On Saturday night at the ICC’s Darling Harbour theatre, that idea became a reality for a 21-year-old university student who was thrust into the spotlight at a live performance of the movie’s score – and saved a concert from derailment.
Sterling Nasa was in the audience at La La Land in Concert, a touring production where the movie – which features Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone – is projected on to a screen while a live orchestra plays the musical score in synchronisation with the film.
The performance proceeded normally until the interval, which stretched out to 40 minutes. Then the film’s Oscar-winning composer and conductor, Justin Hurwitz, walked out alone to address the audience.
The orchestra’s keyboardist had suddenly fallen ill. Was there by any chance a pianist in the house? And one with exceptional sight-reading skills?
Speaking to Guardian Australia on Monday, Hurwitz revealed that behind the scenes, quiet panic had set in during that extended interval.
“Our first thought was, is there a string player who also knows keyboard? The answer was no.”
As the orchestra’s musicians frantically phoned local contacts, offers started rolling in of backup players who were 15 to 20 minutes away. But Hurwitz knew time had run out.
“I figured nobody’s as close as they say they are … so I just thought, well, we have 2,500 people in here …
“Yes, it was a gamble.
“That’s why I asked a few times. I wanted to make sure that somebody wasn’t just overly confident. I asked a couple of follow-up questions like, ‘Are you sure? Can you really sight-read? Can you play key signatures you’ve never played before?’”
Nasa, who plays piano and organ and is the bagpipes tutor at his old school, Scots College, hesitated when the call went out.
“I was a little bit tentative,” the University of Sydney politics and international studies student told ABC Radio on Monday morning. “I do owe a lot of the experience to my friend, Scarlett, who sort of … put my hand up for me. But I did end up finding the confidence and it was a very good decision to go down and volunteer myself.”
A longtime admirer of Hurwitz’s work, Nasa suddenly found himself sitting at an electric keyboard, staring at a complex score he had never rehearsed.
The ultimate test came during the performance of the John Legend piece Start a Fire, which features an intricate synthesiser solo designed to match the erratic hand movements of Gosling’s character on screen. It was the exact moment Hurwitz was most nervous about.
“The synth solo is really technical, and I thought, even a really high-level professional sight-reader would probably not be able to do it,” he said. “As it was coming up, I was thinking, ‘Oh no, how’s he going to be able to handle the solo?’”
Nasa told the ABC he was thinking the same thing.
“I saw it on the score and I thought, oh, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sight-read that in one go,” he said.
Like Gosling’s jazz-pianist character Sebastian, the student had to decide whether to stay in the shadows or take a monumental leap of faith. With no time to overthink, he chose to trust his instincts.
“I took a little bit of a creative liberty and just decided to improvise, which I think ended up being a good choice.”
The gamble paid off, carrying the orchestra through the number – and earning Nasa a resounding ovation from the audience.
“He saw it coming up … and he just improvised,” Hurwitz said.
“That is a whole other skill on top of sight-reading. To be able to play a really cool solo in the right key, in the right scale, on the fly with no rehearsal – it was remarkable.”
The backstage debrief after the final bow was full of mutual disbelief.
“I just told him how blown away I was, and obviously how thankful I was,” Hurwitz said. “All of our heads were spinning a little bit because it was such a surreal moment.”
By Monday morning, the 21-year-old was experiencing a different kind of whirlwind, being ferried between breakfast television and radio studios to recount his sudden taste of showbiz fame.
Reflecting on the incredible turn of events, Nasa said it was an unforgettable privilege to play a soundtrack he had loved for years.
“It was quite a blessing to get to play a work that I’m in such admiration of,” he said.
While the production team is now scrambling to rehearse new keyboardists for the upcoming Melbourne and Brisbane legs of the tour, Nasa will be heading back to his regular university lectures.
But has the student missed his calling in life?
Hurwitz said that while the young Sydneysider certainly has the talent for a career in music, the choice is ultimately his to make.
“I don’t know what he’s most passionate about,” Hurwitz said. “Maybe he likes international relations a little more than music. But that’s what La La Land is about. You’ve got to do what you love the most.”
