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Japanese Scientists Lead The Experimentation Of Building Wooden Satellites For A Sustainable ...

Thu, 21 Jan 2021 18:28:46 GMT

Google Earth

Japan will launch a wooden satellite into space by 2023 in order to study how the organic material will react outside our atmosphere.

By doing so, wooden satellites would be a safer alternative to harmful metal ones by cutting down on space junk that is currently orbiting earth in a significant amount. All the space junk will likely be a problem in the near future for spacefarers.

Kyoto University’s researchers and space experts, with a former Japanese astronaut among them are working side by side with the Sumitomo group. This company that has been in business for nearly 400 years are developing and testing several special kinds of wood that will most likely survive the harsh environment of space.

This new innovation also known as the LignoStella project explains the benefits of replacing the satellites with wood in this translated press release:

“Since wood transmits electromagnetic waves and geomagnetism, if the artificial satellite is made of wood, an antenna and attitude control device can be installed inside the satellite, and the satellite structure can be simplified. The wooden artificial satellites that enter the atmosphere after the operation is completed will be completely burned out. This will lead to the development of cleaner and environmentally friendly artificial satellites that do not generate minute substances (alumina particles) that can be a source of [air pollution] during combustion.”

Because these particles will be floating in the air for many years to come, researcher at the Kyoto University Space Research Unit and visitor to the International Space Station, Takao Doi founded a new field called “Basic Research on the Practicality of Wood Resources in Space,” because he worries that the space junk will have bad effects on life on earth.

Doi told BBC:

“We are very concerned with the fact that all the satellites which re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere burn and create tiny alumina particles which will float in the upper atmosphere for many years.”

At present, there is an estimation of 6,000 satellites orbiting the earth, and thousands more that will be launched in the near future, 1,000 of those from Elon Musk’s universal internet access program, Starlink.

The LignoStella project gives hope that scientists from Kyoto University whom are leading the research and development of unique building materials will succeed and can eventually create more sustainable societies in space.

For thousands of years, wood has been used in every way possible and so it may be appropriate to employ this versatile material in space as well.

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The Phoenix Local Government’s Genius Solution To Saving Farms And Local Businesses While ...

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 18:59:51 GMT

Experience Nutrition

All over the world, you will find individuals thinking of innovative ways to support their family, friends and peers throughout the coronavirus pandemic. The good thing is, so have governments. In Phoenix Arizona, their local government has miraculously been able to save a huge number of farm and restaurant businesses – while giving free meals to those in need at the same time.

From July to December 2020, the Feed Phoenix program were able to provide more than 50,000 meals to residents, which is only the beginning of this amazing charity.

Back in April, the city received its CARES Act federal funding, and while they could have just directed the money to local food banks, they decided to instill the help of nonprofit group, Local First Arizona in ordered to have a more holistic approach in dealing with the city’s food system.

As a result, the Feed Phoenix program has been a great success as they connect struggling farmers with restaurants and caterers that are looking for more business during the pandemic. This nonprofit buys the produce directly from farms and then pays the restaurants to cook and deliver meals to those citizens in need – for free.

There are 30 locations where the meals are distributed in like food banks, where they can be eaten free of charge. The best part is, all this food is fresh and ready-to-eat which makes it more nutritious than the usual canned and processed items one finds in these places due to low budgets.

Cronkite News

Local First Arizona was in a great position to have been offered this project because of their past work. This charity has been supporting 3,000 locally-owned businesses and promoting residents to buy local for years.

The nonprofit founder and executive director, Kimber Lanning told Bloomberg that:

“The city could have awarded one very large contract to one very large company to just prepare all of those meals. Instead, we decided to create a program to touch as many businesses as possible.”

Maria Parra Cano, chef at Sana Sana Foods said that they were forced to shut down restaurant operations because of the pandemic. “This program has helped us feed our community—but in my commercial kitchen (that) we activated again through this grant,” she said. They have now been making hundreds of vegetarian burritos for Feed Phoenix events throughout the year.

While funds were only given until January 2021, the city council has designated enough money to fund Local First Arizona until spring because of its great success. After the pandemic, the impact of this charity will be still be felt because of the connections that have been forged between farms and local restaurants who will be continually working together.

Roseanna Albright, Phoenix environmental programs coordinator told Bloomberg that “what is going to be left behind is a stronger community food network. Restaurants realize the value and excellent product that can be delivered by our farmers, and they want to continue those connections.”

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A Florida School Cop Who Texted A 14-Year Old Asking for ‘Sexy Pics’ Is Confronted By The ...

Tue, 19 Jan 2021 02:20:35 GMT

The Daily Dot

It is widely known that there are rogues in uniform, particularly the men in blue. Many have heard or seen for themselves police abuse and brutality, which has led to wide unrest and protests all over the country. But it’s not just all about police brutality, there lurks a more sinister villain, the predator.

Recently, a Florida police officer has been placed on administrative leave after he was exposed sending lewd messages to a young girl. It was confirmed by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office that a cop assigned to the Clay County School District had been placed on administrative leave following a Facebook Live video of a man confronting the officer for his inappropriate text messages to the man’s 14 year old niece.

The man was by no means just an ordinary citizen, he is Nathan Waits, president of the citizen watchdog group “Waits List” which is an organization that exposes would-be pedophiles and child sex offenders by pretending to be children on social media. Waits List considers itself on its website, to be “a group of professionally trained individuals located out of Jacksonville, FL.”

The would-be predator cop has been identified as Allan Reese, a Clay County School District police officer working at a local elementary school. In the dramatic video, Waits angrily confronts Reese over the text messages.

“You know my 14-year old niece,” he tells the cop. “You know, the one you want sexy bikini pictures from? The one you wanna wrestle and meet at her parents’ house when her mother is not home? Do I need to pull up the chats?” Waits continues, “ I’ve got her phone right here, so what are we going to do about this?You’re a L.E.O. Are you kidding me? Do you think that’s inappropriate, to ask her for sexy bikini pics?”

The video shows the officer, who was wearing facial covering, visibly stunned throughout Waits’ accusations. Waits angrily continued, “You’re a disgrace to LEO! I back the blue, I work with law enforcement constantly. You’re a disgrace. You should take that badge off,’1042’, take your belt off and take your a** home.”

Waits also claimed that the group had previously attempted to share the illicit messages with a detective from the Clay County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), back in October, to no avail. The group explains, “Our goal is to hunt down your local Sex Trafickers, Child Predators, and Pedophiles from all around our great country. All the information we gather is turned over to that subject’s local authorities or the FBI. We are here to keep our children safe and all parents aware!”

The release of the video surely prompted the sheriff’s office to take action. However, the spokesman for CCSO, Andrew Ford, said “The Clay County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of these allegations yesterday and we are still in our investigation’s preliminary stages. We can tell you that Mr. Waits did not notify the sheriff’s office in October or speak to any of our investigators before yesterday. Mr. Waits sent a text message to a sheriff’s office landline phone, and therefore our office did not receive his complaint information.”

The Clay County District Schools Police Department also confirmed they also were investigating the incident. Spokeswoman Nicole Young said, “The Clay County District Schools Police Department Officer referenced in the post has been placed on administrative leave indefinitely pending the results of an internal investigation by Clay County District Schools Police Department and an outside investigation by the Clay County Sheriff’s Office.”

Still, Wait is outraged, as he should be.”He said very inappropriate things…like I said on the video, asking about sexy bikini pictures. Why would you ask that from a 14-year old?”

Typically, the group does not initiate contact with would-be predators. Instead, like the officer on the video, unwittingly stumble into trap profiles by Waits List. “We don’t get alerted to anybody, they come to us. They find our profiles, they friend request us, they follow us. And then they initiate the chats.”

Some menaces to society have to be trapped to come out of hiding. With the help of social media, this has become more plausible, and the guilty should be charged, to say the least.

