken from the top down . . . and lead by example !

SEE

BEASTS OF BURDEN ANTANGONISM/LIBCOM

Mongooses rear young in a ‘fair society’, solving inequality problems, research reveals

Unique ‘veil of ignorance’ means mongoose parents treat all offspring in a group equally

Harry Cockburn
Environment Correspondent

Mongooses rear young in ‘a fair society’ solving inequality problems, research reveals

Mongooses are considered remarkable among small mammals due to their ability to carry out audacious attacks on highly venomous snakes and emerge victorious, but new research reveals the carnivorous species is also unusually egalitarian.

COMMUNIST SOCIETY
A “fair society” has evolved among banded mongooses because mothers within groups of mongooses all give birth on the same night, and as a result, parents don’t know which pups are their own and which were born to other parents.

This characteristic creates a “veil of ignorance” over parentage in the communal creche of pups.

In the new study, which was led by the universities of Exeter and Roehampton, half of the pregnant mothers in wild mongoose groups in Uganda were regularly given extra food, leading to increased inequality in the birth weight of pups.


But after giving birth, the researchers found that well-fed mothers gave extra care to the smaller pups born to the unfed mothers – rather than their own pups – and the pup size differences quickly disappeared.

Dr Harry Marshall, of the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Roehampton, said: “In most of the natural world, parents favour their own young.

“However, in banded mongooses, the evolution of remarkable birth synchrony has led to the unusual situation that mothers don’t know which pups are their own, and therefore cannot choose to give them extra care.

“Our study shows that this ignorance leads to a fairer allocation of resources – in effect, a fairer society.”


The study examined seven groups of banded mongooses. Half of the pregnant females in each group were given 50g of cooked egg each day, while the other half were not given extra food.

Inequality at birth (measured by weight) was wider in breeding periods when food was provided than in periods when no extra food was given.

Professor Michael Cant, of the University of Exeter, said: “We predicted that a ‘veil of ignorance’ would cause females to focus their care on the pups most in need – and this is what we found.

“Those most able to help offer it to the most needy, and in doing so minimise the risk that their own offspring will face a disadvantage.


“This redistributive form of care ‘levelled up’ initial size disparities, and equalised the chances of pups surviving to adulthood.

“Our results suggest that the veil of ignorance, a classic philosophical idea to achieve fairness in human societies, also applies in this non-human society.”

The authors told The Independent the findings were a “big reveal”, and despite the hypothesis the results could easily have shown the animals were not acting fairly.

“We didn’t know whose pups were whose until we got the results of the genetic analyses back, long after we had collected all the behavioural data, so it was a big reveal for us,” Dr Marshall and Professor Cant said.

“We were really pleasantly surprised as it supported the idea that ignorance over personal gain promotes fairness in societies, but equally you could have imagined it going the other way, and the pups who had a head start in life continuing to do better, with the gap between them and the poorer-condition pups continuing to widen.”

They said humans could learn from the mongooses’ unique form of social contract, albeit not from treating their young in quite the same manner.

Asked if humans should consider mixing up all the newborn babies and redistributing them, as in the mongoose creche, Dr Marshall and Professor Cant instead provided an existing example of how humans can gain benefits through imposing a veil of ignorance within certain frameworks.

They said: “We are definitely not advocating mixing up newborn babies. Mongooses have simply naturally evolved an offspring care system where adults do not whose pup is whose in the communal group litter. This allowed us to test the idea that ignorance over an individual’s personal gain promotes fairness in their decision-making (that is, a more equal distribution of resources).

“This is a longstanding idea, dubbed the ‘veil of ignorance’ in moral philosophy. A nice modern-day example that illustrates it is that it used to be common practice, for this reason, for US presidents to place their assets into blind trusts, so that they could make decisions for the good of the country rather than themselves.”

The research is published in the journal Nature Communications.

GOOD NEWS

Australia mouse plague: ‘Napalm’ will not be used to tackle rodents over wider wildlife concern

Harry Cockburn
Wed, June 23, 2021,

Mouse plague already lasting nine months is thought to have caused $1bn of damage (Reuters)

Despite fears Australia’s months-long mouse plague has already caused over $1bn in losses, deploying poison dubbed “napalm for mice” is not a solution, a government agency has said.

Last month the New South Wales government made an urgent application to use the controversial poison bromadiolone*** in the continuing battle against the millions of mice causing widespread agricultural devastation, and impacting people in the state.

But the application has been rejected by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA), which it said was due to safety and environmental concerns.


