BILLIONAIRE UNION BUSTER

SpaceX accused of unlawfully firing employees who were critical of Elon Musk

Associated Press
Fri, January 5, 2024 

A US labour agency has accused SpaceX of unlawfully firing employees who penned an open letter critical of CEO Elon Musk and creating an impression that worker activities were under surveillance by the rocket ship company.

A Los Angeles-based regional director for the US National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday filed a complaint that consolidates eight unfair labor practice charges against SpaceX.

The cases stem from the company's alleged actions following the circulation of the employees' letter back in June 2022.

Elon Musk urges people in developed countries to have more children

The letter, among other workplace concerns, called on executives to condemn Musk’s public behavior on X - the platform then-known as Twitter - and hold everyone accountable for unacceptable conduct.

Musk's actions included making light of sexual harassment allegations against him, which the billionaire denied.

"As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX - every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company," the open letter said at the time.

The letter also referred to Musk's actions as a "frequent source of distraction and embarrassment".

9 employees fired

A total of nine employees were soon terminated for their involvement in the letter, according to a November 2022 filing made on behalf of one of the employees to the NLRB, although only eight are included in Wednesday's complaint.

As our CEO and most prominent spokesperson, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX - every tweet that Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.

In addition to the firings, the complaint accuses SpaceX of interrogating other workers about the letter, announcing that employees were terminated for their participation in the letter and "inviting employees to quit if they disagreed with the behaviour of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk".

The complaint also alleges that some were shown screenshots of communications between employees about the letter, which "created an impression among [SpaceX's] employees that their protected concerted activities were under surveillance".

Reacting to the board's complaint, SpaceX sued the NLRB Thursday in federal court. The lawsuit says the NRLB is "unconstitutionally structured" and its action against the company "unlawful".

Addressing the board's complaint in its lawsuit, SpaceX lawyers say the employees' letter caused "significant distraction to SpaceX employees across the country".

SpaceX launches its giant new rocket but a pair of explosions ends the second test flight

It said the employees involved in the letter were fired for violating a number of company policies.

Space X did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' requests for comment on Thursday.

The Hawthorne, California, company has until mid-January to respond to the complaint, according to Wednesday's filing. The complaint marks the NLRB's first step towards litigating these allegations and seeking a settlement.

If a settlement isn't reached, a hearing is scheduled to begin on March 5 in Los Angeles.


SpaceX sues to stop US hearing over fired workers
AFP
Thu, January 4, 2024 

SpaceX employees fired after trying to get co-workers to sign an open letter critical of chief executive Elon Musk's social media behavior have gone to the US National Labor Relations Board with their complaint (Michael M. Santiago)

SpaceX on Thursday went to court to try to derail a US National Labor Relations Board hearing over complaints by workers who say they were fired for criticizing chief executive Elon Musk.

SpaceX argued that the structure of the regulatory board is unconstitutional and the hearing process violates the company's right to a jury trial, according to a copy of the complaint filed in a federal court in Texas.

The filing did not refute the notion that former workers whose complaints are at issue in the case were fired for asking colleagues to sign a letter critical of Musk's social media behavior.

"The Open Letter demanded that SpaceX take certain actions addressing perceived shortcomings" and linked to a survey, the filing contended.

A small group of SpaceX employees used the company's internal communication platform to send the open letter to thousands of colleagues in June of 2022, according to the complaint.

In the letter, SpaceX employees called on leadership at the company to address what they considered disparaging and inappropriate comments by Musk on what was then Twitter, since renamed X, according to US media.

Employees who were subsequently fired complained to the NLRB, accusing SpaceX of violating labor law.

Eight complaints deemed to have merit were consolidated by the NLRB this week. An administrative hearing is set for March 5.

SpaceX called on a federal court in Texas to stop the hearing from taking place and declare that the NLRB structure violates the Constitution.

gc/acb

SpaceX Files Long-Shot Lawsuit Claiming NLRB is Unconstitutional Entity

Alex Nguyen
Thu, January 4, 2024 

Joe Burbank/Getty

Just a day after the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint against SpaceX over what it alleges was the unlawful firing of eight workers who penned a 2022 open letter that condemned CEO Elon Musk for making light of allegations that he exposed himself and sexually propositioned an employee, the company countered on Thursday with a lawsuit of their own. It claimed that the National Labor Relations Board’s structure violates the “separation of powers” under the U.S. Constitution. “The NLRB proceedings against SpaceX deprive it of its constitutional right to trial by jury,” the latest lawsuit reads, according to Bloomberg. The company claimed the open letter “caused significant distraction to SpaceX employees around the country” and that it justifiably terminated workers “for violating numerous company policies.” According to Bloomberg, NLRB lawsuits are sent to judges within the federal government agency, and, if appealed, the cases go to federal court. SpaceX asserted that because these agency judges have no presidential oversight, the lawsuit against them should be blocked. The NLRB has set a trial for the fired SpaceX workers case for March 2024.

