Category Archives: News to use

Useful news for all to advance knowledge of the world and how it works

Damaged Amazon rainforest teetering on the brink

First: the Amazon is now a net carbon source, mainly because of humans setting it on fire. Second: even subtracting emissions caused by fires, the southeastern Amazon is now a net carbon emitter.

That part of the Amazon—the heart of cattle country in Brazil, the world’s biggest producer and exporter of beef and soy—no longer needs our help to spew carbon into the air. It has started doing so all by itself.

An employee of the Sao Felix do Xingu environment department talks to a farmer to find out who is behind an illegal fire in a ne
An employee of the Sao Felix do Xingu environment department talks to a farmer to find out who is behind an illegal fire in a nearby area of Amazon rainforest.

“We’re killing the Amazon. And that’s not something our climate models have taken into account. As bad as the predictions are, they’re actually optimistic,” says Gatti.

“The Amazon has become a carbon source way sooner than anyone thought. That means we’re going to reach the horror-show scenario way sooner, too.”

Source: Damaged Amazon rainforest teetering on the brink

All Those 23andMe Spit Tests Were Part of a Bigger Plan – Slashdot (Me: customers get some information but no share of the million$, billion$ that the firm may make off of their data…)

company is collaborating on clinical trials for one compound (and nearing trials for another) that could be used for what’s known as immuno-oncology, treatments that attempt to harness the body’s complex immune system to beat cancer. 23andMe says it’s also exploring drugs with potential use in treatments for neurological, cardiovascular, and other conditions, though it declined to specify them. Last month the company bought Lemonaid Health, a telehealth and drug delivery startup that offers treatment and prescriptions for a select group of conditions, including depression, anxiety, and STDs. Source: All Those 23andMe Spit Tests Were Part of a Bigger Plan – Slashdot

Greta Thunberg, at COP26, Says Talks Are Becoming a ‘Greenwash Campaign’ – The New York Times

Speaking on the sidelines of the summit meeting, known as COP26, the 18-year-old Ms. Thunberg said the event was “sort of turning into a greenwash campaign, a P.R. campaign,” for business leaders and politicians.

“Since we are so far from what actually we needed, I think what would be considered a success would be if people realize what a failure this COP is,” Ms. Thunberg said.

Porodica kupusa – Cabbage family

Myrela

Crveni kupus: agensi koji daju ovom kupusu crvenoljubičastu nijansu najjači su pigmenti koji se bore protiv bolesti. Sumpor u kupusu nosi fitohemikalije iz ovih pigmenata u jetru s velikom lakoćom, zbog čega je crveni kupus jedna od najboljih namirnica za jetru. Štaviše, crveni kupus može da pomogne da se uspori stvaranje ožiljaka na jetri i iscijele postojeći.

Kelj: kada je vezivno tkivo pod napadom virusa, upaljeno, veoma osjetljivo i/ili slabo, to je jedan od najbržih puteva ka hroničnoj bolesti. Za osobu koja ima problem sa vezivnim tkivom, bolove ili upale zglobova, kelj je tajno oružje koje zadaje dvostruki udarac; dok njegova antiupalna jedinjenja pomažu u uništenju virusa, njegove bioraspoložive fitohemikalije stimulišu rast ćelija i proizvodnju zdravog, novog vezivnog tkiva.

Raštan: ovo povrće ima hranljive materije koje posjeduju antibakterijska dejstva. Kad skuvate raštan na pari ili ga dodate u supu, time izvlačite njegova ljekovita dejstva, tako da vam…

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On the Edge

Michael Stephen Wills Photography

After leaf fall abrupt emptiness of Taughannock Falls is visible from the south rim. Beyond, you can just make out the enormous carved limestone slabs that protect visitors from the constant infall from the gorge walls allowing them to approach the falls.

Click photograph for a larger view. To do this from WordPress Reader, you need to first click the title of this post to open a new page.

Copyright 2019 All Rights Reserved Michael Stephen Wills

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Brazil’s Indigenous Xavante strangled by agribusiness, slammed by COVID-19

  • With pressure on their native land and traditional foods, agrochemicals polluting their rivers, and a high rate of chronic disease have left the Xavante people of Brazil’s Cerrado savanna vulnerable to the pandemic.
  • Community leaders and epidemiologists point to a diet of processed foods and the loss of their game animals as key factors in the poor health outcomes for the Xavante — a problem mirrored across other Indigenous communities in Brazil.
  • The Xavante have also seen their land fragmented and increasingly hemmed in by industrial-scale soy plantations and cattle pasture, with a plan in the works to start agribusiness activities inside the reserves themselves — in direct violation of the Constitution. 

Source: Brazil’s Indigenous Xavante strangled by agribusiness, slammed by COVID-19

Freckled Smile. (Sketch)

Fire of Moods

Sketchbook: Bienfang Bristol Vellum paper Media: STÆDTLER Graphite pencils As a developing artist in portraiture, I have always wondered what an ideal and challenging reference portrait would entail. Could it be an elderly face where the mien is calm as the sea, and its wrinkles are like estuaries of flowing grace, or could it be […]

Freckled Smile. (Sketch)

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Not Enough Being Done for MMIW

I was surprised when the speakers all talked about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), sometimes expressed as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR). I was just learning much of this violence came from the man camps, the living quarters for those work on the construction of fossil fuel pipelines.

LANDBACK Friends

I was not aware of the epidemic of violence against, and the disappearance and/or murder of Indigenous women prior to getting to know some Indigenous people. I first became aware when I rode in a van, organized by Ed Fallon, to Minneapolis February 3, 2018, the day before the Super Bowl was played there. Minneapolis is the US Bank headquarters, and the Super Bowl was played in the US Bank stadium. US Bank has been involved in funding many fossil fuel projects. We gathered outside the bank offices with signs to call attention to that.

Heading for Minneapolis, Feb 4, 2018.

I was surprised when the speakers all talked about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW), sometimes expressed as Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR). I was just learning much of this violence came from the man camps, the living quarters for those work on the construction of fossil fuel…

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