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A Witness Captures On Camera Footage Of A Cop Punching His Crying Police Canine Companion

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 04:57:09 GMT

Sports Grind Entertainment

Sometimes we just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or in reverse, at the right place at the right time. However you look at it, this happened to Robert Palomino, a witness to a disturbing scenario. He was dumbfounded to see a cop punching his crying police canine companion. And he captured it on camera. Photos and video show a policeman atop his police dog, punching the animal, with the dog crying, most likely from the pain.

Palomino said he was caught by surprise at what he saw, with the cop repeatedly punching the dog. It was hearing the animal’s cries which prompted him to notice the incident. “I hear the crying and it caught my attention. As I looked over, I see an officer punching over and over a dog,” Palomino explained to a news station. And it was not just a dog, it was the police officer’s canine companion. These animals are considered to be police officers as well, and utmost respect is given to them, being considered as partners in law enforcement. Would a cop punch his own partner?

“The dog was crying like somebody was running him over or something like that,” Palomino added. “ It was bad crying.” surely that is a sign the animal was in pain and distressed. Palomino also noted that his footage he captured was only at the end of the incident. “ Unfortunately, I only record the one punch. But the reason I pulled my phone is because of the hard beating the dog was taking from the officer. Before I pulled my phone, I saw the officer…(punch the dog) around ten times and that’s the reason why it made me pull my phone,” he said. Truly a disturbing sight.

However, the Vacaville Police Department explained that the police officer was just doing “routine training” and teaching the dog “who’s in-charge” by establishing dominance. Furthermore, they claimed the dog was examined by a veterinarian and showed no signs of injury or distress. Really?

Vacaville Police Captain Matt Lydon, in an interview with ABC 7 explained that the dog apparently became angry when his toy was taken away from him, and that he tried to bite the officer. Though the officer was not bitten, the animal became hostile, and the officer had to take action. “and then the dog, in turn, lunged at the officer and attempted to bite the officer,” Lydon added. “It’s important that the handler has to have complete control over that K-9 to ensure public safety.”

In a statement released by the Vacaville Police Department, the K-9 unit seen in the footage was removed from his handler’s care and “has been placed in the care of a third party outside of the Vacaville Police Department.” A later statement on its Facebook page, the police department explained that K-9 units “are not pets” and can be treated in many ways that pet owners would see as abusive.

“Although our canines appear to be pets, just like the ones we all have at home; they are quite different in many ways. If left unguided by a handler, the decisions they make could lead to the injury of the dog, an officer or an innocent community member. All training programs are not alike and need to be tailored to the needs of the specific dog and handler. This is generally achieved by a careful balance of physical discipline and reward based training,” the statement read.

You can just imagine the comments and angry posts demanding accountability for the officer, and further assistance for the distressed animal. Many also called for the banning of this type of aggressive (to say the least) K-9 “training” in police departments.

Cruelty to animals is still frowned upon, no matter if the animal is a “pet” or not. Furthermore, if it happens to be a loyal K-9 companion in a police force. Police brutality has been a problem of many police forces. Now, they have one against their own.

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50,000 Year-Old Frozen Body Of Extinct Woolly Rhino Was Found By Researchers In Siberia

Fri, 15 Jan 2021 05:43:00 GMT

Sakha Today

Some discoveries always seem to amaze us. Like the 50,000 year-old remains of a rare woolly rhinoceros trapped in the permafrost in Siberia. The frozen body was excavated from the Abyisky district of the Sakha Republic. The remains were first discovered by a local in Siberia, Alexei Savin, as reported by the news.

Savin actually stumbled upon the frozen carcass while walking near the Tirekhtyakh River in Yakutia, Siberia, some months back. What is amazing is that this woolly rhino was found close to the site where a previous baby woolly rhino named Sasha was discovered back in 2014. Woolly Rhinos were believed to have been prevalent in Russia, Europe, and northern Asia thousands upon thousands of years ago until they became extinct.

The young woolly rhino would have been around 3-4 years old when it perished, presumably from drowning. This is according to paleontologist Albert Protopopov of the Academy of Sciences of the Sakha Republic. The only other woolly rhino discovered in these regions, Sasha, was dated to be from around 34,000 years ago. But Protopopov estimates that the newly discovered body could be anywhere from 20,000 to 50,000 years old.

Protopopov explained that despite the body being there for so long, “among other things, part of the internal organs are preserved, which in the future will make it possible to study in more detail how the species ate and lived.” he further added, “ Earlier, not even the bone remains of individuals of this age were found, not to mention the preserved carcasses of animals. As a rule, these were either cubs or adults.”

Valery Plotnikov, a fellow paleontologist from the Academy of Sciences further adds, “We have learned that woolly rhinoceroses were covered in very thick hair. Previously we could judge this only from rock paintings discovered in France. Now, judging by the thick coat with the undercoat, we can conclude that the rhinoceroses were fully adapted to the cold climate very much from a young age.”

Hopefully more amazing discoveries will be uncovered. Knowing the past inhabitants of the planet, and how they lived will definitely be interesting for decades to come. Surely the permafrost in Siberia is still hiding many secrets, only time will tell. While ancient history may not really be that interesting, discovering frozen and preserved bodies of the past can give us a glimpse of how the world was back then.

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Derek Chauvin, The Ex-Cop Facing Murder Charges For The Senseless Killing Of George Floyd Posts ...

Thu, 14 Jan 2021 01:34:51 GMT

New York Post

Errant and criminal police abuse and brutality seems to have risen in the past few years. The stigma of George Floyd’s senseless killing is still felt by many, particularly his family and those who knew him. The police officers involved have since been apprehended and charged, yet the main antagonist has recently been freed. Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was released on a million dollar bond a few months ago. Chauvin, 44, was facing second-degree murder, third degree murder, and manslaughter charges after the viral video of him kneeling on Floyd’s neck for over 8 minutes, while Floyd was begging for mercy and cries of “momma” as his life was slipping away.

The ex-cop was incarcerated at Minnesota Correctional Facility – Oak Park Heights maximum security prison, for his role in the senseless killing of Floyd. He and the other three ex-cops – Thomas Lane, J.Alexander Kueng, and Tou Thao, appeared in person in the last hearing. The previous hearings they appeared in court remotely.

However, Chauvin was soon transferred to Hennepin County Jail to post bail. Bail was originally set as unconditional at $1.25 million, or $1 million with conditions – which Chauvin posted the non-cash bond for the conditional bail. All four officers connected with the death of George Floyd have since been released from custody.

NBC

The dramatic and disturbing video of the killing sparked a major period of nationwide unrest and protests against police brutality and racism, as well as a strong backlash from the Trump administration and far-right supporters of the police. Footage of the incident was captured by bystanders, of which some could be heard pleading with the cops to release the knee to the neck as Floyd was obviously having a hard time breathing. “Tell my kids I love them – I’m dead,” he gasped at one point.

All four cops were dismissed the day after Floyd perished, but it took weeks of major protests that rocked Minneapolis and sent shockwaves globally to finally charge them. This opened up a Pandora’s box about race relations and the role of police repression in society, particularly in America.

Chauvin was known to have had about seven prior incidents of applying neck or head and upper body restraints on civilians, including four cases which prosecutors argued he went too far.

MPR News

Chauvin’s attorney claimed Floyd’s death was a result of his coronavirus infection as well as high levels of methamphetamine and fentanyl in his system. If convicted of unintentional second-degree murder, Chauvin was facing more than 12 years in prison. But Lawyers for Floyd’s family insisted that charges be upgraded to first-degree murder, and for the other three involved to face murder charges. Ben Crump, the Atlanta based lawyer for Floyd’s family, has argued that Chauvin knew what he was doing as Floyd pleaded for his life.

“For Chauvin to leave his knee on George’s neck despite warnings and evidence that his life was in danger – and to continue that course for many minutes – demands a first-degree murder charge,” Crump argued. “For George Floyd, the ambulance was his hearse.”