Musk's SpaceX seeks to blow up federal labor enforcer

Nick Niedzwiadek and Olivia Olander
Thu, January 4, 2024 

Lawyers for Elon Musk’s SpaceX alleged in a lawsuit Thursday that the National Labor Relations Board’s in-house courts are unconstitutional and the agency should be prohibited from taking enforcement actions against it.

The company has been embroiled in employment-related complaints with the NLRB and other federal agencies. If successful, the suit would immediately throw the NLRB’s authority to police the workplace into chaos and create a thorny political issue in an area that for decades has divided Congress.

The complaint, filed in the southern district of Texas, relies heavily on a case currently pending before the Supreme Court, Jarkesy v. SEC. The plaintiff in that case alleges agency tribunals infringe on the constitutional right to a jury trial in civil cases and if administrative law judges — as utilized by the NLRB and many other federal agencies — violate the constitution's separation of powers.

SpaceX also takes issue with the NLRB's five-member board itself, arguing that its members are too difficult for a president to remove despite the “substantial executive power” extended to them to carry out the National Labor Relations Act.

“The NLRB’s current way of functioning is miles away from the traditional understanding of the separation of powers,” the filing states.

Citing a Federalist Paper written by James Madison, it compares the NLRB’s structure to “the very definition of tyranny.”

The filing comes on the heels of NLRB prosecutors issuing a complaint against the company accusing it of illegally firing eight employees who had circulated a letter in 2022 criticizing Musk, its combative CEO. The letter criticized him "for issuing inappropriate, disparaging, sexually charged comments on Twitter,” their lawyers told the NLRB. (Musk also owns the social media platform and rebranded it as X.)

SpaceX is seeking an injunction against the NLRB barring it from moving forward with that case against the company while the constitutional concerns are litigated.

“If the current Members of the NLRB are asked to make a prosecutorial determination about whether SpaceX is in violation of the NLRA, there is an objectively high risk that they would not later be able to provide the neutral adjudicative forum that the Constitution demands, and so would need to recuse from further participation in any agency adjudication against SpaceX,” the company’s attorneys write.

SpaceX sues agency over illegal firings allegation

Reuters Videos
Updated Thu, January 4, 2024 


TRANSCRIPT

STORY: Elon Musk’s rocket firm SpaceX is suing a U.S. agency that accused it of illegally firing employees.

The National Labor Relations Board says the company broke the law when it dismissed eight workers in 2022.

That was after they signed a letter accusing Musk of making sexist comments that went against corporate policies.

The case is due to be heard by a judge and a five-member board appointed by U.S. President Joe Biden.

But on Thursday (January 4), SpaceX filed a suit against the agency in a Texas federal court.

It argues that the complaint by the NLRB violates the U.S. Constitution with regards to how judges and board members are appointed.

The firm recently used a similar tactic to block a case brought by the Department of Justice.

That alleged that the company illegally refused to hire refugees and asylum recipients.

A federal judge in Texas subsequently put the DoJ’s case on hold.

The NLRB already faces a similar suit brought by a Starbucks employee in New York who opposes unionization of workers at her store.

She sued the board after it denied her bid to seek a vote on dissolving the union

 EV UNION BUSTING

NLRB complaint alleges Lucid fired employees for union effort

Chris Isidore, CNN
Fri, January 5, 2024 



A federal labor regulator has filed a complaint against electric vehicle maker Lucid, accusing the company of firing two employees who supported a United Auto Workers union organizing effort at the company.

The complaint was filed Tuesday by a regional director of the National Labor Relations Board in Arizona, who investigated the claim about the firings early last year. It was disclosed by the agency late Thursday.

Lucid has about 2,000 hourly US workers, according to the United Auto Workers union. It is still a niche automaker with a target of making between 8,000 to 8,500 luxury electric vehicles this year. It also lost $2 billion in the first nine months of last year but is backed with money from and is majority-owned by Saudi Arabia.

In a statement Lucid said it respects employees’ rights under the National Labor Relations Act to choose whether or not to organize.

“We are confident that there is no factual basis for the complaint,” it said.

The UAW announced an effort to organize 13 nonunion automakers with plants in the United States, including both foreign automakers such as Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen, as well as domestic electric vehicle makers like Tesla, Rivian and Lucid. But the complaints about the firing at Lucid was made back in February of 2023, well before the organizing effort was first publicized by the union in November. That organizing campaign was announced in the wake of its lucrative new contracts with unionized automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis that followed a six-week plus strike.

Several of the nonunion automakers have increased the wages of their hourly US workers since the end of the UAW strike, partly in recognition that the union raises that could top 30% during the life of the contracts could give the UAW a stronger argument to win the right to represent employees at those companies.

This is not the first time the union has attempted to organize outside of its traditional Big Three stronghold. It has been able to get enough support at Volkswagen’s plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to have union elections there twice, and twice at plants operated by Nissan in Canton, Mississippi, and Smyrna, Tennessee. But most of the efforts to organize companies like Tesla failed before even reaching the point of an NLRB-supervised representation election.