La La Land in Concert will play at the ICC Sydney on Monday, at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre on Wednesday and at the Hamer Hall in Melbourne from Friday 6 to 8 June.
The founder of a popular New York City LGBTQ+ book clubs talks queer literature, book clubs, and what she’s reading this summer for Pride Month.
“It’s so important for everyone to be reading queer books by queer authors,” Joey Lobel said. Envato/Cage Rivera/Rewire News Group
In late 2022, Joey Lobel was frustrated.
An avid reader, Lobel, a 31-year-old butcher in Brooklyn, was struggling to find queer books that didn’t have sad endings.
“I went on a little spiral and I thought, I’m sure other people are feeling the same way,” she said.
So Lobel decided to make a queer book club page on the social networking website Meetup, hoping to build community around LGBTQ+ reads. She wasn’t sure if people would show up. But “worst case scenario,” she recalled thinking, “I’m sitting at a bar with a book, which is completely fine.”
But people did show up. And in the nearly four years since the Queer Book Club started, Lobel’s book club has become a staple in New York City’s LGBTQ+ community—with monthly meetups at the Brooklyn bar Young Ethel’s and an average of between 15 and 30 participants. The book club’s one-off events, like book swaps, are popular and see upward of 60 attendees.
As summer gets underway, Lobel spoke to Rewire News Group about the importance of LGBTQ+ literature, generating a top-notch list of reads for Pride Month, and building community through books.
The following conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
What makes a book queer?
A book is queer if it’s written for queer people by queer people. There are so many books out there that have zero queer characters, or one passing queer character. And to me, that’s not necessarily considered a queer book. But any book written for us, with us in mind, I want to read.
Do you have an all-time favorite queer book or queer character?
That’s so hard. My all-time favorite queer book is In The Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado. … I read a lot of books. And a lot of times, I sort of forget immediately. Like, you’re out of that world and you’re back in your world, and you forget what happened. But In the Dream House has always stuck with me.
Is queer literature for everyone?
I definitely believe queer literature is for everyone. You can learn from anyone. You can be entertained by anyone. And it’s important that we’re able to look at viewpoints other than our own. The amount of straight books that I’ve read in my life that I’ve enjoyed is vast. I just feel like it’s so important for everyone to be reading queer books by queer authors.
And to remind publishers that queer authors are authors people want to read.
There’s such a big audience out there. There are so many queer shows right now being canceled. There are such audiences for them, and they’re still being cancelled. We have to support queer media. And straight people have to support queer media. It’s enjoyable for everyone.
How do you approach building a queer summer reading list?
The reason I love the book club for figuring out what you’re going to read is that I’m always reading books that I would never choose on my own. If it was up to me, we’d be reading cute little rom-coms where everyone falls in love at the end. I love those, and there’s definitely space in my reading list for those—a big, big chunk of space.
I also like being able to read books that other people recommend to me. I look at a lot of Instagram recommendations.
There’s just so many books out there, it’s hard to choose. I also read so much more in the summer. So I try and hoard all of the books that I want to read until it gets warm. And then I’m outside just reading all day.
Speaking of, what are three books on your summer reading list?
I read this book previously, and I definitely want to reread it. It was incredible. It’s called Fracine’s Spectacular Crash and Burn by Renee Swindle. It’s so good. It’s about a young woman who loses her mom. And there’s a really interesting relationship dynamic in there with her mom who has passed, and with this young boy that she meets that she’s protecting, and someone that she starts dating. There’s so many layers to it that I want to reread it, because I know I’m going to get more of it the second time.
Right now, I’m reading Nevada by Imogen Binnie. That’s June’s book club pick. I’m halfway through, and it’s a really great book. It’s so different from the way that I see the world. From this character’s perspective, it’s a little darker and a little chaotic—more chaotic than I’m used to—which I think makes for an interesting dynamic to read about.