Apparently, on a side note, Chauvin, as well as his wife who left him after he was charged, also faces several counts of tax evasion after being caught lying about his income. And he still will continue to walk free until at least next March, according to court documents.

Another killer is on the loose. Time and time again, injustices and crimes committed seem to fall on deaf ears. What man’s courts may not be able to resolve, natural law will prevail. Karma has a way of dealing with the guilty.

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Indigenous Native Tased By Park Ranger At A National Monument After Walking Off The Path To Pray

Wed, 13 Jan 2021 02:42:14 GMT

Newsbreak

An incident happened at the Petroglyph National Monument in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The park is home to a variety of ancient petroglyphs carved into stone by indigenous people centuries ago, and is a top tourist attraction in the area. It is also a land considered to be sacred by the native tribes. The incident happened to Darrell House, an indigenous man who walked off the path to find a solemn place to pray.

House explained he walked off the path to find a place to pray, and also avoid a large group of people that was coming down the path ahead of him, which seemed to be a good idea to maintain social distancing with the current pandemic. House was confronted by a ranger, and did not immediately give his ID when the officer demanded it. “I didn’t see a reason to give my identification. I don’t need to tell people why I’m coming there to pray and give things in honor to the land. I don’t need permission or consent, and I don’t think he liked that very much,” House said.

The ranger immediately pulled out his taser and fired at House after his commands were not obeyed. Apparently, House was carrying his dog, who felt the taze as well. “I was holding my dog, so my dog got tased as well, he felt the shock, he felt everything. I ended up dropping him when I fell,” House told KRQE. After he was tased, a second ranger arrived on the scene and placed House in handcuffs.

Twitter

House maintains the ranger who tased him abused his authority to inflate his ego. “He wanted to show power, dominance, keep me in order. That’s what authority figures are trained to do, to keep people like me in order. To make the ‘Indian’ look crazy, to make them look insane.” After being attacked by the ranger, house was given 3 citations which included being off the trail, giving false identity information, and interfering with agency function and resisting.

A spokesperson for the National Park Service, Vanessa Lacayo, said in an email that they were investigating the incident. “We take any allegation of wrongdoing very seriously, and appreciate the public’s patience as we gather the facts of this incident,” Lacayo was reported as saying by NBC News.

House stands by his belief that native people should have access to their sacred lands, without being harassed (and assaulted) by authorities for not showing identification. “We don’t have a set time, we don’t have set places, we don’t have buildings, and we don’t have things built to worship,” House expressed. “Nature is what we’ve been worshiping…and protecting it has always been our job.” He further explains, “I am Native, you know.I have rights to this land. I have rights off the trail.” House explained the incident will not deter him from going back to pray and meditate at the sacred site.”I will go back. I will continue to do my prayers, going off trail without permission. Without consent. That is my right,” a defiant House said.

Given that the park is a National Monument, and thus there are rules, park authorities should be more understanding of the indigenous people who consider it a sacred site. It primarily became a tourist attraction and National Monument because of the native people’s ancestors. A little more respect and tolerance, not showing an ID does not pose imminent danger to a park ranger (especially with the Native holding his little dog). Maybe the park should consider employing native people as park rangers instead, surely they could do a better job.

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These Rare Species Called ‘Sea Wolves’ Live In The Ocean And Are Marathon Swimmers

Tue, 12 Jan 2021 02:53:30 GMT

Treehugger

The flora and fauna that has so far been documented on this earth is truly amazing. What started as miniscule single-celled organisms that over millennia have transformed into the plants and animals today, biologists have estimated these evolved organisms to be over 8.7 million species today.

An approximation of 1 million species are discovered every year, and there is a big possibility that millions more have yet to be discovered. With Mother Nature’s perfect creations, each specie can evolve and thrive to contribute to the wellbeing of the whole earth – completing the circle of life with a massive diversity of different species that astounds the human mind.

An unfortunate part of mother nature is the evolution of homo sapiens which is the main culprit of the continuous extinction of many other species, while putting others at risk by destroying natural habitats by way of hunting, fishing and pollution.

Another animal under threat are these sea wolves that have learned to keep themselves hidden. Living along the Pacific coast of British Columbia in an isolated 21 million acre land, these sea wolves are different from the wolves we know of who live and hunt in diverse habitats that include woodlands, grasslands, tundra, deserts and forests.

Chris Darimont from the Raincoast Conservation Foundation created and developed the Rainforest Wolf Project in order to educate and explain the scientific understanding of “Canada’s newest marine mammal.” This is also to create awareness as to how fragile the sea wolves’ existence is.

BioGraphic

Award-winning photographer and Executive Director of pacificwild.org, Ian McAllister, along with Canadian wolf biologist Paul Paquet have been studying sea wolves since the early 2000s and have compiled significant facts on these amazing creatures in the last 20 years.

These marathon swimmers can cross miles of oceans between islands when they hunt. Sea wolves eat mostly salmon, but they can also hunt for seals and river otters and feast on barnacles, clams, herrings, and whale carcasses.

Paquet said that:

“There’s little doubt these wolves once lived along Washington State’s coast too. Humans wiped them out. They still live on islands in southeast Alaska, but they’re heavily persecuted there.”

Photographer Ian McAllister also explained that:

“We know from exhaustive DNA studies that these wolves are genetically distinct from their continental kin. They are behaviorally distinct, swimming from island to island and preying on sea animals. They are also morphologically distinct—they are smaller in size and physically different from their mainland counterparts.”

In order to capture these magnificent creatures in their natural habitat, McAllister swam to the wolves when they were headed his direction to get close enough to hear their grunts. He was able to capture several shots before heading back into deeper waters.

These extraordinary photos can be seen in the book The Sea Wolves, Living Wild in the Great Bear Rainforest, authored by Ian McAllister and Nicholas Read. The book talks about the importance of saving the Great Bear Rain forest, home to these unique creatures and many others.

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North Korean Fisherman Publicly Executed For Illegally Listening To U.S. Funded Radio Broadcast

Sun, 10 Jan 2021 12:20:38 GMT

DailyNK

A local fishing boat captain in North Korea was publicly executed as punishment for listening to a banned foreign radio station, reports say.

The government of North Korea executed the 40-year-old fisherman after he admitted listening to apparently banned radio broadcasts of Radio Free Asia, which is U.S. government-funded. The dictator state imposes very strict rules as to what content their citizens can watch and listen, while denying access to news and information that is shown outside the country’s strict borders.

This man only identified as Chongjin was able to pick up the foreign broadcasts while he would be out in the water off the coast of North Korea.

It is said that Chongjin was turned in by one of his crew members when they docked at a fishing base in the port city of Chongjin, hence the name that was given to him. This crew member reported his “offense” to the local authorities. Chongjin is believed to have once been a radio operator in the military, where he started listening to foreign broadcasts while on service. He was charged with “subversion against the party.”

A source told Radio Free Asia that:

“In mid-October, a captain of a fishing boat from Chongjin was executed by firing squad, on charges of listening to Radio Free Asia regularly over a long period of time. The provincial security department defined his crime as an attempt of subversion against the party. They publicly shot him at the base in front of 100 other captains and managers of the facility’s fish processing plants. They also dismissed or discharged party officials, the base’s administration and the security officers who allowed Choi to work at sea.”

Another source got in touch with the news agency claiming that the crew member who confessed of Chongjin’s crimes had “vengeance for Choi’s arrogant and disrespectful behavior so he reported him to the security department.”

They also said that “it seems that the authorities made an example out of Choi to imprint on the residents that listening to outside radio stations means death.”

Despite numerous acts like this public execution, North Korea has still unsuccessfully failed to completely destroy its citizens’ desire to gain information from the outside world. Two refugees that were able to escape North Korea and now live in the neighboring South told RFA that other North Korean residents often illegally listen to their live broadcasts because they have this ‘curiosity’ for knowledge of the world away from their country.