The array of poisons already used to eradicate the biblical tides of mice – an invasive species in Australia – have already harmed native species, including birds such as galahs and pigeons, as well as fish.

The use of more powerful poisons has raised concerns over the build up of toxins in the food chain, which could impact humans.

NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall said the state government had sought approval for the controversial poison as part of a $50m effort to help rid farmers of the mice.

“It’ll be the equivalent of napalming mice across rural NSW,” he said last month.

Responding to the APVMA’s ruling, Mr Marshall said he was “disappointed”, but would respect the decision.

APVMA chief executive Lisa Croft said. “Before the APVMA is able to approve any application, we must be certain that it is safe, that it will work, and that it will not prevent our farmers from selling their produce overseas,"

“The APVMA’s primary concern is environmental safety, particularly in relation to animals that eat mice.

“Although the APVMA intends to refuse this particular application, we have approved six other emergency applications to give farmers extra mouse control options,” she said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The mouse explosion, which started nine months ago, has been driven by a long dry run of years followed by spells of wet weather which have provided ample food for them, fuelling their fast reproductive cycle.

This week the mice caused the evacuation of 420 prisoners from a jail in New South Wales, after thousands of mice chewed through ceilings and wiring, cutting out electricity and causing appalling smells after their dead bodies began rotting in wall cavities.

Mice have only been in Australia for around 250 years – brought by British ships – but have since gone on to multiply and multiply due to the lack of natural predators and an enormous boom in farming during the 20th century.

***Bromadiolone General Fact Sheet

http://npic.orst.edu › factsheets › bromadgen

Bromadiolone is a rodenticide meant to kill rats and mice. Anticoagulants like bromadiolone work by preventing the blood from clotting. Unlike some other rat ...

‎What are some products... · ‎What are some signs and... · ‎What happens to...

NSW plan to use ‘napalm’ poison to control mouse plague rejected over fears for wildlife

Pesticides regulator says it has concerns about the effects of bromadiolone on animals that eat mice

A mice plague has ravaged parts of regional NSW. A plan to use bromadiolone to control their numbers has been rejected by the regulator. Photograph: Rick Rycroft/AP

Graham Readfearn
@readfearn

THE GUARDIAN
Wed 23 Jun 2021 08.38 BST

The national pesticides regulator has refused a request from the New South Wales government to allow farmers to use a rodent poison described as “napalm for mice” around crops to battle the devastating mouse plague.

Conservationists had warned the use of bromadiolone would have devastating affects on native species in the central west and put endangered birds at risk.

The blood-thinning chemical– part of a class of poisons called second generation anticoagulant rodenticides (SGARs) – is known to stay active for months and can pass through the food chain, causing secondary poisoning of animals that eat the dead and dying.

The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority wrote to the NSW Department of Primary Industries on Wednesday to say its two emergency permit applications to use the poison, submitted in May, would be declined.

APVMA chief executive Lisa Croft said: “The APVMA’s primary concern is environmental safety, particularly in relation to animals that eat mice.


Powerful owl deaths fuel concerns mouse poison is spreading through food chain

“Before the APVMA is able to approve any application, we must be certain that it is safe, that it will work, and that it will not prevent our farmers from selling their produce overseas.”

The authority has approved six other emergency permit applications to use zinc phosphide, which can still harm wildlife but does not have the same long-lasting affects.

Bromadiolone is only approved for use in and around buildings and, like other SGARs, is widely available to the public.

But there is emerging evidence in Australia that their widespread use is having negative affects on native wildlife, including owl and threatened eagle populations.

Scientists and conservationists had feared a broad release of bromadiolone to control the mouse plague could have devastated populations of the threatened superb parrot.

The APVMA has given the state 28 days to respond, but the NSW agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, said he accepted the decision.

“The APVMA was extremely diligent in its consideration of our request and despite being disappointed [at] not getting the outcome we wanted for the state’s farmers, they are the independent regulator and we accept the umpire’s decision.”

The NSW government had secured a supply of 10,000 litres of bromadiolone and Marshall said in May it would be “the equivalent of napalming mice across rural NSW.”

He said on Wednesday: “Resources that were to be used to distribute bromadiolone will now be redeployed to support the other key support measures.”

In a statement, NSW Farmers Association vice president Xavier Martin said the association supported the APVMA’s decision and said his members had concerns about the risks of using the poison.

The boom in the non-native mice has devastated crops and grain, and caused damage to homes, buildings and machinery. There have been reports of a stench of mouse urine, of dead mice and of the rodents flooding homes and biting children and crawling over people in their sleep.


