Alaskan volcano linked to mysterious period with extreme climate in ancient Rome

The cold, famine and unrest in ancient Rome and Egypt after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE has long been shrouded in mystery. Now, an international team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen, has found evidence suggesting

UNIVERSITY OF COPENHAGEN

PHYSICS The cold, famine and unrest in ancient Rome and Egypt after the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BCE has long been shrouded in mystery. Now, an international team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen, has found evidence suggesting that the megaeruption of an Alaskan volcano may be to blame.

e.Dark times befell upon the Mediterranean around the time of Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BCE. Written accounts describe the region as severely impacted by unusual cooling, failed harvests, famine and disease, all of which combined to contribute to the fall of the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom. While researchers long suspected that a volcanic eruption was to blame, they were unable to pinpoint exactly where and when such an eruption might have occurred.

The brightness of the sun was darkened, the disc was pale for a year and the sun did not rise with its usual brilliance and force. It gave but slight heat. For this reason, the crops brought forth were so poor and immature that they rotted in the cold air.

Greek Roman philosopher Plutarch describing the weather in the wake of Julius Caesar's death

Now, an international team, including researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Niels Bohr Institute, the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nevada and the University of Bern has analysed volcanic ash in Greenlandic ice core samples, which together with historical accounts, can be linked to an inexplicable cooling event in the Mediterranean region during this crux in the history of Western civilization.

The ash comes from the remote Okmok volcano in Alaska's Aleutian Island Chain. According to the ice core tests, the volcano experienced a two-year megaeruption that began in early 43 BCE, one that filled Earth's atmosphere with enough smoke and ash to significantly impact climate.

"The eruption is regarded as one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the past 2,500 years. Using the ice core samples, climate models and historical records, we are quite certain that the eruption is linked to the violent climatic changes noted around the Mediterranean and in Rome," says Jørgen Peder Steffensen, professor of ice, climate and geophysics at the Niels Bohr Institute and one of the researchers behind the discovery.

Coldest years in the Northern Hemisphere

In an extensive collaboration with historians and others, researchers collected prehistoric climate data from around the planet to confirm the likelihood that this particular eruption was responsible for widespread climate change. The sources of evidence include tree ring archives from Scandinavia, Austria and California and a Chinese cave formation.

The researchers' extensive analysis of climate during this ancient era demonstrates that the years after the Okmok eruption were some of the coldest in the northern hemisphere over the past 2,500 years. The researchers' climate models indicate that temperatures were roughly seven degrees Celsius below normal during the summer and autumn after the eruption in 43 BCE.

"Historical accounts describe how wet and extremely cold weather led to poorer harvests, as well as how the Nile overflowed its banks--destroying crops and leading to famine--all of which correlates with our results," says Jørgen Peder Steffensen.

While the researchers believe that a variety of factors contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic and Ptolemaic Kingdom, they maintain that Okmak's eruption played an unmistakably large role and that their discovery serves to fill in gaps which have been missing in history books dealing with the era.

The research was recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)

Facts:

The Niels Bohr Institute's Ice and Climate Group has been working on the "Caesar Volcano" since the 1980's. The group was the first in the world to systematically use the counting of annual layers in ice cores to date volcanic eruptions.

The group also invented the ECM-method (Electric Conductivity Method) to find volcanic ash in ice cores. ECM consists of placing two electrodes along fresh ice cores and measuring resistance. Sulphuric acid from volcanoes changes the resistance in the ice, making it quite easy to identify volcanic layers.

The new research article is the latest in more than 40 years of work on the volcano.

###

BU researchers: 'Gun culture 3.0' is missing link to understand US gun culture

Leading firearm violence prevention researchers are first to use data to show differences in gun culture across the country, identifying gun cultures around recreation, self-defense, and politics.

BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

 

IMAGE: THIS IS A MAP SHOWING THE MOST PRESENT SUBCULTURE IN EACH STATE. view more 

CREDIT: BOINE ET AL.

Leading firearm violence prevention researchers are first to use data to show differences in gun culture across the country, identifying gun cultures around recreation, self-defense, and politics.

A new Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) study published in the Nature journal Humanities & Social Sciences Communications, shows that gun ownership means very different things in different parts of the United States.