One said that “we can get a variety of content from CDs and memory sticks, but what North Koreans most want to know is news from the outside. Residents can get many outside broadcasts, but they prefer RFA because it can be heard clearly in the Korean language.”

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Army National Guard Soldier Killed Herself After Being Repeatedly Raped And Assaulted By Fellow ...

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 03:01:52 GMT

US Daily Report

A female Army National Guard soldier who served overseas for a number of years committed suicide after repeatedly being raped and sexually assaulted while on duty. Despite reporting the crimes that took place, her superiors did nothing to support or help their soldier.

At the young age of 29, Staff Sgt. Morgan Robinson took her own life in 2018. Two years before her suicide, she was sexually assaulted while being stationed in Kuwait. Four months before her death, her supposed comrades also gang-raped her in Afghanistan.

Robinson’s mother Debbie has finally spoken out about her opinion of the lack of accountability and failure to seek justice for the horrible suffering her daughter went through while serving her country.

Debbie insists that the failure to stop the torturous abuse her daughter experienced more than once ultimately robbed her of her life.

“To think that that’s what took her life — that’s what broke her. They wanted her body. And they took her soul,” Debbie told CBS investigative reporters.

According to her mother, ever since Morgan was young, she had already wanted to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces. She finally did it in 2010, when she turned 21 and enlisted in the Army National Guard.

On her first deployment to the Middle East, the horror that Morgan experience was not in a battle with the foreign enemy, but with her own comrades. She “was sexually assaulted and continually harassed by one of her superiors.”

Although Morgan reported the multiple sexual assaults she had suffered under the hands of her superior, her chain of command did “nothing” to protect her from further assaults or punish her perpetrator, said her mother.

“She got nothing,” Debbie said.

While Morgan was engaged to get married and had a child back home, she was sent to Afghanistan on the same deployment.

Assaulted further in Afghanistan, she was gang-raped by a group of soldiers. Scared and traumatized to report this atrocious crime, Morgan committed suicide four months later.

Debbie had known that her daughter was “very scared” to report the gang rape “because they threatened her.”

“And number two, she knew that it wouldn’t go anywhere. Nothing happened in Kuwait with the sexual assault and the harassment, so why would they do something, you know, in Afghanistan?” Debbie said.

Debbie received a report from the Army when they finally investigated her daughter’s tragic death – but all the crucial details to all crimes committed by other members of the Army were blacked out.

Rappler

Those sections that weren’t redacted read: “Sergeant Robinson suffered sexual, physical, and psychological trauma while deployed. The sequel of this trauma was a factor in her death.”

This redaction-riddled report shocked Debbie to her core that the military would be so shameless to hide what truly happened.

“I just didn’t understand how they could actually stand there and look me in the eyes, and hand that to me,” she said.

Debbie fully blames the leadership in the army and their failure to take her daughter’s sexual assault reports in Kuwait seriously and “handle what happened,” which then paved the way to the even more horrible incident that occurred in Afghanistan.

“And to think that that’s what took her life. That’s what broke her. They wanted her body. And they took her soul,” she added.

Debbie strongly believes that there is a need for an outside agency to investigate these claims and destroy what appears to be a code of silence that is protecting criminals.

“They can’t police their self. How can you investigate yourself? You can’t,” says Debbie.

Eight months after Morgan took her own life, the officer who attacked her in Kuwait finally received a written reprimand. Debbie decried that as a mere slap on the wrist that came way too late.

Debbie said that “[It was] a job that she loved. It was for her country. Everything just plays over and over and over in [my] head, thinking, ‘Did I miss something? Could I have done something?’”

To top it all off, the Army released a statement defending its disciplinary actions against the offending supervisor saying his punishment was “appropriate.” Thankfully, after the release of the report, the Secretary of the Army did acknowledge and say that they had failed Morgan Robinson.

According to CBS Evening News, Sec. Ryan D. McCarthy tweeted that “this topic has captivated the attention of America and our Army leaders and it is abundantly clear — we must do better.”

“The department remains committed to our goals of ending sexual assault in the military, providing the highest quality response to service members and holding offenders appropriately accountable,” said U.S. Army principal policy adviser Elizabeth Van Winkle.

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Rapists And Child Molesters In Pakistan Will Be Chemically Castrated After Countrywide Law Change

Thu, 07 Jan 2021 05:17:44 GMT

Mirror

Pakistan has announced new laws against sexual assault that will ensure trials to run faster with a punishment of chemical castration for offenders that will be convicted of rape.

According to a statement released from the president’s office, President Arif Alvi has recently signed the Anti-Rape Ordinance into law. This ensures that special courts assigned to hear all rape cases will finalize their outcome within four months. This law also includes a nationwide registry of all sex offenders.

Anadolu Agency reports that crisis cells will be established in order to conduct complete medical and legal examinations of all rape victims within six hours of the incidents reported.

All rape victims’ identities will be kept hidden and if any are revealed, the culprit will need to face legal charges under the law.

The most controversial part of this new law is that repeat offenders will be punished by chemical castration. This procedure will use drugs in order to lower the criminal’s testosterone levels to eventually lower the sex drive of offenders.

The cabinet set the new measures in place just last month after a series of rape crimes occurred all over the country that has resulted in a public outrage. Even in the recent years, the country was already experiencing unrest and riots because of high-profile sex-abuse cases with some victims being minor.

Arab News PK

Last September, a mother along with her children, was driving on a major highway and ran out of fuel. While waiting for the police to help her get her car running, she was raped by two men.

Last November in the southern Sindh province, a mother and daughter were abducted and endured several days being raped by their kidnappers before they were rescued.

These serious and rampant rape cases has turned into a countrywide crisis that has infuriated Prime Minister Imran Khan, who promised to change the law and adopt draconian measures such as chemical castration to finally halt these crimes in this South Asian nation.

In a September interview, the Prime Minister told Hard Talk Pakistan:

“I think he (the rapist) should be hanged publicly. Rapists and child molesters should have public hanging. You do not know the real statistics as well, because it’s under-reported. People do not report it due to being scared or ashamed, women are ashamed, no one wants to tell.”

Khan did eventually concede that public hangings are against international human rights so instead, he declared that rapists and child molesters should ”undergo chemical castration, or surgery be performed so they cannot do anything in future.”

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After 350-Pound Bear Attacks His Dog, California Resident Plows, Tackles And Punches Bear To ...

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 15:59:49 GMT

New York Post

You never know what you’re going to see when walking in the California woods, but having an actual encounter with a dangerous bear is probably one of the things that everyone worries about the most. For one Grass Valley California native, Kaleb Benham, that’s exactly what happened to him the day before Thanksgiving.

Although giant bears are common in the area of Nevada County in the Golden State, they tend to spend more time in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. Black bears are known to cause havoc in nearby neighborhoods though, going through people’s trash cans and even prowling through bike pathways through the well-used mountain trails. Meanwhile, some residents have even shared stories of bears hanging out in the many cannabis farms around the area as well.

As for Benham and his 90-pound pit bull, Buddy, on November 25, the two happened to be outside their house on You Bet Road playing, when Benham would hear a rather formidable sound. He would soon find out that the sound was coming from a giant, 350-pound bear that had come across his pit bull, Buddy.

US Fish & Wildlife Service

Benham told the media outlet CBS 13 Sacramento, “I heard a growl, looked about 75-100 feet down, and the bear was dragging him by his head, had his head in his mouth.” Although it was a terrifying sight, Benham’s parental instincts kicked it and he did what he had to do to save someone he loved. Without a single thought to his own safety, he ran down to try and save his beloved Buddy.

“I just ran down there, plowed into the bear, tackled it and grabbed it by the throat and started hitting it in the face and the eye until it let go. Honestly, the only thing I could think of was ‘save my baby,” he said.