Australia’s mouse plague: six months ago it was war, now whole towns have accepted their presence

Martin said a cold snap had “slowed activity down, particularly in the central west region” and while farmers were reporting a fall in mice numbers in the north-west region and Riverina, “many are still baiting and are concerned about a return to plague proportions in spring”.


BirdLife Australia is campaigning to stop SGRs being sold to the general public and had asked the APVMA to block the permits.

Holly Parsons of BirdLife Australia welcomed the decision, adding: “We still have concerns about the impacts that second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides have on our wildlife but are glad that such a mass quantity has been stopped from entering our agricultural and natural food chains.”

The NSW Environment Protection Authority has said previously that some bird deaths reported in the central west region had been caused by zinc phosphide, but there were no reports of poisons being misused.

Parsons added: “We note the six additional permits to distribute zinc phosphide, and call again on the APVMA to implement additional monitoring of potential impacts to wildlife from this chemical.”

Marshall said the government had allocated $150m to give farmers a 50% discount on zinc phosphide purchases.

Regional households can also claim rebates of up to $500 for mouse bait, traps and cleaning products and small businesses can claim up to $1,000.

Biden mocked gun-rights advocates who say they need assault weapons to fight the government: 'You need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons'

                                            A -10 WILL DO THANK YOU

Sinéad Baker
Thu, June 24, 2021

Biden joked about people who say they need to own weapons to "take on the government."


He said people would need "F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons" to do so.


In the speech, Biden outlined his administration's plan to tackle gun violence in the US.


President Joe Biden joked that people who think they needed guns to take on the US government would actually need nuclear weapons.

In a speech outlining his plan to combat gun violence on Wednesday, Biden said: "If you wanted or if you think you need to have weapons to take on the government, you need F-15s and maybe some nuclear weapons."

Watch part of the speech here:

Biden also said there had always been limits on what kinds of weapons people could legally own: "The Second Amendment, from the day it was passed, limited the type of people who could own a gun and what type of weapon you could own. You couldn't buy a cannon."

"The point is that there has always been the ability to limit - rationally limit the type of weapon that can be owned and who can own it."

Biden also said his administration would adopt a "zero tolerance" approach toward gun dealers who violate existing law. The president has long pushed for gun control legislation, including a ban on assault weapons.

BOURGEOIS SCOTUS DEFENDS PRIVATE  PROPERTY

Supreme Court rules California farms can keep union organizers off private land

David G. Savage
Wed, June 23, 2021


Cesar Chavez speaks in 1971 in Los Angeles. (Los Angeles Times)

The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down part of a historic California law inspired by Cesar Chavez and the farm workers union, ruling that agricultural landowners and food processors have a right to keep union organizers off their property.

The justices by a 6-3 vote said the state's "right of access" rule violates property rights protected by the Constitution, which states private property shall not be "taken for public use without just compensation."

Writing for the court, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said "the access regulation is not germane to any benefit provided to agricultural employers or any risk posed to the public...The access regulation grants labor organizations a right to invade the growers’ property. It therefore constitutes a per se physical taking," he wrote in Cedar Point Nursery vs. Hassid.


He cited as precedents a pair of California cases. One ruled for the owner of a beachfront home in Ventura who objected to giving the public access to the shore and a second from 2015 which ruled for a grape grower from Fresno who objected to giving his grapes to a government-sponsored cooperative.

"The upshot of this line of precedent is that government-authorized invasions of property — whether by plane, boat, cable, or beachcomber — are physical takings requiring just compensation," Roberts said.

The three liberal justices dissented. They described the rule as a regulation, not a taking of property.

The California Legislature in 1975 became the first in the nation to extend collective bargaining rights to farm workers. Months later, a new agricultural labor board adopted the “right of access” rule to allow organizers to seek out those who were working on farmland.

Earlier this year, the state's lawyers said the rule was still needed because farm laborers often worked in remote areas and were not fully aware of their rights to join a union.

It has come under attack in recent years by agribusinesses that have called it a “union trespassing” rule that violates their property rights.

A lawyer for the Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the farm owners, cheered the ruling as "a huge victory for property rights." It "affirms that one of the most fundamental aspects of property is the right to decide who can and can’t access your property," said Joshua Thompson, a senior attorney for the group, based in Arlington, Va..

Karla Walter, a director of employment policy for the liberal Center for American Progress, called it a major setback for union organizing.

"Today the Supreme Court’s conservative majority overturned nearly a half-century of progress for California’s farm workers, who have struggled to exercise their right to bargain for decent wages and to protect their health and safety," she said. "Reaching farm workers — the overwhelming majority of whom are Latinx and migrant workers — where they work is critical to protecting their rights and interests."