I also want to read Mac Crane’s new book, A Sharp Endless Need. Their last book, I Keep My Exoskeletons To Myself, was hauntingly beautiful—and not something I would gravitate toward because it’s not the rom-com, two girls falling in love. But we read it for book club and I was entranced. And that’s why I’m so glad that I get to read books that aren’t just my normal go-tos.
But one that is my normal go-to, which I haven’t read yet, is Puck by Samantha Allen. It’s been pitched to me as a Midsummer Night’s Dream spinoff with reality TV. And I’m already invested.
What advice do you have for people who are unsure about whether book clubs are for them?
There’s a lot of reasons why people might be a little nervous to join a book club. I was worried that I would have to always public speak, which is a little tough when you’re not feeling up to it. I was also worried that it would be tough finishing a book on a timeline—it does remind me a little bit of school, in that way. (Editor’s note: Lobel’s club has a rule that not finishing the monthly book is totally fine, so long as you’re “fine with spoilers.”)
But book clubs are very welcoming. You can just go in, and talk to people.
What’s the worst that can happen? You’re surrounded by other queer people who love books.
When approaching recent historical events, where the scope of destruction and loss can be unfathomable in scale, oral history can bring both connection and immediacy through individual stories of loss, grief, rescue, or triumph that would otherwise disappear in the grand sweep of “Great Men and their Deeds.”
[T]he method enables the documentation of certain aspects of historical experience that are often missing from other kinds of historical sources. Oral historians not only interview and engage in conversation with living sources, they also find themselves challenged in a unique way—the historian is transformed into a protagonist in the dialogue. Oral history is perhaps the only field where the sources talk back to the historian, confronting, disputing, disrupting, and sometimes resisting the historian’s understanding of the past (Frisch 1990; Shopes 2012). Oral history works with the interviewee as a partner in dialogue and the verbal form historical truth can take is always co-constructed (Cook and Goodall 2013; Goodall and Cadzow 2009; Portelli 1991).
Some of the most effective (and affecting) projects using this approach concern communities that may be far outside of the audience’s experience, whether due to time, geography, or identity. Works like Shoah by Claude Lanzmann, Hard Times by Studs Terkel, and Boots of Leather, Slippers of Gold by Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy document their subjects through the voices of those who lived through specific moments and events that can be overwhelming or remain unknown without a more interpersonal method.
“Many of the best works about this disease have been produced by people at various stages of HIV infection.”
The history of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has recently become the subject of numerous oral history projects, where the stories of survivors, caregivers, activists, and health care professionals have been collected and made available online, traditionally published, and edited into documentaries.
One such collection, Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic, was begun in 2015 by the Smithsonian Archives of American Art after receiving a grant from The Keith Haring Foundation. Haring founded the foundation in 1989, a year before his death from HIV-related illness, to maintain his artistic and philanthropic legacy. The project interviewed forty artists about their lives, their work, and how the AIDS crisis intersected and permeated both.
The interviews in the Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic collection cover wide ranges of personal and creative history, ranging from insider gossip and “name-dropping” to theoretical discussions of method and art history. They benefit from interviewers who bring their own experience as artists, art scholars, and historians to the conversation, with questions and insights that make this collection a rich multifaceted history of AIDS, the arts, and activism.
as if the artist were immersed in dealing with the epidemic—as so many are. Many of the best works about this disease have been produced by people at various stages of HIV infection. Perhaps they have lost a lover, nursed a dear friend, or attended a dozen funerals at a young age, and feel themselves to be, in every sense, set apart by the experience. They are implicated. Their art signifies a collective trauma—mass death in the midst of life.
Reveal Digital, an initiative “to amplify important, long-overlooked voices of the twentieth century,” has made these histories, and more, available in their developing open access collection HIV, AIDS and the Arts.
Artists in The Early Years of the Epidemic
“I still can’t believe—I still don’t believe that AIDS even existed and wiped out our community in the ’80s, just wiped off our community from the history. It’s unbelievable to me. Everybody who held my—who carried my history is dead.” —Nan Goldin
One year later, William F. Buckley published a New York Times op-ed calling for HIV-positive people to be tattooed on the upper arm and buttocks to protect others (assuming that would protect both future sexual partners and intravenous drug users who might share needles). News reports about the disease largely focused on fear of contagion, the promiscuity and danger of gay men, and the threat of HIV to “normal” Americans.