A man’s love for man’s best friend is a powerful force. Kaleb Benham from Grass Valley took on a 350 pound bear that was attacking his rescue dog, “Buddy.” Kaleb said he heard a growl the saw the bear dragging buddy “by his head.” So he tackled the bear and punched it pic.twitter.com/XAhTrS2AEC

— Anna Giles (@AnnaGilesTV) December 4, 2020

Incredibly, the humongous bear finally let go of the dog and ran away, but Buddy was severely hurt from the encounter. Benham picked him up and rushed him as quickly as he could to a nearby veterinary clinic in their town.

Unfortunately, the first veterinary clinic he attempted to go to was closed due to a Covid-19 infection. Benham shared, “My first thought was that I was going to lose him.”

Thankfully he was able to find one that was open, the Mother Lode Veterinary Hospital. They took Buddy in and went to work immediately, attempting to do what they could to heal the damage done to the pit bull. The vets had to insert tubes into the dog’s head in order to drain fluid buildup, as well as staple and stitch up all of his wounds, one of which was a puncture to the left side of Buddy’s mouth.

Benham also shared, “I just stood there and watched through the window for 3 ½ hours,” waiting and praying that his baby would come out alive and whole. After the successful surgery, he took Buddy home and spent all of Thanksgiving day and the days after nursing him back to health, but at least he’s recovering and finally on the mend.

Although the traumatic experience is now behind them, Benham and Buddy are still experiencing distress from the experience. Apparently, Buddy’s 350-pound attacker is quite tenacious, having come back to Benham’s property a few times since his first attack.

Benham gave his thoughts on why he believes the bear keeps coming back, saying, “It made an attack and had its food and it’s food got taken from it and it wants it back, I feel like.”

Benham explains that Buddy was a rescue that he got from an animal shelter a few years back, and the two have been inseparable ever since. Benham explained, “If it was your kid, what would you do? That’s my kid, I would die for my dog.”

While the California state wildlife agency has explained that black bears normally eat ants and other insects, they will also eat “whatever seems edible,” which is why they often sniff around houses and rummage through people’s garbage bins.

And the agency also advises that should anyone find themselves in the same predicament, “If you encounter a bear, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to appear as large as possible. If attacked, fight back. Do not ‘play dead’.”

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Florida Governor Attempts To Pass "Anti-Mob” Bill, Giving Civilians Immunity If They ...

Tue, 05 Jan 2021 03:10:48 GMT

America has been dealing with some of the worst protests the country has ever seen in recent years. With the Black Lives Movement growing all throughout the United States, depending on what side you’re on, laws can either be for or against you it seems.

Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, has been busy drafting new legislation in the hopes of expanding another Florida law that’s already in existence, the ‘Stand Your Ground’ law. He’s referring to the new legislation as an “anti-mob” bill, which appears to be targeting everyone involved in the Black Lives Matter movement via protests and other demonstrations that have taken place all throughout the country. These protests were spurred on by the unlawful death of George Floyd, and while there have been both peaceful and violet demonstrations, they are all fighting against systemic police brutality.

If the bill is passed, this new legislation would allow the citizens of the Florida state to take up arms and shoot – and even possibly kill – anyone they believe is looting their homes or their businesses. But given the implications that could occur with this bill, many are skeptical that it could actually do more good than harm.

The news publication, Miami Herald, claims that this new law is the state’s attempt to stop “violent and disorderly assemblies” by giving civilians the go signal to use violence against those they suspect are causing “interruption or impairment” to their business. The law even specifies that any form of burglary done within 500 feet of “violent or disorderly assembly” can be legally countered with lethal force.

Politico

A number of legal experts and law enforcement personnel have criticized the proposed bill, worried that residents acting as vigilantes will feel like they have a license to kill anyone they justify as a rioter or someone that is “burglarizing” their property. Rather than make things safer, this could actually make civil unrest throughout the state worse than it already is.

At the same time, Denise Georges, who happens to be the former Miami-Dade County prosecutor, has had previous experience with other ‘Stand Your Ground’ cases. She told media publication the Herald, “It allows for vigilante to justify their actions. It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime – and that is cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly.”

Moreover, the new bill also includes measures that give immunity to citizens that end up hurting or injuring protesters that are blocking the road. The law will make it a third-degree felony to block traffic, as well as provide immunity to drivers that end up injuring or even killing protestors that are blocking the road.

Another portion of the new legislation also includes language that aims at blocking any local jurisdictions from defunding police departments, which would cut their overall budget should they choose to lessen any of the police funding. According to former prosecutor and Miami Beach Mayor, Dan Gelber, who is already quite critical of the existing ‘Stand Your Ground’ law, he believes that DeSantis was trying to get on the good side of the Trump administration by introducing this new bill.

Gelber explained, “It’s clear that the Trump beauty pageant is still going on with the governors and senators, who all want to be the next Trump. And the governor is clearly a very good contestant.”

This new proposed law is still currently in draft form, and the earliest it can even be considered is in the next 2021 legislative session. But the fact that Trump has lost the latest presidential elections doesn’t look hopeful for DeSantis, to say the least.

DeSantis has been attempting to enforce new ways to lessen protests in Florida all year, with some measures including immunity for drivers who run over protestors. But again, legal experts and some law enforcement agencies are worried that these types of measures will send the wrong message, allowing vigilantes to act on what they consider are the right beliefs, regardless of who they hurt, or possibly even kill, in the process.

There have already been a number of vigilante violence cases in the past, many of which allow suspects to walk away scot-free because of the already existent laws. And honestly, what America needs now are not citizens acting as vigilantes because of what they feel is right, but rather laws that will protect their citizens as they safely protest issues that matter to them the most.

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Multitudes of Birds in U.S. Southwest Fall to Their Deaths Due To Extensive Starvation

Sun, 03 Jan 2021 16:25:29 GMT

I Fucking Love Science

Just like out of some gruesome horror movie, thousands of songbirds began to literally fall out of the sky across a number of U.S. western states in the month of September. The event left wildlife researchers incredibly shell-shocked and extremely curious over what could have caused these birds to drop to their deaths.

It was soon discovered that it wasn’t just one type of bird either, but various species of birds found either dead or injured on roadsides, hiking paths, and backyards in a number of states including Colorado, Arizona, Texas, Nebraska and New Mexico. And the birds differed in breeds from hummingbirds to swallows, warblers to woodpeckers, and flycatchers to loons. A number of them were said to be migratory birds that ate insects and even others birds, usually traveling ‘from the northern tundra in Alaska and Canada to winter in Central and South America.’

Shockingly, after biologists sent the results to the U.S. Geological Survey federal laboratories, they found that a mind-boggling 80 percent of the specimens were actually severely starved. In fact, the Audobon Society reported that their carcasses showed such tell-tale symptoms as empty stomachs, dehydration, emaciated wings, and depleted fat stores.

Fly Wheel

But the question still remained, why did these birds starve to death in the first place? Apparently, researchers would soon find out that the reason was due to the massively frigid and erratic weather conditions linked to climate change sadly caused by none other than human beings.

Director of USGS National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wisconsin, Jonathan Sleeman, said, “It looks like the immediate cause of death in these birds was emaciation as a result of starvation. It’s really hard to attribute direct causation, but given the close correlation of the weather events with the death of these birds, we think that either the weather event forced these birds to migrate prior to being ready, or maybe impacted their access to food sources during their migration.”

The experts shared that they believed that the climate crisis was truly the cause of the birds dying in mass numbers. They argued that their deaths were probably caused by the droughts, cold fronts, and possibly even smoke from the massive wildfires raging throughout a large portion of the western states were all major components as to why the birds died.

Grunt Engine

Although a number of lab results managed to negate that smoke wasn’t a major factor in most of the deaths in the birds, a huge number of the migratory birds were possibly led off track by the massive fires, forcing them into some of the more frigid and icy cold snowstorms battering the southwest during the dates of September 9 or 10. This then caused many to freeze to their deaths, become disoriented, collide into both buildings and cars, and eventually die from impact, or perhaps, were even eaten by predators at times.