The case decided Wednesday began in 2015. The owners of the Fowler Packing Co. in Fresno, which produces grapes and citrus fruit, refused to allow union organizers onto their property.

A few months later, union organizers entered a strawberry packing plant near the Oregon border and disrupted the work, according to Mike Fahner, owner of the Cedar Point Nursery.

The two companies then joined in a lawsuit seeking to have the California union access regulation declared unconstitutional. They lost before a federal judge and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, but the Supreme Court voted to hear their appeal.

Lawyers for the Pacific Legal Foundation representing the farm owners argued the Constitution "forbids the government from requiring you to allow unwanted strangers on to your property."

In defense of the rule, California officials called it a temporary regulation of property, not a taking of the grower's land. Union organizers may enter a farm for one hour before the start of the workday or for an hour at the end of the day.

The state's lawyers said the rule is similar to federal and state laws that allow meat and poultry inspectors to go into packing plants or health and safety inspectors to visit warehouses, manufacturing plants or construction sites.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

PROPERTY IS THEFT

WHAT IS PROPERTY PIERRE PROUDHON

 

Clues to how birds migrate using Earth's magnetic field

Helen Briggs - BBC Science correspondent

Wed, June 23, 2021,

Robin

The mystery of how birds migrate long distances over land and sea is a step closer to being cracked.

By studying robins, scientists have found clues to how birds sense the Earth's magnetic field.

Just as you might reach for a magnetic compass to find which way is north or south, birds are thought to have an in-built "living compass".

A chemical in the eye that is sensitive to magnetism could be proof of this theory, according to a new study.

Peter Hore, professor of chemistry at the University of Oxford, said it could be that birds can "see" the Earth's magnetic field, although we don't know that for sure.

"We think we may have identified the molecule that allows small migratory songbirds to detect the direction of the Earth's magnetic field, which they undoubtedly can do, and use that information to help them navigate when they migrate thousands of kilometres," he told BBC News.

• Birds migrate early as temperatures rise

• Storks shun migration for junk food

• Smelly clue to bird navigation skills

For decades, scientists have been investigating how animals such as birds, sea turtles, fish and insects sense the Earth's magnetic field and use it to find their way.

The robin tends to stay in the UK, but may migrate across the Channel or North Sea

The European robin is a stalwart of studies into the in-built "living compass" birds may use to orient themselves using the Earth's magnetic field.

One chemical contender is a molecule in the retina of the eye known as a cryptochrome.

The Oxford team studied a purified form of the molecule in the lab to see whether it was fit for purpose as a magnetic sensor. They found it had the ability to form pairs of "radicals" that have high magnetic sensitivity. A radical is an atom or molecule that is highly chemically reactive.

Prof Hore said the mechanism they have been investigating involves magnetically-sensitive chemical reactions initiated by light inside the bird's eyes - in their retinas, to be precise.

"It looks possible - and I would put it no stronger than that at the moment - that these highly-specialised chemical reactions could give the bird information about the direction of the Earth's magnetic field and in that way constitute a magnetic compass," he explained.

Domestic chickens have a different form of the chemical

It's thought that light striking the retina causes electrons to move within the cryptochrome molecule, triggering the production of a pair of short-lived high energy radicals, which act like microscopic magnets.

The scientists caution that there is more work to do before they can be sure of the correct mechanism and the correct molecule. But they're heartened by the fact that the molecule is more magnetically-sensitive in robins than in birds such as chickens, that don't migrate.

The robin is a familiar sight in many UK gardens, with most spending the winter in Britain.

But some robins do migrate, covering more than a hundred miles a night on migrations to warmer climes from Europe, Scandinavia and Russia.

The research is published in the journal Nature.

Follow Helen on Twitter.

Birds acting blind when approached, dying by hundreds. Scientists don't know why.




Deon J. Hampton
Tue, June 22, 2021


Hundreds of birds are dying without explanation in parts of the South and Midwest.

Wildlife experts in at least six states and Washington, D.C., have reported an increase in sick or dying birds in the past month. The most commonly afflicted birds are blue jays, common grackles and European starlings.

“We’re experiencing an unusual amount of bird mortality this year,” said Kate Slankard, an avian biologist with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “We have yet to figure out what the problem is. The condition seems to be pretty deadly.”

Symptoms include crusty or puffy eyes, neurological signs of seizures and an inability to stay balanced.