US labor law makes it very difficult for unions to win representation votes, with employers facing very limited penalties if they engage in unfair labor practices against union supporters among its work force, such as firing them for their support of the union. This case demonstrates that. Not only does this complaint come nearly a year after the union and employees brought the firings to the attention of the NLRB, but the hearing on the complaint has been set for October 9 of this year. So, the employees who lost their jobs would have to wait nearly two years to be reinstated with backpay, in their best-case scenario.

And even if the employees are awarded their backpay, the amount of the payment is reduced by whatever sum of money the fired employees earned in other jobs in the intervening period.

Concerning satellite observations show major cities on US East Coast are sinking

Robert Lea
Thu, January 4, 2024 at 1:00 PM MST·3 min read


(Right) A map of vertical land motion on the East Coast (left) primary, secondary, and interstate roads on Hampton Roads, Norfolk, and Virginia Beach, Virginia with red and yellow indicating areas of sinking.

Images collected by numerous satellites have shown that major cities and population centers across the U.S. East Coast are sinking.

Land sinking, or "subsidence," as seen by these satellites, is dangerous because it can undermine the foundations of buildings, potentially causing collapse. It can also damaging roads as well as gas and water lines. When coupled with rising sea levels caused by human-driven climate change, subsidence in coastal regions can increase the risk of flooding and worsen subsequent damage.

Among the particularly hard-hit areas are New York City, Long Island, Baltimore, Virginia Beach, and Norfolk, which are experiencing areas of rapid subsidence next to slower-sinking regions and even stable patches of land. This poses a risk to infrastructure like roads, building foundations, pipelines, rail lines and even airport runways.


The new research from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) shows that some areas of the U.S. East Coast are sinking as rapidly as 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) per year, a rate of subsidence at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean that outstrips global sea level rise.

Related: Satellites watch as Japan's new volcanic island continues to grow (image)

"Continuous unmitigated subsidence on the U.S. East Coast should cause concern,” Leonard Ohenhen, research lead author and a graduate student at the Virginia Tech Earth Observation and Innovation Lab, said in a statement. "This is particularly in areas with a high population and property density and a historical complacency toward infrastructure maintenance."
A sinking feeling

Together with Virginia Tech Earth Observation and Innovation Lab Associate Professor Manoochehr Shirzaei, Ohenhen and colleagues collected a huge amount of data from space-based radar satellites to build digital maps of terrain.

They then measured millions of subsidence occurrences over many years, following up by constructing some of the first-ever high-resolution images of sinking land.

The team's maps showed that a large number of U.S. East Coast areas sinking by at least 2 mm (0.08 in) per year. Additionally, the scientists found areas along the mid-Atlantic coast, amounting to over 1,400 square miles (3,626 square kilometers), that are sinking by 5 mm (0.2 in) per year or more. The current rate of global sea-level rise, which is around 4 mm (0.16 in) per year.

"We measured subsidence rates of 2 millimeters per year affecting more than 2 million people and 800,000 properties on the East Coast," Shirzaei said. "We know to some extent that the land is sinking. Through this study, we highlight that sinking of the land is not an intangible threat. It affects you and I and everyone, it may be gradual, but the impacts are real."

John F. Kennedy International Airport, New York as seen from space with red and yellow indicating regions of subsidence

Ohenhen pointed out how the problem with the subsidence mapped isn't just that land is sinking, but also that "hotspots" of subsidence are occurring in population hubs and around concentrations of infrastructure.

"For example, significant areas of critical infrastructure in New York, including JFK and LaGuardia airports and its runways, along with the railway systems, are affected by subsidence rates exceeding 2 mm per year," he added. "The effects of these right now and into the future are potential damage to infrastructure and increased flood risks."

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"This information is needed. No one else is providing it," USGS research geologist and study co-author Patrick Barnard said in the statement. "Shirzaei and his Virginia Tech team stepped into that niche with his technical expertise and are providing something extremely valuable."

The team's research was published on Tuesday (Jan. 2) in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

No ice on Lake Erie this winter fuels fear for the future

CBC
Fri, January 5, 2024 

Lake Erie at Colchester, Ont. The water is has no ice so far this winter. (Dale Molnar/CBC - image credit)

It may be January, but Lake Erie is ice free.

According to Mike McKay, director of the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor, as of New Year's Day the Great Lakes' Basin has less than 0.4 per cent ice cover.

Usually at this time of year, the basin should have 10 per cent coverage, while Lake Erie should have 15 to 20 per cent.


Dave Phillips, senior climatologist from Environment and Climate Change Canada, said that the lack of ice is indicative of the higher temperatures in 2023.

"We had the warmest May to September on record," Phillips said. "A lot of residual heat in the lakes and the rivers and the land. So even going in to the ice forming time would've been slow to come ... You've got to get rid of all that heat before you can get the ice to form."

While things can change quickly, McKay says it's El Niño year — meaning, warmer water temperatures due to bands of warm ocean.