Previous researchers have proposed two strands of gun culture: one focused on recreational use and a second on self-defense. But this study identifies a third, of people who do not view the defense of the Second Amendment as a means to an end, but as necessary to any freedom in this country. The study finds that this "Gun Culture 3.0" has increased the most in states that have strengthened their gun laws to the greatest degree, suggesting it may be grounded in fear of perceived threats by the government.

"The NRA has been spreading insurrectionist rhetoric for the past few decades, undermining Americans' trust in their legislators and the federal government, while passing for a patriotic organization. The result is a few million people who are convinced that any genuine firearm violence prevention effort is the first step in a scheme to take away all of their rights and disenfranchise them," says study lead author Claire Boine, a research scholar in community health sciences at BUSPH.

Using data on gun-related behaviors including hunting, NRA membership, magazine subscriptions, handgun and long gun purchases, and certain gun laws, the researchers show that American gun owners vary widely in the symbolic meaning they find in firearms and how they use them.

Over the last 20 years, at the national level, firearm recreation has dwindled and self-defense has expanded, even as a distinct culture of Second Amendment political advocacy has sprung up, the researchers found.

They also identified wide variation between states. Certain states, such as New York and Massachusetts, have very low recreational and self-defense gun cultures but very high Second Amendment activism. In contrast, states such as South Dakota have high recreational and self-defense cultures and little Second Amendment activism. Other states, such as Florida, have a high degree of self-defense gun culture and less recreational and Second Amendment gun culture.

The researchers found more emphasis on recreation in politically conservative states with large rural areas, little racial diversity, and few firearm regulations, while emphasis on self-defense is more common in politically conservative states that have enacted few new firearm laws in the last 20 years, have large rural areas, and are experiencing higher unemployment levels. The Second Amendment-focused "Gun Culture 3.0" is most common in liberal states, states where more of the population lives in an urban setting or is Hispanic, and states with stronger firearm regulations.

The researchers explain that the study shows only a marginal part of American gun culture is political, and the ability to measure gun culture empirically, as demonstrated by this study, will help better account for this variation in future studies of how gun policy affects gun use and violence.

"No longer can we speak about gun culture as if it is a single entity. There are positive aspects to gun culture that bring recreation, enjoyment, or a feeling of security to many people, and there are also some negative elements," says Dr. Michael Siegel, professor of community health sciences at BUSPH.

"Those of us in public health must acknowledge the positive aspects of that culture and stop blaming law-abiding gun owners for the problem of firearm violence," he says. "Instead, we need to address one very specific aspect of gun culture that the NRA has created that does not represent the overwhelming number of gun owners in this country."

###

Read the full study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-020-0520-6

About the Boston University School of Public Health

Founded in 1976, the Boston University School of Public Health is one of the top five ranked private schools of public health in the world. It offers master's- and doctoral-level education in public health. The faculty in six departments conduct policy-changing public health research around the world, with the mission of improving the health of populations--especially the disadvantaged, underserved, and vulnerable--locally and globally.

Like humans, beluga whales form social networks beyond family ties

Study first to uncover the role kinship plays in complex groupings and relationships of beluga whales spanning 10 locations across the Arctic

FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY

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VIDEO: FOR THE STUDY, RESEARCHERS USED FIELD OBSERVATIONS, MTDNA PROFILING, AND MULTI-LOCUS GENOTYPING OF BELUGA WHALES TO ADDRESS FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS ABOUT BELUGA GROUP STRUCTURE, AND PATTERNS OF KINSHIP AND BEHAVIOR, WHICH... view more 

CREDIT: FAU'S HARBOR BRANCH OCEANOGRAPHIC INSTITUTE

A groundbreaking study using molecular genetic techniques and field studies brings together decades of research into the complex relationships among beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) that spans 10 locations across the Arctic from Alaska to Canada and Russia to Norway. The behavior of these highly gregarious whales, which include sophisticated vocal repertoires, suggest that this marine mammal lives in complex societies. Like killer whales (Orcinus orca) and African elephants (Loxodonta Africana), belugas were thought to form social bonds around females that primarily comprise closely related individuals from the same maternal lineage. However, this hypothesis had not been formally tested.

The study, led by Florida Atlantic University's Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, is the first to analyze the relationship between group behaviors, group type, group dynamics, and kinship in beluga whales. Findings, just published in Scientific Reports, reveal several unexpected results. Not only do beluga whales regularly interact with close kin, including close maternal kin, they also frequently associate with more distantly related and unrelated individuals.