Many of the birds were sadly affected earlier by the mega-drought that the U.S. southwest experienced, which left them in an even more vulnerable state before they were struck by the latter weather conditions.

According to Professor Martha Desmond of New Mexico State University’s Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Ecology, “We’re not talking about short-term starvation – this is a longer-term starvation. They became so emaciated they actually had to turn to wasting their major flight muscles. This means that this isn’t something that happened overnight.”

“Here in New Mexico we’ve seen a very dry year, and we’re forecast to have more of those dry years,” she added. “And in turn I would say it appears that a change in climate is playing a role in this, and that we can expect to see more of this in the future. I think it’s just very sad… Especially the thought that we are seeing some long-term starvation in some of these birds.”

Ms. Desmond actually worked with specialists from the Bureau of Land Management and White Sands Missile Range to gather some of the bird carcasses in order to determine the magnitude of lost bird life, which she described as ‘a national tragedy.’ Moreover, experts that were also tasked to work with the droves of dead birds were appallingly disturbed by the high number of deaths.

One such grad student from NMSU, Allison Salas, shared, “The fact that we’re finding hundreds of these birds dying, just kind of falling out of the sky is extremely alarming.”

Another worrisome fact is that since 1970, bird populations in North America has already plummeted by a massive 29 percent, which equates to a staggering three billion birds. Sadly, a 2019 study has shown that the continuous rise in temperatures caused by climate change have forced a number of bird species to excessively alter their migration patterns.

In the same state, due to pastures and grasslands being turned into large crops causing them to thin out, birds have lost a number of their nesting places. Meanwhile, pesticides have also killed off a large number of insects, leaving birds without their natural food sources, causing them to starve.

Desmond also explained, “A number of these species are already in trouble. They are already experiencing huge population declines and then to have a traumatic event like this is – it’s devastating.” And unless lawmakers make some drastic moves to lessen the already horrible climate change effects on the planet, then there’s a huge chance birds will continue to drop dead from the sky.

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In 2020 Alone, Over 1.5 Billion Face Masks Are Believed To Be Polluting The Planet’s Oceans

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 17:25:27 GMT

Kyodo News

If there has been one common denominator that has affected the planet all across the globe in the year 2020, it’s coronavirus, it’s devastating effects on the human race, and the use of the controversial face masks in every country around the world.

While the pandemic has yet to be brought to a halt, the promise of an effective vaccine has been looming on the horizon for many, while already being put into effect in certain countries. Yet despite the promise of modern medicine, face masks are still currently considered one of the most useful preventive tools that people can use to keep them from getting infected with Covid-19.

But along with the need for billions of people to use face masks as a prime response to the ongoing global health crisis, the face mask has also become a point of contention when it comes to the environment. In fact, one study has even estimated that there has been no less than 129 billion face masks in use worldwide for every month since the start of the pandemic.

So what exactly does that mean? Despite the fact that these small face coverings have been a main tool to fight off the virus, they have also become one of the biggest issues when it comes to littering. Masks have been found to be littered everywhere, from every corner, storm drain, park, beach, trail, creek and crevice in every neighborhood. And they have added to the never-ending struggle of keeping trash out of the planet’s oceans, which has also undoubtedly made the water pollution issues even worse.

In a recent report from the NGO OceansAsia, a marine conservation group based in Hong Kong, it was shared that an estimated 1.56 billion face masks will find their way into the ocean this year alone. As a matter of fact, in Hong Kong, the island has already begun to see the devastating effects of this truth, having found loads of face masks washing up on their shores since the beginning of the pandemic.

CGTN

According to OceansAsia director of research, Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff, “The fact that we are starting to find masks that are breaking up indicates that this is a real problem, that microplastics are being produced by masks.”

And why this poses a major threat to the environment is because these masks can take up to 450 years to break down, which means their potential to pollute the oceans could span actual centuries. These masks add yet another layer to the already horrific effects of the ongoing plastic pollution crisis in the Earth’s waters.

Although there are a number of reusable masks being sold all over the world, single-use masks – which contain multiple layers of polypropylene known to be basically thin fibers of plastic – are what most countries and health authorities recommend for individual’s personal protective equipment (PPE), especially in hospitals and other medical institutions.

And considering the fact that at least 52 billion single-use masks were manufactured this year alone, with each one weighing an average of 3 to 4 grams, that simply equates to anywhere between ‘4,680 to 6,240 metric tons of new marine plastic pollution’ in the year 2020.

Oceansasia

According to the United Nations (UN), ocean pollution is already at a monstrous peak, with ‘an estimated 100 million tons of plastic’ already found within the ocean’s waters. And to make matters worse, 80 to 90 percent of that pollution actually originates from land-based sources.

Meanwhile, a 2016 report that was shared during the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland estimates that by the year 2050, ‘plastic waste in the ocean will outweigh all fish.’ This will have monumental and devastating possibilities to the world and it’s environment if people don’t begin to reduce waste starting now.

Both conservationists and ocean biologists have expressed their growing and urgent concerns over this plastics and microplastics issue that has continued to grow and pollute our oceans, and worse, release carcinogenic toxins and chemicals into the world’s marine environments. In fact, a number of plastic drink containers are the cause of marine wildlife death, either by choking, trapping, or confining animals within the planet’s waters.

Dr. Bondaroff also said, “The question that we couldn’t answer was how many [masks] are entering our oceans? We just didn’t know.” But with this recent study done by OceansAsia, “The 1.56 billion face masks that have entered our oceans in 2020 are there for the long run. They will remain in the ocean for 450 years or more, and they’ll break into smaller pieces,” he adds.

Notably, the report also cites that the global sales of masks has grown in leaps and bounds, going from $800 million back in 2019 to a whopping $166 billion this 2020.

A huge reason for the exponential growth is due to certain health agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who have put out official health guidelines advising U.S. residents to wear face masks while in public ‘in lieu of or in addition to physical distancing measures meant to help prevent person-to-person transmission of the deadly disease.’

In addition, Dr. Bondaroff said, “That’s important, we need to keep people safe, but at the same time that has a lasting impact on our environment, and we’re seeing that on the beaches.” In this aspect, the report goes on to request that the public consider using reusable masks instead of disposable ones in order to lessen the overall consumption and waste of single use plastics. They also request that when using single-use face masks, that the public learn to dispose of them properly as well.

OceansAsia has also urged the authorities and health agencies to push for reusable masks rather than single-use ones. The NGO has also encouraged them to release guidelines on both the proper manufacturing and use of reusable masks, as well as educating people on responsible ways they can dispose of masks and other useful information and guidelines for the public’s use during the pandemic.

Greenbiz

OceansAsia also shared, “The 1.56 billion face masks that will likely enter our oceans in 2020 are just the tip of the iceberg. The 4,680 to 6,240 metric tonnes of face masks are just a small fraction of the estimated 8 to 12 million metric tonnes of plastic that enter our oceans each year.”

Although It may sound like the littering of these face masks in the oceans is just a small part of the world’s single-use plastic pollution problem, if nothing is done, it will still become one of the Earth’s biggest threats to the environment, in more ways than one.

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Polar Bear Supporters Celebrate Win As Court Denies Drilling Project In The Arctic Offshore

Wed, 30 Dec 2020 11:18:18 GMT

BBC

They say that nature’s number one enemy is man. They have the power to either protect or destroy nature, and unfortunately, some opt for the latter simply for financial gains. An example of which would be the drilling project that’s set in the arctic offshore. Environmentalists have fought against it, fearing that the invasion would hurt the habitat and the lives of the polar bears that live in the area.

Fortunately, the U.S. Court of Appeals has ruled against the offshore oil drilling project. Protectors of the species found living in the area finally have reason to break open a bottle of wine and celebrate.

These so-called bastions of extremely rich biodiversity in the waters of the Beaufort Sea will not be troubled and disturbed. The project would have interrupted much of the ecosystem as it required building the oil derrick itself, a gravel mine in the bay to make the rig’s pylons, and a variety of supporting installations. This would have simply created chaos as the animals in the area have lived in peace, undisturbed by human activity.