"NOAA's (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Climate Prediction Centre, in their last report on Dec. 14 identified this as having a 55 per cent chance of being a strong El Niño year, perhaps one of the five strongest years on record," Mckay said.

"Things are looking to be set up that we will have a mild winter."

Problems on shorelines

With a lack of ice comes a higher chance of more rapid erosion on the shores of the region's lakes.

"We're keeping our fingers crossed with respect to hopefully generating some ice cover on the lakes in the next little while," chief administrative officer of the Essex Region Conservation Authority Tim Byrne said. "Any areas that have not had any kind of erosion protection put in place, we're going to see some active erosion taking place."

Research scientist Hansen Johnson said the underwater robots are detecting for the first time where the right whales food source, plankton is located.

Warmer winters could have implications for plankton in the Great Lakes. (CBC)

Byrne thinks that the prospect of milder winters could create havoc on shorelines.

"Erosion will accelerate in the winter months," he said. "You have no vegetative cover. You have no rooting material present that would attempt to mitigate or slow down the effect of of waves."

Biodiversity

At the same time, a lack of ice in the winter creates problems for animals in the Great Lakes.

Ice does not seem like a natural habitat for many animals, but as McKay points out, it's vital for some species.

"Some fish will spawn in the fall and the eggs will over winter," he said. "So things like whitefish for example, ice cover and coastal zones where those fish may spawn actually provide some protection [and] prevents them from being buffeted around by by the waves."

"Ice cover is a good thing for many reasons."


The U.S. Coast Guard said 18 people were rescued from an ice floe on Lake Erie near Catawba Island in Ohio.

Lake Erie has experienced zero ice this winter. (U.S. Coast Guard)

Low ice can also affect the food chain. As McKay points out, after an unusually warm winter in 2012, they found that plankton diminished in the lakes.

"We saw a dramatic change in the plankton community, moving from these nutritious large plankton to much smaller size plankton," he said. "The question is: Are there implications for the food web?"

MAGA NAZI DISINFORMATION
After Iowa shooting, Candace Owens says LGBTQ+ community is ‘sexual plague on our society’

Christopher Wiggins

ADVOCATE
Fri, January 5, 2024 

Candace Owens MAGA Hat Fool

In the wake of a recent school shooting in Perry, Iowa, right-wing influencer Candace Owens has sparked controversy with her comments linking the LGBTQ+ community, particularly transgender and nonbinary individuals, to acts of violence.

Owens, the founder of BLEXIT and a prominent conservative voice, took to social media platform X, formerly Twitter, to voice her unfounded claims that gender-affirming healthcare is contributing to a rise in mass shootings.

“I am not interested in engaging in another discussion about a school shooter that does not begin and end with discussing big Pharma and its clinical promotion of insanity,” Owens wrote. “We are mass drugging children and conducting psychiatric experiments on them in classrooms across America.”

Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder and the entire LGBTQ movement brought with it a sexual plague on our society.
— (@)

She continued with a second post, “Gender dysphoria is a mental disorder, and the entire LGBTQ movement brought with it a sexual plague on our society.”

Owens’ statements came after the tragic incident at Perry High School, where a 17-year-old alleged student shooter, Dylan Butler, took the life of one child and injured several others and an administrator before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police. In the aftermath, Owens falsely suggested a connection between the shooter’s alleged LGBTQ+ identity and the violence, a claim not supported by evidence or law enforcement statements.

Law enforcement officials, while not commenting on the shooter’s gender identity or sexual orientation, did acknowledge their investigation of several social media accounts that may be linked to the shooter. One of those accounts, which has since been disabled, showed a Pride flag. This detail was seized upon by right-wing influencers, including Libs of TikTok’s Chaya Raichik, billionaire Tesla CEO and X owner Elon Musk, and Owens, who push a false narrative implicating the LGBTQ+ community in mass shootings.

This portrayal has been widely discredited. Research from organizations like The Violence Project and the Gun Violence Archive shows that transgender or nonbinary individuals are rarely involved in such shootings. In fact, cisgender men are the predominant demographic in mass shootings, contradicting the claims made by Owens and others.

Owens, known for her show on The Daily Wire, has a history of making incendiary remarks about the LGBTQ+ community. Her recent comments have been met with criticism from various quarters, including transgender journalist Erin Reed, who accused Owens of using “genocidal language.” — (@)

Previously, Owens faced a suspension from YouTube for similar hate speech against the LGBTQ+ community. Despite this, her latest remarks on X are unlikely to see similar repercussions since Musk has turned the platform into an anti-LGBTQ+ free-for-all.

Experts and advocacy groups caution against the spread of misinformation and false narratives in the wake of tragedies, especially those targeting vulnerable communities like the LGBTQ+. They emphasize the need to focus on the real issues at hand, such as gun control laws and the support for victims and their families, rather than diverting attention to unfounded and harmful claims

No, transgender and nonbinary people are not frequently mass shooters

Christopher Wiggins

ADVOCATE
Fri, January 5, 2024

transgender humans protest signs

A shooting at an Iowa school just days after the start of 2024 that left a sixth-grade child dead, four other students, and an administrator injured has ignited discussions on mass shootings and the gender identity of perpetrators of this type of violence. Even before police identified the shooter, far-right influencers online began pushing a narrative that the 17-year-old Perry High School student was a member of the LGBTQ+ community based on a Pride flag on one social media profile and a reference to genderfluid in a post. Others, including Elon Musk, amplified the false notion that transgender and nonbinary people pose a significant risk to the population regarding mass shootings—they don’t.