Experts said the birds have been behaving as if they are blind and exhibit other abnormalities, such as not flying away when people get close.

“They’ll just sit still, often kind of shaking,” Slankard said. “It’s pretty safe to say that hundreds of birds in the state have had this problem.”

In addition to Kentucky and D.C., Ohio, Indiana, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia have reported similar deaths, officials said.

“We’re all working together as a multistate group to try to figure out what’s going on,” Slankard said. “Diagnosing these problems is complex because several rounds of lab tests must be done.”

Some theories about what's causing the birds to become sick and die include a widespread infectious disease, the cicada outbreak and pesticides, said Laura Kearns, a wildlife biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife. She said hundreds of birds have been found dead in the state.

Indiana wildlife officials said there have been suspicious deaths of blue jays, robins, northern cardinals and brown-headed cowbirds in five counties. James Brindle, spokesman for the state's Department of Natural Resources, said birds there have tested negative for avian influenza and West Nile virus.

The bird specimens from Kentucky were sent to the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia for testing.

“This is probably a new issue,” Slankard said of what’s possibly causing the deaths.

In September, New Mexico wildlife experts said birds in the region were dropping dead at an alarming rate, potentially in the hundreds of thousands, NBC News reported.

Scientists were baffled by the deaths. Officials said they aren’t sure if the two events are related.

Wildlife experts are asking the public to report any suspicious bird deaths. They also urge bird lovers to remove their bird feeders since birds often exchange germs.

Bird feeders and baths should also be cleaned immediately with a 10 percent bleach solution, and people should avoid handling birds, officials said.

THIS IS GOOD ADVICE TO BE DONE REGULARLY 

(EVERY THREE MONTHS) OR AS REQUIRED DURING

NON INFECTION PERIODS 

Mystery illness strikes down birds across US south and midwest



Katharine Gammon

THE GUARDIAN
Thu, June 24, 2021, 


A mysterious illness is killing birds across several states in the south and midwestern US, and wildlife scientists are rushing to try to find the cause, with many victims suffering from crusty eyes, swollen faces and the inability to fly.

Wildlife managers in Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia first began receiving reports of sick and dying birds with eye swelling and crusty discharge, as well as neurological signs in late May, according to a statement from the US Geological Survey, which added: “No definitive cause of death is identified at this time.”

Related: Mass die-off of birds in south-western US 'caused by starvation'

In Kentucky, the department of fish and wildlife resources is asking the public to report encounters with sick and dead birds through a new online reporting system. They say the species affected thus far have included blue jays, common grackles and European starlings, but other species may also be affected. More than 20 samples have been sent out for testing.

In Ohio, the Ohio Wildlife Center posted on Facebook that it has been admitting songbirds with eye issues and is working with authorities to help determine what might be causing local birds to become sick. Indiana wildlife officials said they tested the birds for avian influenza and west Nile virus, and the samples came back negative.

According to the USGS, birds congregating at feeders and baths can transmit disease to one another. They recommend that people cease feeding birds until this mortality event has concluded, clean feeders and baths with a 10% bleach solution, and avoid handling birds.

While it’s not known if the mortality is linked to bird baths, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in April about a salmonella outbreak linked to wild songbirds across several states. The outbreak killed eight people.

In this new disease outbreak, people report that the birds are behaving as though they are blind, and are not avoiding humans.

According to a report from NBC News, wildlife biologist Laura Kearns of the Ohio division of wildlife has expressed that infectious disease, pesticides and even the cicada outbreak are suspects. Even cicadas have been plagued this year, with their 17-year waiting period interrupted by a fungus that alters their behavior and causes part of their body to rot away.

Bird mortality events are not all that uncommon. Last year, hundreds of migratory birds dropped dead in New Mexico in a massive die-off. After analyzing samples and testing theories, the New Mexico department of game and fish eventually concluded that the birds had died from starvation and unexpectedly bad weather.

“Migrating birds entered New Mexico in poor body condition and some birds were already succumbing to starvation,” the agency wrote. “The unusual winter storm exacerbated conditions, likely causing birds to become disoriented and fly into objects and buildings. Some were struck by vehicles and many landed on the ground where cold temperatures, ice, snow and predators killed them.”

According to a 2007 study, mass mortality events are often tied to weather.

This new disease-fueled die-off comes at a time when birds are facing unprecedented challenges. The US has lost more than a quarter of bird populations in just the last 50 years, according to a 2019 study. The study authors write: “This loss of bird abundance signals an urgent need to address threats to avert future avifaunal collapse and associated loss of ecosystem integrity, function, and services.”