All posts by nedhamson

Activist, writer, researcher, addicted to sharing information and facts.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg marches with students in Hamburg

47736059_401.jpg

Greta Thunberg, the activist who began school strikes over climate change, marched with students in Hamburg. The movement has gained worldwide traction, with tens of thousands of students participating.

Donald Trump has a new fixer: House Republicans | Wajahat Ali

collective POS

5472.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

How long will the Republican party continue to do Donald Trump’s bidding?

With Michael Cohen testifying in front of the House oversight and reform committee, congressional Republicans were gifted with another opportunity to sink lower in their moral abyss due to their self-immolating fealty to Donald Trump.

Cohen, who has pleaded guilty to multiple crimes, including campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, testified under oath to reveal details about his relationship with Trump, whom he has generously referred to as a “conman”, “cheat”, “racist” and “liar”.

Continue reading…

US commits to aiding Philippines in South China Sea

Who’s the spider and who’s the fly? US backing killer President?

3835.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

Mike Pompeo says US will defend Philippines against ‘armed attack’ by China

The US secretary of state has committed Washington to aiding the Philippines in the event of an “armed attack” on its vessels or aircraft in the disputed South China Sea, in what some see as a warning shot to China.

Speaking in Manila after meeting the president, Rodrigo Duterte, Mike Pompeo told the Philippines: “We have your back” and invoked the two countries’ mutual defence treaty.

Continue reading…

We now know the great prize of Brexit: becoming Trump’s prey | Jonathan Freedland

1562.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=forma

The US would give us a great trade deal, we were told. This week the president has shown how volatile and untrustworthy he is

Shall we take a gentle amble down memory lane, a nostalgic trip back to the heady days of the referendum campaign of 2016? So many sweet promises were murmured into our ear, it can be hard to remember them all. No talk then of shelling out £33m to settle a legal case with Eurotunnel or ferry contracts for companies with no ferries, or spending billions to prepare for the cataclysm of a no-deal departure. No, back then it was all cash bonanzas of £350m a week and assurances that Brexit would be smooth and seamless – the Europeans needed us more than we needed them, after all – so that, by the time 23 June 2016 came around, voting leave seemed like a painless, risk-free option. Not only was there nothing to lose, there was so much to gain. And top of the list was a big, shiny trade deal with the United States of America.

“Within two years,” vowed the soon-to-be Brexit secretary, David Davis, a few short weeks after the vote, “we can negotiate a free trade area massively larger than the EU.” A deal with the US, along with China, would “give us a trade area almost twice the size of the EU”, he gushed, apparently unaware that, under European law, it was illegal for a Britain that had not formally exited the EU to so much as enter talks with those nations, let alone sign an agreement with them.

Continue reading…

The Italian Farmer Returning Chickens to the Wild

article-image

Chickens as we know them are a human invention. The most common chicken species, Gallus gallus domesticus, owes its existence to the domestication of four species of wild jungle fowls, a group of colorful birds that once roamed the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. As early as 10,000 years ago, people began to keep these jungle-roaming creatures for everything from egg-laying to bird-fighting. Today, poultry is the second most common type of meat around the world after pork. But most contemporary chickens no longer enjoy the freedom of their distant cousins.

Massimo Rapella, a 48-year-old chicken farmer from northern Italy, is helping chickens rediscover their wild side. Since 2009, Rapella and his wife Elisabetta have been keeping an estimated 2,100 hens in a patch of pristine Alpine forest near Sondrio, in the heart of the Valtellina valley. Visiting their farm feels like stepping into an enchanted mountain kingdom, albeit one ruled by fluffy birds.

article-image

From Milan, it takes a little more than an hour to drive up to Rapella’s estate, along a scenic route that offers dramatic views of Lake Como. His farm could be mistaken for one of the many pasture huts kept by cow farmers in this part of the Alps. But the sound of clucking and a “Chicken Crossing” sign reveal the farm’s true purpose: producing Alpine eggs.

Rapella, though from the area, hasn’t always been into animal husbandry. “I became a chicken farmer by accident,” he says. He used to run an education NGO with his wife in the nearby town of Sondrio. When the 2008 financial crisis hit, the Italian government cut funding for social enterprises and the couple decided to move to the mountains. Shortly after relocating, Rapella and his wife started keeping a few chickens to provide eggs for their own consumption. But soon enough they noticed some unexpected behavior from their flock. “Our chickens liked roaming around the nearby woods,” Rapella explains. “So I encouraged them to venture out and lay eggs in the wild.”

article-image

A few months later, Rapella saw that the birds looked healthier—with shiny feathers and bright-colored wattles—and that their eggs had a fuller taste. “I started wondering if I could take on more chickens and create an ‘Alpine egg’ to sell in local markets,” he says. Today, he sells his uovo di selva, or egg of the woods, to about 400 direct consumers and 40 restaurants.

Though he’s far from the steamy jungle, Rapella’s success may be rooted in the genetic heritage of the common chicken. “The main ancestor of the chicken, the red jungle fowl, was a wild-roaming bird,” says Phillip J. Clauer, an assistant teaching professor of animal science at Penn State University. “It would ward off predators and forage for food in the wild.”

article-image

Red jungle fowls, like most wild birds, only lay eggs twice a year. But domestic chickens can lay eggs nearly every day. That’s because humans adapted them to do so. The first evidence of human-induced egg production goes back to ancient Egypt, with “incubation ovens” built to hatch chicks, freeing up hens to produce more eggs. Other techniques included record keeping and genetic selection. “Humans started to keep records of which birds lay eggs more frequently, and would selectively incubate eggs of those birds only,” Clauer explains. Selection for meat production worked in a similar fashion.