Related: Right-wing influencers seem happy that Iowa school shooter might be LGBTQ+

Charlotte Clymer, a prominent trans writer and activist, has provided a breakdown the of the stats on Threads, challenging some narratives propagated in right-wing media.

According to Clymer, if the Iowa shooter were transgender, this would represent an exceedingly small proportion of mass shooters; out of 4,684 mass shootings documented by the Gun Violence Archive since 2014, at most six involved transgender individuals. This represents about 0.128 percent of all mass shooters, in stark contrast to the 99.9 percent of mass shootings carried out by non-trans individuals, Clymer noted.

Based on a 2022 study by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, a renowned authority on LGBTQ+ data, approximately 0.6 percent of the U.S. population aged 13 and older, totaling 267.8 million people, is identified as part of the transgender community.

Further insights come from Reuters Fact Check, which clarifies that the majority of mass shooters in the U.S. are cisgender men. This investigation also debunks certain viral claims on social media, pointing out that the few cases often cited (in Nashville, Colorado Springs, Denver, and Aberdeen) do not represent the more significant trend.

Organizations like The Violence Project and the Gun Violence Archive support the statistics on mass shootings. These groups emphasize the rarity of transgender or nonbinary individuals being involved in such incidents. The Gun Violence Archive noted that known transgender suspects in mass shootings account for less than 0.11 percent of all shootings over the last decade. The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center also found that nearly all attackers in mass casualty attacks were male, with a small fraction being transgender.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, cautioned against misusing such tragedies for propagating harmful stereotypes.

"Media outlets that speculate on the shooter's identity or their support of LGBTQ rights instead of focusing on those impacted are contributing to a false and sweeping narrative about vulnerable communities. We all deserve to feel safe when going about our lives, and we need to protect our children most of all. Media outlets and leaders have an obligation to humanize the victims and survivors during this painful time, not to sensationalize the harms of gun violence or bring fame to the shooter," Ellis said in a statement.

Similarly, the Human Rights Campaign has criticized the exploitation of these events to promote anti-LGBTQ+ hysteria. HRC’s national press secretary Brandon Wolf, himself a witness to gun violence in the 2016 Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Orlando, highlighted the fact that LGBTQ+ individuals are more often victims of gun violence than perpetrators, challenging the narratives that aim to demonize the community.

Angela Ferell-Zaballa, executive director of Moms Demand Action, warns against accepting false narratives in the wake of gun violence and echoed Wolf's comments about victims of gun violence.

“Extremists often try to muddy the waters by blaming our gun violence crisis on mental health or gender identity, when often people with these lived realities are most likely to be victims of gun violence, rather than perpetrators of it," she said.

Ferell-Zaballa added that the common denominator in these shootings is the gun and the weak laws that allow these tragedies to happen.

WARNING:ARACHNOPHOBIA TRIGGER

The largest male specimen of the world’s most venomous spider has been found in Australia

OOP'S TOO LATE

Associated Press
Updated Thu, January 4, 2024 


Australia Largest Poisonous Spider
In this Dec. 10, 2023 photo supplied by the Australian Reptile Park, a male specimen of the Sydney funnel-web spider, the world's most poisonous arachnid, has been found and donated to the Australian Reptile Park, north of Sydney. The spider, given the name "Hercules", measured 7.9 centimeters (3 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park's previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named "Colossus" and will be used in the reptile park's antivenom program.

 (Caitlin Vine/Australian Reptile Park via AP)

SYDNEY (AP) — With fangs that could pierce a human fingernail, the largest male specimen of the world's most venomous arachnid has found a new home at the Australian Reptile Park where it will help save lives after a member of the public discovered it by chance.

The deadly Sydney funnel-web spider dubbed “Hercules” was found on the Central Coast, about 50 miles north of Sydney, and was initially given to a local hospital, the Australian Reptile Park said in a statement Thursday.

Spider experts from the nearby park retrieved it and soon realized it was the largest male specimen ever received from the public in Australia.


The spider measured 7.9 centimeters (3.1 inches) from foot to foot, surpassing the park’s previous record-holder from 2018, the male funnel-web named “Colossus".

Sydney funnel-web spiders usually range in length from one to five centimeters, with females being generally larger than their male counterparts but not as deadly. They are predominantly found in forested areas and suburban gardens from Sydney, Australia's most populous city, to the coastal city of Newcastle in the north and the Blue Mountains to the west.

"Hercules" will contribute to the reptile park’s antivenom program. Safely captured spiders handed in by the public undergo “milking” to extract venom, essential for producing life-saving antivenom.