Findings indicate that evolutionary explanations for group living and cooperation in beluga whales must expand beyond strict inclusive fitness arguments to include other evolutionary mechanisms. Belugas likely form multi-scale societies from mother-calf dyads to entire communities. From these perspectives, beluga communities have similarities to human societies where social networks, support structures, cooperation and cultures involve interactions between kin and non-kin. Given their long lifespan (approximately 70 years) and tendency to remain within their natal community, these findings reveal that beluga whales may form long-term affiliations with unrelated as well as related individuals.

"This research will improve our understanding of why some species are social, how individuals learn from group members and how animal cultures emerge," said Greg O'Corry-Crowe, Ph.D., lead author and a research professor at FAU's Harbor Branch. "It also has implications for traditional explanations based on matrilineal care for a very rare life-history trait in nature, menopause, which has only been documented in a handful of mammals, including beluga whales and humans."

Researchers found that belugas formed a limited number of group types, from mother-calf dyads to adult male groups, and from mixed-age groups to large herds. These same group types were consistently observed across population and habitats. Furthermore, certain behaviors were associated with group type, and group membership was found to often be dynamic.

"Unlike killer and pilot whales, and like some human societies, beluga whales don't solely or even primarily interact and associate with close kin. Across a wide variety of habitats and among both migratory and resident populations, they form communities of individuals of all ages and both sexes that regularly number in the hundreds and possibly the thousands," said O'Corry-Crowe. "It may be that their highly developed vocal communication enables them to remain in regular acoustic contact with close relatives even when not associating together."

Beluga whale groupings (beyond mother-calf dyads) were not usually organized around close maternal relatives. The smaller social groups, as well as the larger herds, routinely comprised multiple matrilines. Even where group members shared the same mtDNA lineage, microsatellite analysis often revealed that they were not closely related, and many genealogical links among group members involved paternal rather than maternal relatives. These results differ from earlier predictions that belugas have a matrilineal social system of closely associating female relatives. They also differ from the association behavior of the larger toothed whales that informed those predictions. In 'resident' killer whales, for example, both males and females form groups with close maternal kin where they remain for their entire lives.

"Beluga whales exhibit a wide range of grouping patterns from small groups of two to 10 individuals to large herds of 2,000 or more, from apparently single sex and age-class pods to mixed-age and sex groupings, and from brief associations to multi-year affiliations," said O'Corry-Crowe. "This variation suggests a fission-fusion society where group composition and size are context-specific, but it may also reflect a more rigid multi-level society comprised of stable social units that regularly coalesce and separate. The role kinship plays in these groupings has been largely unknown."

For the study, researchers used field observations, mtDNA profiling, and multi-locus genotyping of beluga whales to address fundamental questions about beluga group structure, and patterns of kinship and behavior, which provide new insights into the evolution and ecology of social structure in this Arctic whale.

The study was conducted at 10 locations, in different habitats, across the species' range, spanning from small, resident groups (Yakutat Bay) and populations (Cook Inlet) in subarctic Alaska to larger, migratory populations in the Alaskan (Kasegaluk Lagoon, Kotzebue Sound, Norton Sound), Canadian (Cunningham Inlet, Mackenzie Delta, Husky Lakes) and Russian (Gulf of Anadyr) Arctic to a small, insular population in the Norwegian High Arctic (Svalbard).

"This new understanding of why individuals may form social groups, even with non-relatives, will hopefully promote new research on what constitutes species resilience and how species like the beluga whale can respond to emerging threats including climate change," said O'Corry-Crowe.

###

Study co-authors are Robert Suydam, Ph.D., North Slope Bourough Department of Wildlife Management; Lori Quakenbush; Alaska Department of Fish and Game; Thomas G. Smith, Ph.D., Eco Marine Corporation; Christian Lydersen, Ph.D., Norweigen Polar Institute; Kit M. Kovacs, Ph.D., Norweigen Polar Institute; Jack Orr, Ph.D., Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Lois Harwood, M.Sc., Fisheries and Oceans Canada; Dennis Litovka, Ph.D., Office of the Governor and Government of the Chukotka Autnomous Region; and Tatiana Ferrer, coordinator of research programs, FAU's Harbor Branch.