But their food use was not the only reason that led to the domestication of wild fowls. Religion also played a role. Roosters were considered a sacred bird in many ancient cultures, from China to the Roman Empire. Priests used chicken sacrifices to quell demons, and watched them feed to predict the outcomes of war. Another use for chickens was fairly unholy: cockfighting, the practice of watching two roosters battle each other. Many species of European chickens were developed out of “fighting birds” transported from Asia.

article-image

But with human domestication came the loss of crucial survival skills. Most domestic chickens today would not find themselves at home in a forest: at least, not immediately. “The first large batch of chickens I took in looked very lost,” Rapella says. “They had never seen a tree nor a bug in their life, and they were scared of snow.” Initially, the hens lingered just outside their coops. But after a few weeks, one intrepid hen ventured out into the depths of the woods and showed the way for the rest of the flock. One month later, they were all trekking through the chestnut forest at their disposal.

Soon, they started to display some of the behaviors of their ancestors. Red jungle fowls are omnivorous foragers. They feast on leaves and bugs they find in the forest. So do Rapella’s chickens. “They eat whatever they find in the undergrowth,” he explains. “Mostly chestnuts, leaves, worms, and ants.” Dust baths are a common grooming technique practiced by wild and domesticated fowl alike. When chickens roll in the dust, they’re cleaning off parasites, Rapella notes as we pass by a group of hens rubbing their feathers onto the ice-covered ground.

article-image

But some pre-domestication traits can’t be recreated. While wild jungle fowl can “lightly coast from branch to branch,” Clauer says, domestic chickens bred by humans to bear more meat are too heavy. Even their plumage can prove a problem. Humans had no interest in breeding predator-resistant birds. “White birds really stand out to predators,” Clauer says. Rapella keeps two different breeds of chicken: Hy-Line brown hens and the easy-to-spot white Leghorns. While he once lost the occasional chicken, now he relies on a double fence and two trained Maremma sheepdogs to keep badgers, martens (a weasel-like carnivore), foxes, and buzzards at bay.

Rapella’s chickens lay eggs almost every day, like any domesticated chicken, but they do so in the woods. “They like natural nests offered by tree roots or branches,” he says. “Usually when you spot a cranny with some leaves, you know there could be eggs.” Once a hen finds her favorite nesting spot, she goes back to it for each subsequent laying, making Rapella’s egg-hunting easier. Together with two employees, he gathers an estimated 1,000 eggs every morning.

article-image

His uovo di selva tastes like egg, but concentrated. There’s more flavor to it, and also more protein, due to the bug-filled diet of the chickens. As a result, when chefs whip the whites from Rapella’s protein-rich eggs, they get three times the volume. The egg yolk can even change with the seasons. In autumn, when chickens feast on tannin-rich chestnuts fallen from the trees, it takes on a darker color and richer taste. The difference is perhaps best appreciated when tasting Rapella’s homemade egg pasta. The flavor is so rich, it almost can be eaten plain. The idyllic, active life that Rapella’s chickens enjoy might have something to do with it.

Indeed, Rapella’s birds are spared from the stressful situations that can arise from being cooped up. According to Cauer, chicken farmers often have to deal with aggression issues amongst their flocks, even to extremes such as cannibalism. But Rapella hardly ever sees hostile behavior in his own flock. “Chickens are social creatures, so they tend to form groups of 15, 20 hens,” Rapella says. “Each gang finds its spot in the forest and sticks to it.” His Leghorns seem to be more individualistic. He often finds them perched on tree branches by themselves.

article-image

According to Paul Wheaton, a permaculture expert who runs a popular blog on farming, keeping chickens in a setting that recreates their original forest habitat is best for both animal welfare and feeding costs. Yet most of the 50 billion domesticated chickens around the world live in enclosed environments. Wheaton notes that this goes against the natural predisposition of chickens. “I see people build massive, elaborate stuff for raising chickens that deprive them of fresh foods or bugs even in the summer,” he writes.

The only issue he identifies with Rapella’s approach is the erosion of ground nutrients caused by chicken excrement. According to Rapella, though, his Alpine location spares him this problem. “We are on a slope so whenever it rains, it washes everything down.” Plus, chestnut trees thrive on highly acidic terrain, so acidic chicken excrement acts as manure. A few years ago, a damaging insect infestation hit the surrounding area. While it killed off many chestnut trees, Rapella’s forest was spared. He thinks it’s thanks to chicken poop. “It’s really an ecosystem between plants and birds,” he says.

article-image

In Rapella’s forest, chickens are kept in far more humane conditions than most chicken farms and enjoy better living conditions than many feral chickens out in the wild. While his product has proved popular, Rapella refuses to replicate his model. Free-range farmers from around Italy have asked him to set up wild chicken farms in other parts of the country. “But I always say no.” The secret to his success, he thinks, is this very land. “My eggs were born out of this forest here in Valtellina,” he says. “It would never be the same elsewhere.”

Feminist Palestinian lawmaker free after 20 months in prison without trial | +972 Magazine

“I still do not know what I was arrested for, I was only told that I am dangerous,” Jarrar said during a reception in Ramallah on Thursday afternoon. “This is what we have always said when it comes to administrative detention — that it’s arbitrary. That it’s always political. Therefore we demand to put an end to this illegal practice.”

Source: Feminist Palestinian lawmaker free after 20 months in prison without trial | +972 Magazine