In the interviews gathered in the Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic collection, artists describe how they first became aware of AIDS: from a loved one diagnosed after an illness; from hearing of a friend’s passing after not seeing them for a while; from a doctor telling them to stay with a partner because “there’s something going around”; or by learning of their own diagnosis. Friends were lost to the disease, and surviving family members denied the illness or sometimes actively excluded partners from funerals.
Sur Rodney (Sur), a New York City-based writer, gallery co-director, and archivist, relates that the late artist David Wojnarowicz would go to his local bodega in New York City where the clerks returned his change in a paper bag, out of fear. He describes his own anxieties when stepping in after a friend’s death to help save and archive their artworks and collections so they wouldn’t be destroyed (before there were nonprofit organizations to do so).
These personal experiences unfolded within the larger context of governmental indifference, active discrimination against people with the disease (or belonging to groups that were deemed “at risk”), and a growing consciousness of the political landscape of the epidemic. Robert Vasquez-Pacheco, a member of ACT UP and Gran Fury, recounts,
as I was becoming more and more politically aware, I became more and more pissed off, you know, because I was seeing. I was beginning to understand how women were being treated. I had an understanding, a firsthand understanding, of how people of color are treated, you know, because I knew that. But then I started to understand the institutional stuff and all of that, and consequently, as a gay man. So I started to put all of this stuff together and I was just super pissed off.
Some version of this process, repeated for many of the subjects, led people to activism, whether through art, volunteer work, protest, or sometimes all three. Nancy Brooks Brody (1962-2023), a visual artist and member of the fierce pussy collective, describes the progression in her interview.“Because when people were dying,” she explains,
we just kept going. […] You went to a funeral, and then you were out on the streets. Or you were at a meeting, and then you went to a hospital to take care of someone and feed them. Feed someone’s cats, walk their dog, help someone move. You know? These things just—we didn’t have any—I didn’t have any room or perspective on it. It was just what was happening.
The meetings she, and others, refer to were those of ACT UP New York (The AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), which began in 1987 at a community meeting where Larry Kramer asked, “How long does it take before you get angry and fight back?” Kramer, a playwright and essayist who had been covering AIDS since the beginning through journalism, had co-founded the non-profit Gay Men’s Health Crisis in 1982. His play The Normal Heart, an impassioned call to action, spurred members of the audience to meet and subsequently take part in one of the most significant and effective activist movements of the twentieth century.
Creating Art in an Epidemic
The artistic works of those interviewed are diverse, both in media and approach: photographing people living with AIDS, using détournement to turn existing works into calls to action via graphic design, or using their body to confront audiences with the existence of the disease through performance. In some cases, their illness became an essential component of their art: John Dugdale, a former commercial photographer, began using nineteenth-century methods to capture and produce his work after HIV-related retinitis and a stroke left his sight significantly impaired. Ron Athey, one of the NEA Four, used his own HIV-positive body to create work exploring sex, trauma, and desire. The place of the artist within (or outside) a community could become a contentious issue, especially at a time when representation of people with AIDS was so fraught.
Rosalind Fox Solomon, whose 1988 show Portraits in the Time of AIDS featured photographs of the subject alone or with loved ones, some with visible lesions or in the hospital, relates that her project was critically panned and called “exploitative” at the time.
Some of the most vibrant, and now iconic, images of AIDS were created as (and for) protest: Silence = Death, the work of the Silence = Death Collective (and not ACT UP, as Avram Finkelstein relates in his interview) became the primary pictorial representation of ACT UP and a rallying slogan for the fight against the disease. Keith Haring did his own take on it for a poster, adding “Ignorance = Fear” to a “See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil” scene.