"We’re used to having pretty big funnel-web spiders donated to the park, however receiving a male funnel-web this big is like hitting the jackpot,” said Emma Teni, a spider keeper at Australian Reptile Park. “Whilst female funnel-web spiders are venomous, males have proven to be more lethal.

"With having a male funnel-web this size in our collection, his venom output could be enormous, proving incredibly valuable for the park’s venom program.”

Since the inception of the program in 1981, there has not been a fatality in Australia from a funnel-web spider bite.

Recent rainy, humid weather along Australia's east coast has provided the ideal conditions for funnel-web spiders to thrive.

Largest Australian funnel web spider donated for antivenom program
Chris Benson
Thu, January 4, 2024



Jan. 4 (UPI) -- A funnel web spider named Hercules, the largest known specimen of its kind, has been donated to the Australian Reptile Park for use in its antivenom program.

The spider -- found and donated by a private individual -- was located on Australia's North South Wales Central Coast. Measuring 3.11 inches, Hercules overtakes the last known largest male funnel web spider, Colossus.

Its venom can kill a human in 15 minutes.

The park, which relies on spider donations, is Australia's only facility that "milks" that particular spider venom. The venom, used to create life saving antivenom, is estimated to save 300 lives a year.

"With having a male funnel web this size in our collection, his venom output could be enormous, proving incredibly valuable for the park's venom program," Emma Teni, one of the park spider keepers, said.

The raw spider venom is shipped to a Melbourne facility and is then made into the life-saving antivenom.

There are 35 types of funnel-web spider species and they are one of the deadliest on Earth. Since the program's 1981 inception, there have not been any reported deaths by a funnel web spider bite.

These South Asian Artists Want

 Palestinian Liberation

 And They’re Not Being Quiet 

About It

Alisha Sahay

Fri, January 5, 2024 

HUFFPOST

For Babneet Paul Lakhesar (also known as Babbu the Painter) and these other South Asian artists, embracing solidarity with the Palestinians was instinctive.

For Babneet Paul Lakhesar (also known as Babbu the Painter) and these other South Asian artists, embracing solidarity with the Palestinians was instinctive.

RefaatAlareerseemed resigned to his fate when he wrote “If I Must Die,” the last poem he would publish, on Nov. 1.

“If I must die / you must live / to tell my story,” the first lines read.

The renowned Palestinian professor, activist and poet was killed along with his family just a month later in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza.

Alareer was one of more than 22,000 Palestinians who have been killed by Israeli forces since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in southern Israel, when militants killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. The violence toward both civilians and combatants rages on, with far more dire repercussions for the Palestinians. 

Those who remain in Gaza face agonizing existences. The Israeli government has blocked resources entering the region, resulting in starvation. They’ve also imposed communications blackouts and forcibly displaced 90% of Palestinians from their homes. Horrifying evidence of war crimes has emerged in recent months. Journalists and storytellers on the ground in Gaza, such as Bisan Owda and Motaz Azaiza, have been using social media to document these atrocities for the world to see.

As news spreads, allies outside the Palestinian territories have been expressing their solidarity as well. “For Refaat, we must be louder than ever and make sure the focus returns to what is actually happening in real time to those on the ground,” Canadian poet Rupi Kaur wrote in a tribute to Alareer on Instagram. “Because theirs are the lives we can still save.”

Kaur, whose family is from the Punjab state of India, is one of several South Asian artists using their platforms to raise awareness. Other South Asians, including poets, writers, comedians and painters, have called for a permanent end to the violence, setting up fundraisers toward humanitarian efforts and more.

Their voices and work are more important than ever, especially in encouraging others in the community to speak up, since many remain hesitant to “choose a side.” There are myriad reasons behind this. Some are cultural, like fear of career repercussions, pressures of the model minority myth and internalized Islamophobia. But regardless of the reasoning, it’s critical for South Asians globally to dismantle biases that prevent us from speaking up. The silence makes us complicit.

Artists have always been at the forefront of social and political issues, centering liberation and creating spaces for audiences to engage with them. As it becomes more vital to recognize Palestinians’ decades-long resistance to oppression, these South Asian artists are using their crafts — in addition to boycotting, calling representatives, engaging in protests and more — to help us  process it. These writers, visual artists and literary virtuosos are masters of blending culture and activism, and they exemplify just how art is a reflection of our humanity.

Rupi Kaur

Poet Rupi Kaur at the

Poet Rupi Kaur at the "To Kill a Tiger" documentary premiere on Oct. 19 at the Metrograph in New York City.

Whether you’re into Kaur and her poetry or not, there’s no denying that the 31-year-old’s work has always focused on the resilience of humanity. And she continues to embed that ethos in her advocacy. During the last few months, she has been writingpoems, sharingupdates and imploring her 4.6 million Instagram followers to take action. Perhaps most notably, she shared that she declined an invitation to the White House’s annual Diwali party days after the House of Representatives passed a resolution to fund $14.5 billion in military aid to Israel.

