#says he’s a (un) licensed detective

[charlieswebb]

i think as a fandom we have to appreciate how fucking unhinged riz is

[tomsquitieri]

Pentagon again sends land mines to Ukraine with a wink and a nod

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is upping its flow of land mine capability to Ukraine, looking the other way to the questionable use of land mines by both Ukraine and Russia in the current conflict.

Cold War style anti-tank ladies are included in the latest military assistance package, $325 million,  announced last week for Ukraine.

The Pentagon would not say how many M21 mines were included in the assistance package.

Earlier in the conflict, the Pentagon sent anti-personnel mines, known as Claymores, to Ukraine. U.S. officials say the landmines are provided with no guidance or, at least publicly, with no strings attached — a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy which gives the Pentagon the ability have it both ways if U.S.-supplied weapons are used outside the bounds of international treaties.

The Claymore anti-personnel mine, under some circumstances and tactical use, is prohibited by the Ottawa land mines treaty.

Under the treaty, Claymores can be used if detonated only with a remote control device, meaning an individual has to do it with purpose and not be accident. If they are rigged to detonate with a tripwire or other trick method they are prohibited.

“We provide equipment to the Ukrainians, and they determine how they're going to use it,” Brig Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon spokesperson, said at a previous Pentagon briefing when asked about concerns surrounding the Claymore mine.

He also said that “to clarify, too, I think sometimes the -- the term, you know, as I looked into this, admittedly, as an Air Force guy. This is an antipersonnel device above ground, so mines in that sense is a little bit of a misnomer, but yeah.”

The 1997 Mine Ban Treaty comprehensively prohibits all types of victim-activated explosive devices, regardless of the technical features and regardless of the mine’s predicted longevity, delivery method, or type of manufacture (improvised or factory-made).

The M21 is not banned by the Ottawa treaty. It does not have self-destruct features; that means when fighting concludes, they would have to be removed manually. It is metal, and thus can be detected easier thank plastic version.

It is is a high explosive antitank landmine which uses the Misznay-Schardin effect (high explosive wave that propels a concave steel plate at extremely high velocity) against the underside, tracks, or wheels of armored vehicles. It is activated by an M607 fuze which functions upon application of either horizontal or vertical pressure.

About 200,000 M21 mines were produced in the U.S. and licensed copies, the K441 and K442, were produced in South Korea. The Pentagon has an estimated 175,000 M21 mines stockpiled.

Ukraine signed the Mine Ban Treaty on February 24, 1999 and became a state party on June 1, 2006.

Russia has not joined the treaty, but is bound by the prohibitions and restrictions on mines, booby-traps, and other devices found in Amended Protocol II of the UN Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), as well as Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions and customary international humanitarian law. which was signed by Ukraine.

The United States is not a party to the treaty.

Russian forces have used at least seven types of antipersonnel mines in at least four regions of Ukraine: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Sumy. This marks an unusual situation in which a country that is not party to the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty uses the weapon on the territory of a party to the treaty.

Both Russian and Ukrainian forces have extensively used anti-vehicle mines (also called anti-tank mines) in at least six regions: Donetsk, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia. Hand-emplaced TM-62 series anti-vehicle mines appear to be the type most frequently used.

According to the Ottawa treaty, Claymores are mines covered by the treaty protocols, regardless if they are above or below the ground. Ryder then said, “The capabilities that we're providing are in compliance with the Ottawa Treaty.”

Requests to the Press and Information Department of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine and the Department of Public Relations of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for comments, clarifications and perspective did not generate responses.

Last June, the Biden administration announced that it would restrict the use of anti-personnel land mines by the U.S. military, aligning the country’s policy more closely with the international treaty.

“The president believes strongly that we need to curtail their use worldwide,” John Kirby, a national security spokesman, said at a White House briefing then.

[corie-the-writer]

Fate - Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

It had been almost thirty six hours since Jay had physically seen Aubrey and Henry, and he felt like he was losing his mind. Even though he had exchanged a number of texts with Aubrey, letting him know that their son was safe in Cindy Hermann's home, and that she was safe, he needed to see them. This outbreak had been considered an act of terrorism, and Jay was scared out of his mind that Aubrey would be infected, since Chicago Med had a number of victims. 

Jay and the entire Intelligence team had been running their selves into the ground trying to find Doctor David Seldon, and the last Jay had heard, Seldon had been at Chicago Med. 

As Jay sat in the passenger seat of Hank's SUV, Jay kept trying to reach Aubrey or Will, neither of them answering their phones, causing panic to set in. 

"They aren't answering." Jay grumbled. 

"We're almost there." Hank answered, his foot pressing on the gas a little more as he sped through the streets of Chicago. 

Seeing the hospital quickly approaching, Jay took his seat belt off, bracing himself for Hank to slam on his breaks. Hank pulled under the awning to the emergency department, Jay jumping out of the car before the vehicle could stop. Jay rushed into the building with Hank on his heels, "Where's Aubrey and Will?" Jay questioned as he walked quickly past the nurses station, his eyes scanning the faces as he passed.