Collectives like Gran Fury and fierce pussy, which organized inside the ACT UP activist group, created posters for wheat-pasting that served as art, education, and calls to action around AIDS, homophobia, health care, and visibility. Whether newsprint works of text, guerrilla-installed bus station “ads,” or rolls of stickers of bloody hands announcing “One AIDS Death Every 10 Minutes,” the art of AIDS activism used any means available to communicate the urgency of the crisis.
The Visual Arts and the AIDS Epidemic collection demonstrates the power of oral history to preserve not just historical events, but what it felt like to live in the moment and survive it when so many people did not. Together with Reveal Digital’s HIV, AIDS, and the Arts archive, the collection ensures that these voices, experiences, and creative histories continue to be available to inform and educate future generations.
June is LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in the United States, so we’ve collected some of our most popular stories on a range of topics—from pronouns to politics—that highlight the history of the LGBTQIA+ community. As always, links to free JSTOR scholarship are included with each of these.
I’m still working on “The Forsytes,” and eagerly anticipating beginning my niece’s book, “Reven Across Golden Skies”, but today I bought a book called “When Women Were Dragons,” and I’m really looking forward to that one, too. I might have to start a second book before finishing “The Forsytes” … Anyway, if you’re looking for something, the Smart Ones have a list for June:
Happy Pride Month, one and all! As usual, June is packed to the gills with queer romance, so selecting just five titles felt a nigh impossible task. While I’ve done it, I definitely encourage you to seek out the many more excellent-looking books gracing shelves this month and support as many queer creators as possible!
From the author of I’ll Get Back To You, a sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance that follows a Type-A maid of honor setting out to do the most and a Type-B bridesmaid with her life only just put-together, who must put aside their animosity to plan the wedding of the summer
On the surface, Alice has her life together. She’s got a job in music she loves; she’s firmly sober; and she’s grateful to be back in the good graces of her ex-girlfriend-once-best-friend-now-literal-only-friend Gin. Just in time, too, because Gin’s getting married this summer! And Alice gets to be a bridesmaid.
If only the maid-of-honor wasn’t Renee Type-A, the opposite of her in every way, and a long-time Alice-hater who’s clung to her animosity like a leech. Every second Alice spends around Renee makes her feel like who she used to be, rather than the person she’s spent years trying to make herself into—and she doesn’t want to be reminded of her younger self any more than she wants to be thinking, more constantly than she wants to admit, about her hair, her lips, her wit…. No, Alice has her own stuff to figure out. She still loves music, but her career feels directionless. She’s grieving the loss of her father just a year ago, to alcohol. And then she finds out that her mother’s started to date her father’s ex-bandmate, which sends her reeling…and with the wedding just around the corner, she doesn’t want to bother Gin about any of it.
It’s pure chance that Renee runs into Alice, just when she needs someone the most—and suddenly, everything shifts. Neither of them are what they assumed the other to be. Over the days and nights they’re spending helping Gin throw a DIY summer wedding of epic proportions, Alice and Renee discover that though they have nothing in common—that might be precisely what each of them need. Heartfelt and hopeful, For the Bride is a banter-filled sapphic romance with deep emotional resonance about found family, second chances, and finding love in the unexpected.
Grischow’s sophomore romance revolves around bridal party hijinks, which is already one of my all-time favorite tropes, but this one gave me alllll the feels. Protagonist Alice is still grieving not just the loss of her father but his seeming unwillingness to even try to live for her, and while she herself has reformed from her hard-partying ways, she’s grappling with the visions and memories of her other people can’t seem to shake. It’s a really lovely coming-of-age story alongside a chemistry-filled opposites attract romance, and one of my favorite romantic reads of the year so far. (snip-ordering info on the page)
Love evens the score between two tennis players in this stunning debut romance.
Recently-turned-pro tennis player Austin Hardy has been out since high school and it’s never been a big deal. That is, until he becomes the first openly gay man to compete in a Grand Slam tournament. Suddenly, being gay is a huge deal, with headlines to prove it.
Unprepared for this new spotlight, Austin’s anxiety disorder hits a breaking point, and he trips and falls at practice. Right next to the very attractive, very talented, and probably straight Diego Cruz, ranked second in the world.
