Remember that for 50 or longer these hate churches have long claimed that being gay is unnatural, that two men having sex or two women having sex is unnatural because that is the phrasing in their old book. Yes the book written before people understood about germs. Now it is being shown to them it is natural. Oh crap they can’t have that. Hugs. Scottie
A new series from NBC called Queer Planet is providing fascinating looks at both homosexuality in the animal kingdom and at the people apparently incapable of even acknowledging that it exists. The trailer for the documentary series was released on May 17th and gave a preview of a “rich diversity of animal sexuality” with gay penguins, bisexual lions and sex-changing clownfish.
Despite the fact that there’s plenty of scientific basis for animals displaying homosexual behaviour (over 1500 species of animals, in fact), the trailer has caused intense outrage from conservatives who predictably think the series is pushing an agenda. Sentiments are similar in the YouTube comments for the trailer, which has been overwhelmingly swamped with dislikes. “This is actual insanity,” reads the top comment.
Read the full article. The series, narrated by Broadway star Andrew Rannells, debuts on Peacock on June 6th. The cult is busy on X declaring that they will cancel their Peacock subscriptions.
"Queer Planet" will be released in June.
The documentary by NBC is focused on "LGBTQI+ tolerance" among the animal kingdom…
Fundies: Being gay is wrong and goes against god and nature Gays: Being gay is normal, it happens in all mammals, here’s proof Fundies: LALALALA *fingers in ears*
So during Easter there’s always a bunch of Jesus programming that I can stream if I choose.
I choose not to.
That doesn’t mean I feel that I have the right to not allow anybody else to stream these programs. Do I get butt hurt over it? No, I don’t even mention it to friends and family.
I don’t know how these people can have such a narrow world view
Who writes a book in which they brag about shooting an overly-excited puppy because it wasn’t behaving according to a hunts-woman’s expectations? Kristi Noem, the governor of South Dakota, that’s who. It appears it’s part of her ambition to be Trump’s running mate. It also appears to be backfiring. Lyrics by Greg Trafidlo, music performance and video by Don Caron Executive Producers Don Caron and Jerry Pender
The cochineal is a tiny insect deeply rooted in the history of Oaxaca, Mexico. Female cochineals spend most of their lives with their heads buried in juicy cactus pads, eating and growing. After cochineals die, their legacy lives on in the brilliant red hue produced by their hemolymph. Dyes made from cochineal have been used in textiles, paintings, and even in your food!
Hi. Grand post, great videos, I love them. Ten Bears and I have already talked about this here. But MPS posted far more than I did on it. How anyone can watch the elephants and not see thinking, loving, communicating, caring, grand beings in what we humans call a herd. Oh how I wonder how they refer to most of us. On one side note. When I posted this, I referred to the man who moved under one of the larger elephants. This is why it is important to read comments on sites, this person seen something I missed. I marveled that the man who is a fragile creature was so comfortable being that surrounded by these huge beings. The comment put a new view of what was happening. Again it is so loving. Hugs. Scottie
w3ski4me says:
Elephants are way cool. They communicate, they have rituals, they protect the herd. So much we puny humans don’t understand. On another note. When the herd trotted up to the rescue truck, there was one youngish guy among the Elephants and in sandals I think. An Elephant raised a leg to shelter the human which I thought was exceptionally gentle.
Study confirms Altria, Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Coca-Cola are worst offenders
Plastic pollution on a Welsh beach. Volunteers collected and surveyed plastic waste across 84 countries over five years. Photograph: Paul Quayle/Alamy
Fewer than 60 multinationals are responsible for more than half of the world’s plastic pollution, with six responsible for a quarter of that, based on the findings of a piece of research published on Wednesday.
The researchers concluded that for every percentage increase in plastic produced, there was an equivalent increase in plastic pollution in the environment.
“Production really is pollution,” says one of the study’s authors, Lisa Erdle, director of science at the non-profit The 5 Gyres Institute.
An international team of volunteers collected and surveyed more than 1,870,000 items of plastic waste across 84 countries over five years: the bulk of the rubbish collected was single-use packaging for food, beverage, and tobacco products.
Less than half of that plastic litter had discernible branding that could be traced back to the company that produced the packaging; the rest could not be accounted for or taken responsibility for.
“This shows very, very, very well the need for transparency and traceability,” says a study author, Patricia Villarrubia-Gómez, a plastic pollution researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre. “[We need] to know who is producing what, so they can take responsibility, right?”
The branded half of the plastic was the responsibility of just 56 fast-moving consumer goods multinational companies, and a quarter of that was from just six companies.