All activities involving live whales were permitted (USMMPA #782-1719-06, NARA #2013/36156-2, GOS #2013/00050-42 a.512, NOAA782-1438) and approved by the relevant authorities in each country: the United States National Marine Fisheries Service Office of Protected Resources, the Russian Federation Marine Mammal Permits Office, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Canada scientific licenses, and the Norwegian Animal Care Board. All activities were performed in accordance with these guidelines and regulations.

About Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute:

Founded in 1971, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute at Florida Atlantic University is a research community of marine scientists, engineers, educators and other professionals focused on Ocean Science for a Better World. The institute drives innovation in ocean engineering, at-sea operations, drug discovery and biotechnology from the oceans, coastal ecology and conservation, marine mammal research and conservation, aquaculture, ocean observing systems and marine education. For more information, visit http://www.fau.edu/hboi.

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six-county service region in southeast Florida. FAU's world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU's existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit fau.edu.

Qassem Soleimani: US says UN report on killing is false, reiterates 'self-defence' claim
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says report did not take into account Iran's 'escalating series of armed attacks' in months prior to assassination

Pompeo testifies on 28 February before House Foreign Affairs Committee on Trump administration's policies on Iran, Iraq and use of force (AFP)
By MEE staff Published date: 10 July 2020

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rejected a United Nations assessment that Washington's deadly strike against top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January violated international law.

Earlier this week, the UN released a report on the drone strike that killed nine other people, including Kataeb Hezbollah Iraqi militia commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, as well as Soleimani.

The report concluded that the strike violated international law, in part because the US failed to provide sufficient evidence of an ongoing, or imminent, attack against its interests to justify the strike.



Qassem Soleimani's killing by US drone strike was 'unlawful', says UN expert
Read More »

In a statement released late Thursday, Pompeo accused the UN of drawing false conclusions and referred to the assessment as "spurious".

"The strike that killed General Soleimani was in response to an escalating series of armed attacks in preceding months by the Islamic Republic of Iran and militias it supports on US forces and interests in the Middle East region," Pompeo said.

"It was conducted to deter Iran from launching or supporting further attacks against the United States or US interests, and to degrade the capabilities of the Qods Force."

Pompeo went on to say that the US had been "transparent regarding the international law basis for the strike". 

'Self-defense '

Days after the strike, which took place at a Baghdad airport, the US sent a letter to the UN Security Council explaining that its actions were in "self-defense", but following an investigation into the incident, the UN has found that there is insufficient evidence to support that claim.

"Major General Soleimani was in charge of Iran military strategy, and actions, in Syria and Iraq. But absent an actual imminent threat to life, the course of action taken by the US was unlawful," Agnes Callamard, UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, wrote in the report.

The 3 January drone strike was the first known incident in which a country invoked self-defence as a justification for an attack against a state actor in the territory of a third country, Callamard added.



Two years of escalations: Looking back at US-Iran tensions after nuclear deal pullout

Read More »


\\
Callamard also called for greater accountability and regulations to be implemented against weaponised drones.

"The world is at a critical time, and possible tipping point, when it comes to the use of drones... The Security Council is missing in action; the international community, willingly or not, stands largely silent," Callamard told Reuters.

Soleimani, leader of the Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, was a pivotal figure in orchestrating Iran's campaign to drive US forces out of Iraq, and built up Tehran's network of proxy armies across the Middle East.

Washington had long accused Soleimani of masterminding attacks by Iranian-aligned militias on US forces in the region.

Following Soleimani's assassination, Iran retaliated with a missile attack on an Iraqi airbase where US forces were stationed. Hours later, Iranian forces on high alert mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian passenger airliner taking off from Tehran, killing all on board.

Iran has issued an arrest warrant for US President Donald Trump and 35 others over Soleimani's killing and asked Interpol for help, Tehran prosecutor Ali Alqasimehr said last month, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.

Israel lobby clashes with US Democrats over Netanyahu's annexation plan

AIPAC is spearheading efforts to oppose legislation by Senator Chris Van Hollen that would prohibit US aid from contributing to Israel's annexation of Palestinian land

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks from Israel during AIPAC's annual meeting in Washington last year (AFP/File photo)

By Ali Harb in Washington Published date: 10 July 2020

As Israel moves to annex parts of the occupied West Bank, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find any Democrat in Washington who does not oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's plans.