The two professional rivals start a friendship off the court. But between their flirty banter, mixed signals, and looming showdown, Austin is thrown further off his game by Diego.
With the eyes of the world on Austin, the weight of history on his shoulders, and Diego across the net, he must decide whether love means nothing or if it means everything as he battles for the trophy during an electric two weeks at the US Open.
Look, I know everyone’s tired of “If you love Heated Rivalry, check out X,” but hear me out. Sports Romance. Rivals. Secretly getting to know each other and developing a physical attraction. Professional athletes of significant talent facing each other in a major competition. This is a debut that’s earned its comp to the series of the moment while also very much being its own thing, starring an already out tennis player who’s quickly rising in the ranks and being spread out over the considerably shorter time span of the US Open. I was a fan of this one from chapter one, and I’ll definitely be picking up whatever Schmit puts out next. (snip-ordering info on the page, plus More Books!)
WASHINGTON – Today, Senator Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) introduced the Redistribution Of Billions by Instituting New High-income Obligations on Overlooked Debt (ROBINHOOD) Act to close the ‘borrow’ aspect of the ‘buy, borrow, die’ tax loophole that is used by the ultra-wealthy to finance extravagant spending without paying income or capital gains taxes.
“Working and middle-class Americans are paying their fair share – they do it with every paycheck. But the billionaires in this country? They’re using legal loopholes and tricky accounting to finance private jets and yachts while most Americans struggle to afford healthcare and groceries,” said Senator Gallego. “My legislation closes a critical loophole and brings us closer to billionaires finally paying their fair share.”
The ‘buy, borrow, die’ tax loophole has three stages:
Buy: A wealthy individual buys, or is given as part of their compensation package, assets, such as stocks. This allows them to store and grow their wealth without paying taxes since the gains from these assets are considered unrealized.
Borrow: The individual then borrowstax-free cash loans, often backed by those assets, to finance their extravagant lifestyles. All the while, their assets continue to gain value.
Die: Finally, when they die, their assets are gifted to their heirs on a stepped-up basis, meaning their heirs can sell the assets without paying taxes on the capital gains accumulated during the individual’s life.
The ROBINHOOD Act closes this loophole by treating taking out a loan as a realization event, meaning the individual would have to pay taxes on capital gains equal to the loan amount. The provisions of the bill apply to taxpayers who have an income over $100 million and/or assets worth more than $1 billion.
You can find a one-page summary of the legislation HERE.
You can find a section-by-section explainer of the legislation HERE.
You can find the full text of the legislation HERE.
Companion legislation was introduced in the House by Rep. Dan Goldman (NY-10).
“While working, wage-earning New Yorkers pay income taxes on every single paycheck, billionaires live tax-free by borrowing against their stock portfolios, real estate holdings, and art collections without paying a dime in taxes on that money,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “By restoring basic fairness to our tax code and making the ultra-wealthy pay their fair share and contribute what they owe, this bill will generate revenue to invest in universal pre-K, child care, and working families instead of subsidizing billionaires’ yachts and private islands. It’s long past time for the wealthiest people in the country to pay their fair share.”
For some bizarre reason that I don’t believe anyone has figured out yet, Donald Trump showed off a graph in the Oval Office, comparing the size of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to the size of skyscrapers. Seth Meyers said, “You’re not allowed to compare horizontal to vertical. If that was the case, I-90 crushes the reflecting pool.”
Trump showed off a chart which compared the freshly-painted 2,030-foot-long pool against the 1,451-foot-high Sears Tower in Chicago, New York City’s 1,454-foot Empire State Building, and the 1,776-foot One World Trade Center. Upon seeing these comparisons, many people said, “So what?” What does the length of the Reflecting Pool compared to the size of skyscrapers have to do with anything?