“When a government’s actions dehumanize people anywhere, it is our moral imperative to call for Justice,” she wrote. “Demand a humanitarian ceasefire. Sign petitions. Attend protests. Boycott. Call your reps and say — stop the genocide.”

No Nazar’s Bianca Maieli and Omar Ahmed

The DJ collective No Nazar at a show in New York City.

The DJ collective No Nazar at a show in New York City.

No Nazar’s mission to unite communities and cultures through music might seem simple, but the DJ collective wields an unmatched artistry that expands its listeners’ worldviews sonically. It meshes South Asian sounds with genres from Afrobeats to baile funk. For Bianca Maieli, 34, and Omar Ahmed, 29, the troupe’s co-founders, it was crucial to use their music and platform to show solidarity with Palestinians.

The group hosted two fundraiser DJ sets in November, one in Los Angeles and one in New York City, spotlighting a roster of Palestinian music and sounds. Part of the proceeds from the shows went to Palestine Legal, a nonprofit that protects those in the U.S. who have been targeted for speaking out for the Palestinians.

The decision to host the events wasn’t easy. They grappled with the idea of hosting events while a humanitarian crisis looms.

“It was challenging to follow through hosting the show because of all the emotions I was feeling — rage, sadness, guilt,” Ahmed said. “The question of  ‘Why are we doing this?’ kept coming up in my head.”

After conversations, they decided to go through with it, with the intention of creating a physical space for people to engage with the cause and connect with others who share their feelings.

“Dance and music are linked so much to protest and politics,” Maieli said. “So we wanted to approach it from that lens in the most respectful way possible while using our artistry to hopefully make a change, if not bring awareness or uplift the community.”

“People don’t realize that their single voice, combined with a billion other single voices, make up a massive collective consciousness,” Ahmed said.

Babbu the Painter

As a Punjabi Sikh, Lakhesar says she feels a connection with the pain and plight of Palestinians.

As a Punjabi Sikh, Lakhesar says she feels a connection with the pain and plight of Palestinians.

Everything about visual artist Babneet Paul Lakhesar, 30, is unapologetic: her work, bold and bright portraits of femininity, and her advocacy, firmly rooted in her belief in humanity.

Embracing solidarity with Palestinians, then, was instinctive. As a Punjabi Sikh, Lakhesar, also known as Babbu the Painter, understood the pains and plights of Palestinians, with generations of her family and community afflicted by both the India and Pakistan Partition violence and the 1984 Sikh genocide.

The artist released a #FreePalestine art series: vases patterned with the black-and-white keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian solidarity, as well as prints and stickers depicting a young girl wearing a keffiyeh with fireworks in her eyes. “The whole idea behind the painting was there’s a young woman who’s looking up, and the sky is not going to be bombed one day,” Lakhesar said.

Lakhesar isn’t concerned about how her audience responds to her activism and work. “I am on a path where I want to be authentic to who I am,” she says. “And if that does not resonate with you, then maybe I’m not the artist that you’re looking for.”

Abby Govindan

"I would much rather be on the right side of history than staying silent out of fear of alienating anyone," Abby Govindan (at right) said.

You may have seen Abby Govindan, 26, going viral on X (formerly Twitter) every other day for her very real and hilarious observations on the world. True to her signature honesty and outspokenness, the comedian has been vocal about her support for Palestinians over the years.

Govindan says she personally chooses to not make jokes about Israel or the Palestinians because she doesn’t have the lived experience. But she’s a firm believer that “the onus should be on the rest of us to show the oppressors that we outnumber them.”

In October, Govindan hosted a sold-out fundraiser comedy event in New York City with fellow comedian Mohanad Elshieky. Part of the proceeds went to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, which provides medical and humanitarian aid to children in the Palestinian territories and in the Middle East at large.

“People in NYC are so hungry for a political safe space where we can commiserate (and even make jokes about!) our desire for a Free Palestine far away from the islamophobia and anti-semitism that is so rife in many many other comedy spaces,” she wrote on Instagram.

Govindan says she’s lost brand deals and followers because of her stance, but that if it means upholding her belief system and demanding a foundational level of humanity and empathy for the oppressed, it’s worth it.

“I would much rather be on the right side of history than staying silent out of fear of alienating anyone,” she said.

Batool

"It is important to me to stand up for those who are facing injustices, because my poetry is rooted in my identities," Batool says.

For Batool, who asked not to be identified by her full name in this story, protesting the treatment of Palestinians was no question. From a young age, the creative writer and poet has been instilled with a passion for bettering humanity, through her faith and identity as an American Pakistani Shia Muslim and through her family. Her father leads a nonprofit that provides humanitarian aid and health care across the globe.

“It is important to me to stand up for those who are facing injustices because my poetry is rooted in my identities,” she said. “My religion and my culture provide me with the toolbox; poetry, to speak up and teach me the necessity to advocate and protest.”

Writing is both how Batool processes the harrowing images coming from Gaza and how she calls for an end to the violence. She also looks to Palestinian poets and essayists — Alareer, Mosab Abu Toha, Hiba Abu Nada, Hala Alyan and others — to rekindle her advocacy for Palestinians.