The two tobacco companies Altria and Philip Morris International combined made up 2% of the branded plastic litter found, both Danone and Nestlé each produced 3% of it, PepsiCo was responsible for 5% of the discarded packaging, and 11% of branded plastic waste could be traced to the Coca-Cola company.
“The industry likes to put the responsibility on the individual,” says the study’s author, Marcus Eriksen, a plastic pollution expert from The 5 Gyres Institute.
“But we’d like to point out that it’s the brands, it’s their choice for the kinds of packaging [they use] and for embracing this throwaway model of delivering their goods. That’s what’s causing the greatest abundance of trash.”
The Guardian approached Altria, Philip Morris International, Danone, Nestlé, PepsiCo and The Coca-Cola Company.
The Coca-Cola Company said: “We care about the impact of every drink we sell and are committed to growing our business in the right way.” It has pledged to make 100% of its packaging recyclable globally by 2025, and to use at least 50% recycled material in packaging by 2030.
Nestlé said it has reduced its virgin plastic usage by 14.9% in the last five years, and supports schemes around the world to develop waste collection and recycling schemes.
“Since launching our voluntary commitments to address plastic waste five years ago, we have significantly outperformed the market at large in reducing virgin plastic and increasing recyclability, according to the most recent report from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation,” it said.
The company also supports the creation of a global legally binding regulation on plastic pollution which is being negotiated this week.
Danone said: “We continue to strive to reduce our own plastic footprint – between 2018-2023 we reduced our plastic use by 8% equivalent to 62 000 tons and increased the recyclability of our packaging (84% of our packaging is recyclable, reusable or compostable). We continue to support and push for improved collection and recycling infrastructures to help consumers recycle.” They also support “an ambitious and binding … UN Global Plastic Treaty which would represent a major opportunity to unlock and accelerate progress on plastics circularity.”
Both PMI and Altria contest the accuracy of the data collected.
Plastic in the Depths: how pollution took over our oceans
Read more
However, while many of these companies have taken voluntary measures to improve their impact on plastic pollution, the experts behind the study argue they are not working. Plastic production has doubled since the beginning of 2000 and studies show only 9% of plastic is being recycled.
When the team collected data on self-reported yearly plastic packaging production for each of these multinational companies and compared it with the data from their 1,500-plus litter surveys, their statistical analysis showed that every 1% increase in plastic production was directly correlated with approximately a 1% increase in plastic pollution.
“Actually seeing this one-to-one increase, I was like, wow,” says a study author, Kathy Willis, a marine socio-ecologist from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Australia.
“Time and time again from our science we see that we really need to be capping how much plastic we are producing.”
However, Kartik Chandran, an environmental engineer at Columbia University, who was not involved in the research, said that while this new data was striking, the observation that 1% plastic production was equal to 1% plastic pollution was “a bit unrealistic” and “simplistic”.
He said the data did not consider plastic pollution in China, Korea and Japan, nor take into consideration recycling or clean-up initiatives under way.
A better analysis could be based on the net plastic flows into plastic production – also accounting for credits from the reuse of plastic materials – and the net plastic load ascribed as plastic pollution.
The team behind the study, some of whom are participating in the talks being held in Ottawa this week to discuss a UN Treaty for Plastic Pollution, said their findings emphasised the urgent need for a globally binding treaty focusing on production measures.
The talks will run to Monday, and Luis Vayas Valdivieso, the Ecuadorian ambassador to the UK, told the Guardian earlier this week he was hopeful that countries would come together to secure an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution.
“It is very important we are negotiating this treaty now. The world is in a triple crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. But while there are agreements in place for the first two, we have no legislation, no global agreement on plastic pollution.”