You can take this incident to point out how senile Trump is becoming, but it also proves that he is surrounded by enablers because somebody had to print this graph. He’s comparing a pool to buildings, horizontal to vertical. Michael Kosta of The Daily Show said, “I’d say you’re comparing apples and oranges, but at least those are fruits.” (snip-MORE)
A group of Black Skimmers in flight resembles an aerial ballet, circling, banking, and gracefully alighting as one. Although taxonomists place this unique, long-winged waterbird in a separate genus, it’s closely related to gulls and terns.
The Black Skimmer’s most striking feature is its gaudy red-and-black bill: Both jaws are long and narrow like a knife blade, with the lower jutting out well beyond the upper. Its unique appearance lends the Black Skimmer a number of evocative folk names, including Scissor-bill, Cutwater (Cortagua or Corta-agua in South America), and Seadog (after its calls, often compared to dog barks).
This odd bill is what affords these birds their distinctive foraging style, and the name “skimmer.” A feeding skimmer flies low over the water with its beak open and lower mandible partially submerged. Where a broader bill would send a continuous spray of seawater straight down the throat of another species, the uniquely narrow mandible of the skimmer cuts through the water like a fin. When the extended lower mandible touches prey, such as a small fish, the bill’s upper mandible snaps down, securing the bird’s meal.
Another remarkable feature of the Black Skimmer is its eyes, which have large pupils that can narrow to vertical slits, like a cat’s pupils. This adaptation compensates for glare off the water’s surface and may enhance the bird’s vision as it hunts in dim light or at night.
Threats
According to the North American Breeding Bird Survey, Black Skimmers have declined in the United States by almost 90 percent since 1966. This is largely due to habitat loss and human disturbance at nesting colonies. These birds are also affected by oil spills and chemical pollution in coastal waters, and may face additional threats during the breeding season with climate change as sea levels continue to rise. (snip-MORE)
Life has been happening here with me this couple of weeks, and I have a few things I’ve picked up here and there to post when I’m busy. Most of this is positive, because why not?
Hey-today is World Environment Day! Let’s be proud to care for our home; we all get overheated.
June 5, [since 1972]
World Environment Day was established by the U.N. General Assembly to commemorate the opening of the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment in Sweden. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) was established as a result of the conference.
UNEP’s mission: To provide leadership and encourage partnership in caring for the environment by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
During congressional testimony, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said that Donald Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund, which his J6 insurrectionists/terrorists could have applied for, is dead. In the Oval Office today, Donald Trump said that he doesn’t know if it’s dead. He is lying.
The one thing that we do know for sure is that the immunity for Trump and his family from IRS audits is still alive and well. But more on that tomorrow.
The slush fund was not popular, even with Republicans, with one calling it “stupid on stilts.” Another unpopular thing, even with Republicans, is the appointment of Bill Pulte as acting Director of National Intelligence. Pulte is currently the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
When asked if he has concerns that Pulte would “weaponize” the position, given the role he has played during Trump’s second term in digging into mortgage records to see whether Trump’s political adversaries have committed fraud, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said: “We don’t need a weaponized DNI; we need professionals there.” (snip-MORE)
Recently I posted a cartoon after reading this Propublica story about the connections between a Don Jr. linked company and a $620 million Pentagon loan. We haven’t heard as much in the news during the second presidential term about the Trump family and their various grifts (probably due to Trump taking the oxygen out of the room with his various vanity projects), so I’m posting some cartoons from the first as a reminder the entire Trump family is in it all for themselves.
Andrew Paul Johnson was one of the insurrectionists who attacked the Capitol on January 6, 2021. He pleaded guilty to multiple nonviolent charges for breaching the Capitol, and was just a few months into his year-long sentence when Donald Trump gave him a pardon. Last March, he was sentenced to life in prison after a Florida jury found him guilty of five criminal charges, including molestation, lewd and lascivious exhibition, and transmission of material harmful to a minor.
Police reported that Johnson, 45, tried to keep the children quiet by telling them he would share millions of dollars in restitution money he expected to receive from the Trump regime in connection with his Jan. 6 case. Don’t worry, kids, he told them. Uncle Donald will take care of you. (snip-it’s disgusting that there is MORE just like this)
Scottie's Playtime 