Even mainstream pro-Israel organisations and key US legislators who are usually unwavering in their support for the Israeli government have denounced the move.

Yet the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which purports to be bipartisan, is spearheading the campaign to push back against efforts by Democratic members of Congress to stop the planned annexation.

This week, the group has been rallying its supporters against legislation proposed by Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen that would ensure US aid to Israel does not contribute to annexation.

In multiple social media posts, many featuring photos of masked Palestinian fighters, AIPAC called on followers to contact their representatives in Washington to reject Van Hollen's proposal.



Sen.Van Hollen wants to ensure no U.S. funds are used for annexation. But that's already law.

His amendment goes far beyond current law in ways that jeopardize Israel's security.

Tell your senators: It's dangerous to weaken Israel’s defenses.

📲Act Now: https://t.co/7UYpctG24N pic.twitter.com/PaFXkUtbOP— AIPAC (@AIPAC) July 9, 2020

Last week, a group of Democratic senators introduced an amendment to the US military budget for 2021 that would prohibit the use of American funds "to deploy defense articles, services or training".

The Van Hollen measure was backed by progressives including Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, as well as several mainstream figures from the centre of the Democratic Party, including former vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine.


'AIPAC claims that it supports a two-state solution, but it refuses to take any action to ensure that remains a real possibility'

- Senator Van Hollen's office

AIPAC moved quickly to condemn the amendment. In its call for action, it accused Van Hollen and his colleagues of undermining Israel's security.

"The Van Hollen amendment politicizes US support for Israel’s security and goes far beyond current law in ways that damage American interests, risk Israel's security, and make peace less likely," AIPAC says in its message to supporters.

"Please urge your senators to stand with Israel and oppose this dangerous amendment."

Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, has been a strong supporter of Israel since he was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2002. Moreover, the amendment would not decrease the assistance - worth $3.8bn a year - that Israel receives.

Still, the mere mention of attaching conditions to financial aid appeared to spur AIPAC into action.
Aid to Israel

Late last month, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and 12 other legislators sent a letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo pledging to impose human rights conditions on Israel if annexation were to materialise.

While running for the Democratic presidential nomination this year, Senator Sanders championed the idea of conditioning aid to Israel in order to pressure it to change its policies against Palestinians, demonstrating the viability of the position on the left.

Van Hollen's proposal does not go as far as the Ocasio-Cortez letter or what some Palestinian rights advocates are calling for. The senator's office stressed that the amendment would maintain Washington's "existing commitments to Israel" as outlined by a memorandum of understanding signed by President Barack Obama in 2016.

Van Hollen's office also hit back at AIPAC, and accused President Donald Trump of violating "longstanding bipartisan American policy in support of the rule of law and a negotiated two-state solution" by supporting Israel's annexation plan.

"AIPAC claims that it supports a two-state solution, but it refuses to take any action to ensure that remains a real possibility," Van Hollen's office told MEE earlier this week.

"By contrast, this amendment reconciles our strong support for a safe and secure Israel, and our commitment to a negotiated settlement between Israel and the Palestinians to establish two states for two peoples living side by side in peace."
Republicans back annexation

The Trump administration has not explicitly endorsed the annexation plan, with Pompeo twice dismissing questions on the issue over the past few months by framing it as an "Israeli decision".

But critics of Netanyahu's plan argue that annexation is far from an Israeli matter as it violates a basic tenet of international law that prohibits the acquisition of land by force.

Introducing the amendment on 2 July, Van Hollen delivered a 38-minute speech on the floor of the Senate, stressing that failure to oppose annexation and uphold international law would undermine the "rules-based system" and open the door for a "global jungle".

"I do not believe that the United States government and the United States taxpayer should be aiding and abetting Prime Minister Netanyahu's plan to unilaterally annex the West Bank," the senator said.

Biden will oppose 'singling out' Israel at UN, campaign tells Arab activistsRead More »

Senior Democrats, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Bob Menendez, who are otherwise staunchly pro-Israel, have also come out against annexation.

Meanwhile, a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives have endorsed Netanyahu's plan, backing Israeli leaders to "make sovereign decisions independent of outside pressure".