It all started with the Trump administration finally gave its nod of approval for the project in 2018. Its benefactor, Hillcorp Alaska, planned its Liberty oil project in Foggy Island Bay. The moment the approval came through, it was immediately slapped with several lawsuits disparaging the permits that came with it. Finally, the decision against the project came on December 7 from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

San Francisco Examiner

“I’m pleased that the court today rejected the administration’s inaccurate and misleading analysis of this project’s impact to the climate,” explained Earth Justice attorney Jeremy Lieb. He made this statement from the Center for Biological Diversity after the decision was made. He further stated, “In the face of a worsening climate crisis, the federal government should not be in the business of approving irresponsible offshore oil development in the Arctic.”

According Nicole Whittington-Evans, Alaska program director at Defenders of Wildlife, “Today’s news is a victory for Alaska’s imperiled polar bears that are threatened by oil and gas development throughout virtually all of their terrestrial denning critical habitat—in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and in the nearshore marine environment, as well.” She is the head of one of the environmental groups that filed a lawsuit against the drilling project.

They say that while the project may have seemed promising when it comes to sourcing out oil, the devil was in the details That’s because Foggy Island Bay has been considered the home to diverse marine life that have been considered threatened and endangered. Included in the list are polar bears, six species of whales, three species of seals, sea lions, sea otters, and Pacific walruses. Seabirds, several species of fish, and larger mammals have also made the shallow waters around the bay their home.

The presence of several vulnerable animals simply means that the construction would encroach the Endangered Species Act protections. Experts also say that omissions have been made on the amount of carbon the project would actually use during oil extraction. This would also affect the atmosphere around the area.

KCET

The prosecution team also gave its argument that went against the drilling project. They argued that the Liberty project, containing about a whopping 120 million barrels, would be able to extract oil made available to the global market. As a result, people would experience a decrease in oil prices. This would enable more nations to purchase oil at a more affordable price. Thus, this act would contribute to many more millions of metric tons of CO2 than if the oil were not mined, and if these countries would purchase it from the usual list of suppliers.

The defense, on the other hand, laid down their arguments just as well. They said that by the drilling company simply had to ensure that they follow the highest quality environmental standards at the Liberty project. If done properly, the entire endeavor would benefit the environment since oil would no longer be produced in countries with much more lax regulations.

The court listened to both sides of the argument. They say that the omission of foreign oil emissions estimates, poor-quality modeling including unproven assumptions, and a failure from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to effectively look into the risks to the endangered polar bears was more than enough to deny the Liberty project.

The decision came right after the Trump administration’s Army Corps of Engineers decided in November to let go of the Pebble Mine project in Alaska. At the end of the day, the defenders of the whales, seals, birds, and the vulnerable polar bears, can now enjoy exploring the area in peace as they find means and ways to make the ecosystem thrive further.

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Woman Proves To The World That She Can Take Award Winning Photos Of Ants Just With A Smartphone

Tue, 29 Dec 2020 03:02:43 GMT

Analiza De Guzman

Analiza had a string in her garden, and she noticed that the ants used this as their route home while doing labor. She was mesmerized by what she’s caught and decided to take photos of nature’s wonderful animals with just the use of her smartphone.

So, why ants? These tiny creatures from the insect kingdom live quietly. We usually don’t notice them until they invade our homes and our food. There is so much more to them than meets the eye. They’re diligent and resourceful. They find means and ways to gather food for the other ants in their home. Analiza Daran De Guzman from the Philippines had learned to appreciate them just by observing their daily movements.

Because Analiza had become so fascinated by the ants, she grabbed her Samsung Galaxy Note 8 phone and started to document what she sees. She spent hours taking pictures of these ants moving along the string, carrying water droplets home. One would think she had used a professional camera because of the precision of her photos, but her pictures were spectacular even without the usual high-powered gadget. In fact, her photographs were choses as a winner in a competition sponsored by Agora, a famous photo app.

As seen in some of her stills, the wants seem to be walking along a tightrope, carrying spherical droplets of varying sizes to the nest they were in. Analiza knew these were moment to document, but because her professional camera was in need of fixing at that time, she couldn’t miss the opportunity of immortalizing these wonderful images of nature. She opted to use what she had in her arsenal then – a phone and a clip-on macro lens.

‘’Insects move fast, ants particularly. It is tricky to take pictures with a mere mobile,’’ she said. Then, she further explained, ‘’However, ants stop moving fast when they start to drink water…so I gave them water.’’

Experts actually say that an estimated total of 22,000 species of ants exist and only 12,500 have actually been classified by scientists.

Here are a few more interesting facts about ants:

They outnumber people by around 1 to 1 million.
They are one of the strongest creatures, relatively speaking, because they can carry up to 50 times their own weight.
Ants don’t have ears. Instead, they feel vibrations through their feet. Some species have no eyes and use their antennae for communication.
They have two stomachs in one tiny body. One is used for self-feeding while the other one is for sharing.
Ants are highly social creatures that live in either large colonies or small groups.
Ants are everywhere, except Antarctica.

As for Analiza’s photos, here are some of the most spectacular ones she took:

Analiza De Guzman

Carrying a Load

Analiza De Guzman

Working Along a Piece of String

Analiza De Guzman

It’s a Balancing Act

Analiza De Guzman

Working for the Weekend

Analiza De Guzman

A Pattern Within a Pattern

Analiza De Guzman

Ways to Decorate a Home

Analiza De Guzman

The Weight of the World on Its Shoulders

Analiza De Guzman

It’s a Group Effort

Analiza De Guzman

The Simple Piece of Equipment Used

Analiza De Guzman

Can You Do This?

Analiza De Guzman

1-2-3 Lift!

Analiza De Guzman

The Superman of the Insect World

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The Earth’s Magnetic North Pole Has Changed Locations So Quickly and Experts Are Now ...

Mon, 28 Dec 2020 02:17:41 GMT

Firstpost

It’s a fact that the magnetic north pole changes its location. Scientists have found ways to make adjustments in the compass. However, the never-static pole has made quick changes recently that scientists are now scrambling to look for ways to do something about it. After all, this is the very thing that guides the world’s compasses and GPS systems.

Recently, however, the north has moved a little more quickly than expected that scientists have no choice but to update their model of the planet’s magnetic field. They had to do this one year earlier than they expected to do.

“Due to unplanned variations in the Arctic region, scientists have released a new model to more accurately represent the change of the magnetic field,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Centers for Environmental Information. They had spoken to the press last Monday and released this surprising statement.

Why all the furor and the hustle? It’s because the change is imperative to pinpoint the precise location of the north pole. This will help that navigational systems (such as the ones used as apps), government organizations, airliners, and others work with exact precision. Otherwise, these programs will be futile and obsolete, which will only create chaos.

Historically, the northern magnetic pole has shifted from Canada’s Arctic regions toward Russia in a relatively smooth fashion since 1831. In fact, the first ever World Magnetic Model, funded by the military both in the US and the UK, had been tasked with tracking the positions of the Earth’s three magnetic poles. Since its inception, the prototype only needed an update every five years.

As the experts observed in recent years, the pole’s drift has speeded up its movement. It’s now headed towards Russia at unprecedented speed. This has thrown off GPS systems. Those tasked with the challenging job of making adjustments know that pilots and maritime navigators may be at risk if nothing will be done. This may even force them to rely on old-school compass-based guiding systems for the time being.

NOAA

Cierran Beggan, a geophysicist at the British Geological Survey, spoke to The Guardian and said, “We know from old ships’ logs that in the past 400 years, the north magnetic pole has hung around northern Canada. Until the 1900s, it moved perhaps tens of kilometers, back and forth. But in the past 50 years it started to move north, and in the past 30 years it started to accelerate away … It went from moving at about five to 10km [ six miles] a year to 50 or 60km a year today. It’s now moving rapidly towards Siberia.”