Thank you, Annie, for posting this. Anyone who think other animals don’t have feelings, needs, and intelligence have never watched or been with animals. Each to their species and their way, but I watched a video recently where they showed bees can count and recognize shapes including solving complex tasks required to get the food. Hugs. Scottie
Well said Ten Bears, well said. I grew up around farms. We often had to deal with animals for the good, the bad, and the ugly. No one bragged about it, no one liked to do it, and people cared for the animals so we worked to find the best ways to move forward without destroying an animal. We did not just kill them because it was easiest. Every pet I have had no matter how it hurt I was there for them at their end of life, holding them as a vet did what was needed. Even as a young child, I held my dog because my damn abusive parents couldn’t be bothered to, as a vet cleaned, cut, stitched deep wounds from her getting hit by a car. But as cruel as the right has become they might just adore her for her cruelty, lack of empathy, and good gun play. Hugs. Scottie
This is my second attempt to post this, as after I started to post it I realized I might be able to use WordPress’s system of block editor against them. I did not mean for the first one to post but in trying to save it for this one it posted. Sorry. Hugs. Scottie
For those that don’t follow or subscribe to the comments on the blog here, you miss out on the grand comments but the wonderful links a few people like Ali leave knowing they help lift my spirits when I am feeling down or when things crash over me. This was one Ali left a few days ago that because I took one of the few very rare days that I stayed in bed rather than be dragged out by pain or nightmares to stay in bed until 8 am this morning. Even was Ron was shocked when he opened his eyes and seen me there. His first response was “Was I OK” as I rarely if ever stay in bed past 5 am. I honestly can not remember the last time I did. He got really worried until I assured him I was fine, but after not sleeping more than a few hours for the last few nights I managed to do so, and even had good dreams. I know most folks don’t remember their dreams, I wish a lot of times I did not, but most of the time I remember mine, sadly the abusive ones are the most vivid and stay with me long after waking up. Anyway here is the wonderful environmental news that Ali sent me. Hugs. Scottie
1 of 6 |
Divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
2 of 6 |
A fish swims in a coral reef as divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
3 of 6 |
Divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
4 of 6 |
Divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
5 of 6 |
Divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
6 of 6 |
Divers with gloved hands gently nestled the first self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project amongst their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, eastern Netherlands, Monday, April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)Read More
BY MOLLY QUELL
Updated 3:53 AM EDT, April 26, 2024
ARNHEM, Netherlands (AP) — Just like the animals on Noah’s Ark, the corals arrived in a pair.
On Monday, divers with gloved hands gently nestled the self-bred corals from the World Coral Conservatory project among their cousins in Europe’s largest coral reef at the Burgers’ Zoo in the Netherlands.
“This is the first project where we started to keep these corals with a known origin. As we know exactly where they’re coming from, they have the potential to be placed back into the wild. … So it is very important to keep these corals, as it’s going not very well in the wild,” Nienke Klerks, a biologist at the Royal Burgers’ Zoo in Arnhem, told The Associated Press.
It’s among several projects worldwide seeking to address the decline of coral reef populations, which are suffering from bleaching caused by rising sea temperatures. Corals are central to marine ecosystems, and while these projects won’t stem the tide of damage from human-caused climate change, they are seen as part of broader solutions.
The World Coral Conservatory hopes to create a bank of corals in aquariums across Europe that could be used to repopulate wild coral reefs if they succumb to the stress of climate change or pollution.
Along with two zoos in France and the originator of the project — the Monaco Scientific Center — the zoo in the east of the Netherlands took in more than a dozen coral fragments from off the coast of Seychelles in east Africa.
The Dutch zoo has been propagating the corals since 2022, allowing them to grow in a highly regulated environment before they were large enough to join the rest of the reef.
“We test it behind the scenes … what works for these corals. In that way, we know where to place them and how to keep them,” zookeeper Pascal Kik said.
Each diver held up a coral — one that resembled a large mushroom, the other a decorative cookie — to be photographed by reporters before placing them on a ledge near the center of the 8-million-liter (2.1-million-gallon) tank.
Few of the other corals at the zoo come from the wild. They are either shared by other zoos or turned over by Dutch customs officers after being confiscated. Coral poaching is a major threat to coral reefs in parts of Asia.
That would make it difficult to return the corals to the wild. But the team knows exactly where their 14 corals came from, making it more likely they could be successfully reintroduced if needed.
Corals area keystone marine species, according to Mark Eakin, executive secretary for the International Coral Reef Society. Eakin, retired coral monitoring chief at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, says that around 25% of marine animals spend some part of their lives dependent on coral reefs.
That makes projects such as the one in Arnhem all the more important to pursue, he said.
“We are in a situation where we really need to be taking any possible action we can,” Eakin told AP.
Earlier in April, scientists from the NOAA and International Coral Reef Initiative said that coral reefs around the world are experiencing global bleaching for the fourth time.
Bleaching occurs when coral under stress expels the algae that gives them their vibrant colors. The algae is also a coral’s food source, and if the bleaching lasts for too long or is too severe, the coral could die.
Terry Hughes of Australia’s James Cook University, an expert on the Great Barrier Reef, argues that the world needs faster, bolder efforts to stop the damage from climate change, instead of small-scale restoration projects like this one.
“You can’t replace a magnificent ecosystem with an aquarium,” he said.
Others say every little bit helps.
“Coral reefs would be one of the first systems to totally collapse due to climate change,’’ said Ronald Osinga, a marine biologist who specializes in corals at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
“It’s sad that it has to be like this,” said Osinga, who is not involved in the Dutch zoo initiative. But projects like this are a “good backup plan.”
Scottie's Playtime 