"The Trump administration’s new approach offers the promise of success where past efforts have failed, recognizing Israel’s vital national and security interests while providing for a fair and reasonable compromise with the Palestinians, should Palestinian leadership opt finally to prioritize peace," a letter addressed to Netanyahu and signed by 120 House Republicans said earlier in June.

"It is our hope that this plan brings peace, security, and prosperity to a region that has long endured conflict. As dedicated friends of the Jewish state, we reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the relationship between our two nations and Israel’s right to sovereignty and defensible borders."

Trump's "deal of the century" would allow Israel to retain all of its West Bank settlements, as well as the Jordan Valley, in exchange for recognising a Palestinian state in patches of disjointed territories under de-facto Israeli control.
Losing bipartisan support

The Israeli government had set a 1 July deadline to start the process of applying sovreignty to parts of the Palestinian territories, but it appears to have postponed the move amid global outrage.

The stark contrast between the Republican Party's support for annexation and Democrats' opposition to Netanyahu's plans highlights the difficulties that AIPAC is facing in keeping support for Israel bipartisan.

The pro-Israel lobby currently seems to be going after Democrats exclusively. Late in June, the group accused Ocasio-Cortez of making a "two-state solution less likely" with her letter calling for consequences to follow annexation.

And early in 2020, AIPAC likened Democratic legislators Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar and Betty McCollum to the Islamic State militant group.


'APAC has lost control of the Democratic Party debate. And right now they're flailing wildly because they're scared'

- James Zogby, AAI president

The pro-Israel organisation did not respond to MEE's request for comment.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), said AIPAC's influence in Washington is waning as the group becomes increasingly partisan.

"AIPAC has lost control of the Democratic Party debate," Zogby told MEE. "And right now they're flailing wildly because they're scared. And that's good. They can't save somebody they want to save, and they can't beat somebody they want to beat."

Zogby said AIPAC would end up like the National Rifle Association (NRA), a pro-gun lobby that is influencial in Republican politics but has become public enemy number one for most Democrats who advocate strict gun laws.

He said politicians pushing to keep unconditional support for Israel a bipartisan issue are fighting a losing battle because public opinion on the Democratic side had shifted "irreversibly", with people becoming increasingly critical of Israel's human rights abuses.

"You cannot get the horses back in the barn. The change has already occurred among young people, among Black people, among Latinos, among progressive Jews," Zogby said.

Valentina Sampaio Is the First Trans Model in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

Sampaio continues to be a trailblazing force for the trans community

Valentina Sampaio is the first trans model to make the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue

BY KAYLA KIBBE / JULY 10, 2020 

Brazilian-born model Valentina Sampaio is making history again, this time as the first trans model to grace Sports Illustrated‘s famed swimsuit issue.

“I am excited and honored to be part of the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue,” wrote Sampaio. “The team at SI has created yet another groundbreaking issue by bringing together a diverse set of multitalented, beautiful women in a creative and dignified way.”

The Sports Illustrated appearance marks Sampaio’s latest move as a trailblazer for the transgender community in the modeling industry. Last year, Sampaio became Victoria’s Secret’s first openly trans model, and back in 2017 she became the first trans model to appear on the cover of Vogue.

“Being trans usually means facing closed doors to peoples’ hearts and minds,” Sampaio wrote. “I recognize that I am one of the fortunate ones, and my intention is to honor that as best I can.”

Sampaio’s history-making Sports Illustrated appearance marks the latest in a series of inclusive editorial decisions under longtime swimsuit issue editor MJ Day. In 2016, Day featured Ashley Graham as the magazine’s first plus-size model. Subsequent years saw the magazine’s first model to pose for the magazine in a hijab in Halima Aden, as well as Tyra Banks’s return to the swimsuit issue for the third time at the age of 45.

“Our goal in selecting who we feature is centered around identifying some of the most inspiring, interesting, and multidimensional women that we can find,” said Day. “We are deeply moved that Valentina was willing to put her trust in us,” she continued. “We didn’t think twice about wanting to amplify her voice and message and give her a platform to advocate from on behalf of her personal aspirations and the trans community.”

“Thank you SI for seeing and respecting me as I truly am. For understanding that more than anything, I am human,” Sampaio wrote. “Thank you for supporting me in continuing to spread a message of love, compassion and unity for ALL.”