What exactly caused this quick drift? Scientists say that this is simply the result of processes deep in the center of the planet. Found within the earth’s liquid outer core are iron and nickel. These spin and flow like water. These two elements have served as a conductor for the magnetic field.

The recent changes in the liquid’s flow is believed to be akin to that of a jet stream found in the atmosphere. This is the very source of our planet’s magnetic field. “The north magnetic pole has been caught up in this jet and it’s pushing it rapidly across to Siberia,” Beggan further stated. Because of its stream-like movement, the World Magnetic Model has lost its accuracy at an increasingly higher pace.

“The error is increasing all the time,” Arnaud Chulliat, a geomagnetist at the University of Colorado Boulder and NOAA, said. The movement doesn’t come as a surprise since these are all an integral and natural part of the Earth’s behavior. It also must be noted that human activity has nothing to do with this. In fact, rock samples reveal that the magnetic field had been in constant motion for millions of years.

Nature plays a big part in locating the magnetic field. Migratory animals such as birds, butterflies, and whales use this for movement as well. If there’s any lesson to be made from this, it’s simply that the latest shift in the earth’s magnetic north pole is a learning opportunity for us. After all, experts had only learned about the pole in 1831.

For now, work continues and the latest and more updated version of the model should remain accurate. They will look into this next year to track changes once again.

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Water, A Free Resource, May Soon Become A Wallstreet Commodity A High Price

Thu, 24 Dec 2020 01:15:38 GMT

Yahoo

What’s man’s ultimate basic need? Water, of course. Unfortunately, this resource isn’t as common as one would want. It’s become scarce, with certain parts of the globe needing a clean supply badly. This source of life may soon become one of the hottest commodities on Wall Street futures market because of its high need and demand.

Like other commodities such as oil, wheat, and gold, prices for water may soon see its share of fluctuation. In fact, the CME group has already launched its futures contracts tied to the spot price of water.

The Nasdaq Veles California Water Index has been in charge of measuring the volume-weighted average price from five of California’s primary watersheds. The company has begun trading under the ticker NQH20 on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last Monday morning, and the very next day, the prices soared to about $486.53 per Acre Foot.

The contracts that have been processed with let investors and farmers alike bet on future prices of what is now considered to be liquid gold. The contracts are tied to the $1.1 California spot water market as stated in the Business Insider.

Wonderopolis

This piece of news has left many readers aghast as this is the first time water has been traded in such flagrant manner.

In the past year, in fact, the price of water in California has doubled from its original price. People have begun fearing this fact because it has become evident that water is now considered a crucial resource because of its scarcity. Market analysts have been looking into this phenomenon and say that the arrival of water futures to the international market will allow for the better management of risks tied to any shortage of this fundamental good.

During a drought-stricken year, for instance, people will now be able to bet on futures contracts to offset the higher prices in case these do increase. That way, they will be able to offset what they’ll actually have to shell out in the water market in the future. As for big agricultural firms and municipalities, they would also, in theory, have the ability to protect themselves from large swings and fluctuations in the price of this commodity that was once considered free.

The CME group was quoted saying, “The NQH20 futures will be an innovative tool to provide agricultural, commercial, and municipal water users with greater transparency, price discovery, and risk transfer, which can help to more efficiently align supply and demand of this vital resource.”

This financial group touted that the NQH2O index was the likely benchmark for global water markets. As for the new futures market, this also creates the possibility that water will be the focus of aggressive and relentless speculation from financial giants, part of which are major banks and hedge funds.

Geospatial World

“Climate change, droughts, population growth, and pollution are likely to make water scarcity issues and pricing a hot topic for years to come,” RBC Capital Markets managing director and analyst Deane Dray told Bloomberg. He further explains, “We are definitely going to watch how this new water futures contract develops.”

When it comes to the top consumers of water in the world, China and the United States in the lead. With the latter, California accounts for some nine percent of the nation’s daily consumption. In fact, California’s water market is about four times bigger than that of any of its neighboring states. The water transaction there totaled to a hefty $2.6 billion between 2012 and 2019.

California is considered an agricultural giant where high-value crops such as almonds and pistachios. This means that the farms in these areas regularly require large amounts of water supply. Aside from that, California is also filled with oil production facilities that use equally hefty amounts of water while fracking for oil and gas.

As of late, the state has been frequently hit with major droughts. The business have been as volatile as the price of the resource, according to news giant CNN.

Moreover, according to the United Nations, roughly a total of two billion people live in countries where basic access to water is an extremely serious problem. Its citizens have to do a quite a bit of a commute in order to get their share, and In the next few years, up to two-thirds of the planet could actually experience water shortages. As a result, millions of people may actually find themselves displaced from their homes.

In gist, this precious liquid has been excessively exploited, not just by the civilians, but also by the mining sector and huge industries. That’s not the only problem, though. Climate change has also been a big driver of the ever increasing water scarcity issues.

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New California Bill Could Require Cops To Hold A 4-Year College Degree

Wed, 23 Dec 2020 04:29:26 GMT

ABC

A brand new bill has been introduced to the California state legislature on December 7, 2020, seeking to require police officers to either hold a bachelor’s degree or be 25-years old or above before they’re allowed to join the police force.

Introduced by Democratic Assemblyman, Reggie Jones-Sawyer, the bill aims to reduce the number of unnecessary violent encounters between the police and the general public.

According to the statement given by Jones-Sawyer, “This data-driven bill relies on years of study and new understandings of brain development to ensure that only those officers capable of high-level decision-making and judgement in tense situations are entrusted with working in our communities and correctional facilities.”

The bill also highlights a 2007 study that showed evidence that police officers that had bachelor’s degrees ‘were less likely to use physical force’ than officers that hold only high school diplomas.

In California, individuals can take on the job of peace officer at the age of 18 and with a high school degree, or at least a test that’s equivalent to one.

Notably, in a number of other countries, having a college degree is actually a standard requirement for individuals that want to join the police department. But in the United States, these requirements are scarce. As a matter of fact, there are only a handful of states including North Dakota, Illinois, and New Jersey that require their state officers to have at least two years of college education.

It’s obvious that systemic violence and other problems tend to occur when younger police officers are involved. Even activists will agree that they are normally the ones that have higher issues with violence. In fact, this bill is being supported by a Los Angeles based nonprofit agency called the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC).

According to ARC’s director, Esteban Nunez, young officers tend to have underdeveloped brains. He said, “The evidence is clear – the prefrontal cortex of the brain is not fully developed until age 25. It is with similar logic that youth must be treated as youth by our criminal justice system.”

In a study published back in 2017, professor of criminal justice at the University of California, Fullerton, Dr. Christina Gardiner shared that police officers that have college educations ‘are more likely to embrace new methods of policing,’ as well as being more receptive to new department changes that are also championed and encouraged by members of the community.

A former ABC News report shared that the United States police has been criticized for their intentional selection of low-IQ applicants precisely because these individuals reportedly follow orders compliantly and without asking any questions. They also shared how there was a federal ruling back in 2000 that allowed police departments to reject applicants if they were deemed “too smart” for the job.

This ruling was made during the time when applicant Robert Jordan tried to sue the New London Police when his application to the police department was rejected due to his higher than average IQ score. Later on, the police department actually admitted that they rejected applicants that had IQ scores they considered “too high.” This decision was based on their assumption that these applicants would get “bored” with the work and leave not too long after joining the force in the first place, wasting both time and money on extensive, and not to mention expensive, training.

While additional education is always a plus, the criminal justice system is dealing with more than just the individual personal attitudes of the police officers. It would seem that until there are major systemic changes to law enforcement protocols and legal structures, the issues between the police and the public will continue to transpire.

Jones-Sawyer also told the Sacramento Bee, “This could be the beginning of changing the entire way that policing is done on the front end. Then we can let the bad cops retire on the back end.”

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