“I am protesting because it is the right thing to do, because I am human, because there is no other option,” the writer said. “Humanity exists in each heart that beats for change, in each cry that echoes the calls for a cease-fire and a permanent, peaceful solution.”

Hazem Asif

Hazem Asif's work imagines the liberation of Palestine.

Hazem Asif's work imagines the liberation of Palestine.

The worlds that Hazem Asif, 30, illustrates are fantastical and retro — and those qualities are what makes him a powerful artist and activist. His work acknowledges solemn political and social realities while visualizing a vibrant optimism for a just future. On Palestine, his work dreams of its liberation.

“With my artworks, I hope to express my voice and frustrations towards the silent dominant world powers and oppressors,” he said. “I perceive art not just to craft beauty but as a peace-driven instrument capable of sparking change, inspiring and educating the new generation to advocate for what is just.”

Asif’s influence is global; his illustrations have been used on protest posters and shared widely across social media. He has also collaborated with Palestinian American apparel brand Paliroots, with proceeds going toward humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Related...

• Poet Rupi Kaur Turns Down Invitation From White House Over U.S. Support Of Israel

PRESIDENT HARRIS

It’s time for women to lead the world to peace

Michael Dru Kelley
Fri, January 5, 2024 

Kamala Harris American Flag

If you have gotten this far, you now realize that the headline and the author line may appear incongruous. Some may think that calling for women to lead in peace coming from a man is already suspect. And I can understand it, given the level of patriarchy and continued misogyny and inequality in almost every aspect of our global society. Rather, I hope you read this as the point of view of one man who is absolutely fed up with men being the primary perpetrators of war, death, and destruction as far back as history records. Also, there are several Israeli, Palestinian, and American women who have recently distinguished themselves for stronger statements than those of men on condemning the violence and in fact, developing some very promising solutions for lasting peace.

Let’s start with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference in December and taking the opportunity to make the most consequential statements, outstripping any American male politician, her boss included, about Israel taking measures to preserve innocent lives. While she continues the Biden administration’s firm statement that Israel has the right to defend itself, it was Vice President Harris who went further and requested that Israel do everything to preserve innocent lives, especially since two-thirds of those lost in Gaza in this recent military action are women and children. “As Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal: International humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” she said.

Then there is Sarah Hendricks, the United Nations Women deputy executive director, who highlighted that the Hamas terrorists who conducted the October 7 massacre committed much more gruesome crimes on women they killed, captured, and left for dead than men. Investigations are now revealing that rape of women and young girls was a weapon Hamas used in its attack in October as well as the broader conflict. Reports of women being gang-raped, beaten, and then killed are emanating from the U.N. and other credible sources. Hendricks has stood out above her colleagues in calling for the respectful treatment of women and the preservation of innocent lives.

There are Israeli and Palestinian women who lead organizations that have developed peaceful solutions deserving of notice. May Pundak is chief executive officer of A Land for All. May appeared on American TV news programs as an Israeli and Jewish activist calling for peace. A Land for All presents a vision for a “two state, one homeland” initiative to end conflict and bring lasting peace. Here is its vision: “We, a group of Israelis and Palestinians, offer a new horizon for reconciliation between the two people, based on the existence of two sovereign states in one open land. The Land of Israel/Palestine is a homeland shared by two people — the Jewish people and the Palestinian people, each having deep historic, religious and cultural connections to the land. All people living in this shared homeland have an equal right to live freely, equally and with dignity, and any agreement must guarantee these rights, in light of the fact that the two solutions currently on the table — separation into two states or the one-state solution — are nowhere close to realization and lead us to a dead end. We believe that a new vision is in order.”

Joining May in being another woman leader calling for a new path is Rana Salman, who cofounded Combatants for Peace, which was established nearly 20 years ago with people who served in both the Israeli Defense Forces and the Palestinian military. Combatants for Peace joins A Land for All and other organizations with an even more succinct objective and solution: “Combatants for Peace supports a two-state solution within the 1967 lines, or any other solution reached through mutual agreement which would allow Israelis and Palestinians to lead free, safe and democratic lives from a place of dignity in their homeland.”

In the span of a few days, we have seen women rising above the warmongering voices of men to offer a peaceful solution to end the oppression, suppression, and destruction of lives that come out of conflicts. And this is coming from women who are Israeli Jews and Palestinians. Perhaps the world needs to consider turning over the current Israeli-Hamas conflict to women in government like Vice President Harris, the U.N.’s Sarah Hendricks. and two women like May Pundak and Rana Salman, from opposite sides of one homeland, calling for a peaceful two-state solution. As one man tired for wars perpetuated only by men, I am ready for women to lead us to peace.

Michael D. Kelley is a cofounder and a principal LGBTQ+ shareholder of equalpride, publisher of The Advocate. His opinion pieces represent his own viewpoints and not necessarily those of equalpride or its affiliates, partners, or management.