Plant-Based Meat Alternatives Sell Better When Sold Beside Meat
Good news for Impossible Burger fans

Packages of "Impossible Burger" and "Beyond Meat" sit on a shelf for sale on November 15, 2019 in New York City.
ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

BY TOBIAS CARROLL / JULY 10, 2020

For years, if you were looking for a meatless alternative to burgers or sausages in your local grocery store, you’d generally find them in their own dedicated section. For the most part, this made sense — the target audience for these likely ate a vegetarian or vegan diet, and wouldn’t be in the market for ground beef or something similar.

Today, however, the target audience for products like the Impossible Burger isn’t just people who have opted out of eating meat — it’s anyone who’s looking to consume less meat, period. That could mean a lifelong vegetarian, or it could just be someone cutting back on red meat for their health. With that in mind, it’s not surprising to learn — via an article by Nic Querolo at Bloomberg — that meat alternatives sell better when sold beside meat itself.

Querolo’s article is based on a study of purchases made at 60 Kroger stores in 3 states. And the results are hard to argue with:

Consumers purchased 23% more plant-based meat on average when the products were moved into the traditional meat aisle, according to a study conducted by Kroger Co. and supported by the Plant Based Foods Association.

Plant-based alternatives to meat have been selling better during the pandemic than in the past. The article notes increases in the amount of meat alternatives sold both nationwide and at Kroger locations. While it’s not quite the same thing, it raises the question of whether we might not see a similar legal tussle to the recent one between dairy producers and companies making plant-based milk alternatives.

The results of this study suggest that the audience for meat alternatives is larger than one might expect — or at the very least, that a substantial number of shoppers are curious to try something new.

    Read the full story 

UPDATED

Bringing Back ‘Fear and Love of God’ is at Heart of Kanye West’s Bonkers 2020 Presidential Manifesto

HE IS BIPOLAR SO  WHICH GOD HE IS TALKING ABOUT?

BOTH OF THEM! AS ABOVE SO BELOW 

NOTE HE PUT THE OLD TESTAMENT 'FEAR' FIRST

HE IS OFF HIS MEDS AGAIN

TRUMPF HOPES HE TAKES VOTES AWAY FROM BIDEN IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

© REUTERS / Danny Moloshok

Billionaire rapper Kanye West threw his hat into the ring for November’s presidential elections in a tweet on the Fourth of July. West - who is married to Kim Kardashian - has endorsed Donald Trump in the past but has now come up with his own presidential agenda.

Kanye West has said he wants to restore the "fear and love of God" to US schools, if he is elected president in November.

In an interview with Forbes, Kanye West denied his plans to run for the White House was publicity stunt designed to promote his forthcoming album, God’s Country.

The rapper also claimed he had the backing of the Almighty.

this is @kanyewest on vaccines pic.twitter.com/kZE24LziIh— Molly Jong-Fast🏡 (@MollyJongFast) July 8, 2020
​He said: "God appoints the president. If I win in 2020 then it was God’s appointment. If I win in 2024 then that was God’s appointment," added West, who has suffered from mental health issues in the past.

Only weeks after tweeting “Trump 2020”, he now says he has lost confidence in the 74-year-old president.

West said he identified as a “Republican” but would have to run as an independent because Trump would get the party’s nomination.

Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla and SpaceX, endorsed him for president at the weekend and West revealed: “I proposed to him to be the head of our space programme.”

But what would he stand for, as an independent candidate?
When asked about his policies, West told Forbes: "I don’t know if I would use the word policy for the way I would approach things. I don’t have a policy when I went to Nike and designed Yeezy and went to Louis and designed a Louis Vuitton at the same time. It wasn’t a policy, it was a design. We need to innovate the design to be able to free the mind at this time."

i cant believe i live in a timeline where i even have to say this but...
DONT VOTE FOR KANYE WEST AS PRESIDENT pic.twitter.com/kh1IGGOyjH— rain (@misshemlock) July 6, 2020

​Asked about taxation, West said: "I haven’t done enough research on that yet. I will research that with the strongest experts that serve God and come back with the best solution. And that will be my answer for anything that I haven’t researched. I have the earplug in and I’m going to use that earplug."

It is not clear if Kanye West’s campaign will last beyond the end of July.

Kanye West Says He’s Post-Trump, Pro-Life and Anti-Vaxx in First Campaign Interview

He also revealed he had coronavirus back in February

Kanye West attends the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones.

BY CARL CAMINETTI / JULY 8, 2020 10:14 AM

Kanye West announced he’s running for president on the 4th of July, and despite the fact that he still hasn’t filed any actual paperwork to get on the ballot yet, he insists it’s for real. In a new, wide-ranging conversation with Forbes that the publication says spanned “four hours of rambling interviews,” West revealed that he’s done with Trump and gave his thoughts on everything from George Floyd to coronavirus.

“It looks like one big mess to me,” West said about the Trump administration. “I don’t like that I caught wind that he hid in the bunker.” Later, he added, “I am taking the red hat off, with this interview.”

The rapper also revealed that he had coronavirus in February. “Chills, shaking in the bed, taking hot showers, looking at videos telling me what I’m supposed to do to get over it. I remember someone had told me Drake had the coronavirus and my response was Drake can’t be sicker than me!”

West also admitted that he’s never voted before and just registered to vote for the first time recently. Despite that, he’s already got a running mate picked out (Michelle Tidball, a preacher from Wyoming) and a new, made-up party (called the Birthday Party). He also outlined some of his policies to Forbes, revealing that he’s pro-life (“Planned Parenthoods have been placed inside cities by white supremacists to do the Devil’s work,” he said), against the death penalty and pro-China. He also is an anti-vaxxer.

“It’s so many of our children that are being vaccinated and paralyzed,” he said. “So when they say the way we’re going to fix Covid is with a vaccine, I’m extremely cautious. That’s the mark of the beast. They want to put chips inside of us, they want to do all kinds of things, to make it where we can’t cross the gates of heaven. I’m sorry when I say they, the humans that have the Devil inside them. And the sad thing is that, the saddest thing is that we all won’t make it to heaven, that there’ll be some of us that do not make it. Next question.”

You can read the interview in its entirety here.

THE GOD OF LOVE

BECOMES JACK THE RIPPER 

Locusts: A close-up look at the swarms devouring the world's crops

EXCERPT BBC MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/resources/idt-79cb45e7-42ce-4c06-8912-bd07d2c909be

9 July 2020

Huge swarms of desert locusts are wreaking havoc in parts of East Africa, Asia and the Middle East, threatening crops, livelihoods and food supplies. It is already the worst locust infestation in decades, but the forthcoming rainy season could see numbers increase a further 20-fold in some places if swarms are not tackled.
These huge swarms can contain up to 10 billion individuals and stretch over hundreds of kilometres.

Even an average swarm can destroy crops sufficient to feed 2,500 people for a year, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Such ravenous swarms are now building up across East Africa, Yemen, Iran, Pakistan and India - and the area has been warned to be on "high alert" by the FAO.

Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia, which have already experienced the worst swarms of locusts in decades, continue to face an "unprecedented threat", the FAO says. There is also a risk they could spread to West Africa.

But the growing and migrating swarms are also now attacking vegetation in parts of the Middle East and Pakistan, as well as threatening crops in India.



And the number of locusts could increase 20 times in the forthcoming rainy season in South Asia, the FAO warns, unless extra measures to counter the swarms are put in place.

Making matters worse, many of the affected countries are already suffering from the effects of protracted crises - flooding, conflict and now the coronavirus outbreak.

"With Covid-19, it is now a double pandemic to our people," says Albert Lemasulani, a herdsman and locust tracker from northern Kenya. "Wherever they descend, they eat virtually everything. It's a nightmare."

The causes of the current infestation go back to the cyclones and heavy rains of 2018-19.

The wet, favourable conditions two years ago on the southern Arabian Peninsula allowed three generations of locusts to flourish undetected, the UN says, and a locust boom followed.

Albert Lemasulani, a herdsman from northern Kenya, helps track locust swarms

Despite ongoing control operations in several countries, recent heavy rains have led to ideal conditions for the pest's further reproduction.

Another generation of locust eggs is hatching, just as farmers in the region are beginning to harvest. This will exacerbate an already bleak food security situation in many countries, especially in East Africa, the FAO says.

The organisation is raising funds to step up control operations, but, for some, spraying has come too late.

Farmers across northern Kenya and beyond have already lost everything to the swarms.

"Every day, you get five, six, seven, 10 swarms," says Mr Lemasulani, who runs a team of volunteers coordinating the response alongside the UN and Kenyan government. "If this continues, we will be done. Our life will be done."