"Last I heard, they were in the lab." The nurse stated, "Second floor, the stairs will be quicker." 

Jay took off running towards the stairs, Hank right behind him, dodging and weaving the by standers as they reached the second floor. Jay's heart was beating wildly in his chest, searching for Aubrey's face and Will. Jay spotted the lab, picking up his speed, barreling into the door.

"Aubrey, Will?!" Jay rushed into the room, seeing Will picking himself up off the floor, his forehead bleeding, "What the hell?!" Jay rushed to his brother, "Where's Aubrey?" Jay questioned, helping his brother up. 

"I...I think Seldon took her." Will reached for his head, "I tried to stop him, he cold cocked me over the head." 

Jay's blood ran cold, his knees going weak, "How long ago?" Hank's voice caused him to blink a few times, trying to control his emotions from taking over. 

"It couldn't have been long." Will sighed, "Jay, I tried..." 

"He might still be in the building." Hank stated. 

Jay was out the door before either of them could say anything, quickly getting on the two-way to get a description of Seldon and Aubrey out on the radio. He was searching the halls as he was racing towards the security room, to see if any cameras had picked either of them up. 

The Detective watched the security footage, seeing Seldon holding something to Aubrey as they moved through the halls, using her ID badge to get through different doors to head towards the exit, trying to go as un-noticed as possible. Jay's jaw clenched seeing Seldon shove Aubrey into his truck. Jay felt like he was going to be sick, as Hank came in a few moments later.

"Ruzek brought in the wife, she's being questioned now." Hank stated, "We're gonna find her." Hank added, trying to bring relief to him, "Jay, you gotta keep your head on right now." Hank spoke quietly, before calling Seldon's license plate number over the two-way. 

"I can't do this without her." Jay spoke so quietly that Hank almost didn't hear him, and clapped a hand on his shoulder. 

"You won't have to." . . . Aubrey's hands were trembling as Seldon ushered her into an office meeting, filled with a number of men and women. The man shoved her into an empty chair in front of all of the board members, she quickly realized. Aubrey watched as Doctor Seldon began to rant about how his virus was life changing, how the world could be changed with his new discovery, and Aubrey realized he had lost his mind. All because his funding denied.

Considering who her father was, Hank had always taught her and Justin that if for some reason they were ever taken, to keep your mouth shut, do as the person says, and wait. It scared the hell out of her, but she knew that her father would stop at nothing to find either of them, and she had to trust that Hank or Jay would find her. 

Aubrey thought of Henry, closing her eyes, remembering the little boys face, so thankful that she was able to get away from Noah, and come back to Chicago. She wasn't sure what Seldon was planning, but she knew that Henry would be safe in Chicago with Jay. Aubrey thought of Jay, and everything that they have been through together. She knew that if she walked out of this, Aubrey was going to tell Jay how much she loved him. . . . Jay pulled up to the building, watching as a dark haired woman fell from several floors up, he let out a sigh of relief seeing that it wasn't Aubrey, and quickly pulled his gun out with Atwater and Rixton beside him. 

Making his way into the building with Atwater, while Rixton dealt with the body, Jay took off running towards the stairs, being led by the people trying to escape. When Jay made it to the correct floor, he heard a gun shot and several screams, and he swore he stopped breathing for a moment. As he approached the door, he slowly opened it to see Seldon holding a gun aimed at the door, a knife to Aubrey's throat. 

"Doctor Seldon, I just want to talk, can I come in there in talk?" Jay questioned, moving to the other side of the door. 

"No. Do not come in!" Seldon shouted. 

"It's either me talking or a team of men shooting." Jay stated, "Believe me, whatever your here to do, it's better with me in there and keeping them out. What's it gonna be?" Jay questioned, hoping like hell he could get into the office to get the knife away from Aubrey's throat. 

A few seconds later Seldon spoke up, "Okay, but come in slowly and drop the weapon." Seldon instructed, Jay quickly grabbed his phone, telling him he was going in and to keep the line open, removing his gun from his hand and showing Seldon that he was going to drop it to the ground. 

Jay's eyes locked with Aubrey, seeing the tears start to build in her eyes, and he looked back to Seldon as he instructed him to turn around, walking in backwords, then instructed to close the door. . . . Aubrey watched as Jay unarmed his gun, dropping it to the ground. His hands held in the air, his eyes looking to hers for a moment and then around the room, "Everything is going to be okay, everybody just stay calm." Jay spoke, and as much as Aubrey wanted to sigh in relief, she couldn't do to the knife at her throat. 

"Okay, so why are we here? What can I help you with?" Jay questioned walking towards Seldon, Aubrey sighed in relief as Seldon moved away from her with the knife, and towards Jay, the gun aimed at him, as Seldon began to talk about the virus, to see how the world is going to end, because of the bacteria. All due to fear. 

Jay tensed when Seldon aimed the gun at Aubrey as he began to rant about not funding the grant he needed to do the research he needed. 

"So how do you want me to help? You want me to get the media here? You want me to arrange the funding?" Jay questioned. 

"No, no it's too late for that. It's time for them to decided." Seldon shouted, pointing the gun back to Aubrey, with a knife in the other hand. 

"Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'll help you prove your right." Jay slightly panicked, taking a step towards Seldon, "I believe you, so let me do it." Jay added. 

Aubrey watched in horror as Seldon tossed Jay the knife, demanding that he pick up the knife. She wanted him to scream at him to not do it as he glanced to the already infected man across from her, and then watched as Jay cut his arm, grimacing as he winced. Aubrey let the tears fall as Seldon rolled the spray bottle towards Jay, demanding that he pick it up and spray it. Her heart was in her throat when his eyes locked with hers, and aimed the spray bottle at his arm, and stalled for a half of second, and Aubrey heard the shots, the door busting in and her father shooting Seldon. 

A moment later, Aubrey was out of her chair running straight into Jay's arms, his large hands wrapping around her, "Don't ever fucking do that again." Aubrey cried, her face burying into his chest, "Please, don't ever do that again." Aubrey felt Jay kiss the top of her head and a moment later she was pulled from the man's arm and into her father's, then Will's. 

"You okay?" Will questioned to Jay and Aubrey, making sure that they didn't get any of the bacteria on them. 

"Yeah." Aubrey nodded, then looked over to Jay, who wouldn't tear his eyes away from her, "Yeah, I'm good." Jay answered, "Let's go home." Jay looked to Aubrey, holding out his hand and watched as she took it a moment later.

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[the-hobgoblins]

✸ one short day [in the emerald city] ✸

Who: Ozymandias Pryce

Where: Ministry of Magic, London

When: 22 May 2020

When Oz came to, he was in a dark and unfamiliar room, blinking drearily into the sinister greenish haze. His head was throbbing and his wrists felt sore—which upon further investigation might’ve had something to do with the fact that he was sitting upright in a stiff wooden chair with his hands restrained behind his back by faintly buzzing cuffs of magic, which heated up and zapped when he pulled on them too hard. “Ow, fuck me sideways…” he groaned, trying to remember how he’d gotten here.

The trouble must have started that morning, when Oz ran out of rolling tobacco. 

Wait, no—that’s not quite right, is it? Let’s back up a bit…

Actually, the real trouble started when a daunting envelope stamped with an M arrived on the doorstep of Borgin and Burkes. A census questionnaire from the Magicky Government in England, and it sent everyone into a real tizzy—especially Piper.

They’d all just agreed to not send it back; after all, what were they gonna do, really? “The feds are always trying to stir up shit in Knockturn Alley…” Maeko had said, tossing the papers into a rubbish bin definitively. “…but any of ‘em who know anything won’t be stupid enough to get near this building.”

And that was true enough—the house wards and general reputation did prevent anyone wearing government robes from approaching the building. Staking it out from down the alley, though? That only got worse as time passed and the census documents from 13B remained unreturned, until the household were practically self-imposed hostages in their own home, apparating straight to and from the property interior, the windows and shutters and blinds all firmly closed.

And then Oz had run out of rolling tobacco. 

The sun was just starting to come up (not that you could ever tell very well in the perpetual shadowy gloom of Knockturn), but it was definitely too early still to really be considered morning. Oz groaned irritably, restless, and high, and hungover. He peeked out from behind the closed curtained window in his room down the empty alleyway. Five minutes, he’d be gone, tops. No life-or-death crises ever happened in five minutes, at five in the morning. 

Out and back, no problem.

Except, of course, for the increased patrols that had been ordered all along the alley for the past two weeks—which none of the Borgin and Burkes crew knew about, not having physically walked up or down Knockturn Alley in roughly a month. Oz emerged from the smoke shop to the sight of a literal kid—must have been affiliated with one of the local gangs that struggled for underground dominance in the area—pointing at Oz, and then two big robed thugs pulled out wands and started toward him with threatening intent.

And that’s when Oz bolted down the alley in the direction of Borgin and Burkes, all the way at the end. He didn’t get far before a spell hit him in the back and he fell, and when his head hit the cobblestone he was out like a light. 

And that, ladies and gents, brings us up to speed on the knee-slapping nonstop jokefest that brought Oz to this current moment—detained inside the infamous Ministry of Magic. 

They must have had some way to detect when he woke up, because not a minute after he’d opened his eyes, a heavy metal door opened and in strolled the two beefy brutes who’d shot him down in the street like a…pheasant, or something? Whatever, Oz didn’t know a lick about hunting for sport, and was that a bad thing? The English were barbaric creatures, honestly. 

After the men came a woman with coiffed grey hair that didn’t match the age of the rest of her, wearing a wide-belted trench coat and a cravat and a very outlandish hat. Her thin matte red lips were absolutely predatory. 

Under other circumstances, Oz thought he would have liked her. 

“Well, good morning to both of you very capable stalkers! And my gentle lady…” Oz said amiably, shifting as much as was possible into a lounging position given the way he was being restrained. “…or should I say afternoon? Evening? Gute Nacht?” He had no clue how much time had passed since he’d stupidly left Borgin and Burkes that morning, how long he’d been in here. He looked between the men, who just stood in front of the closed door with muscly arms folded in surly silence, while the woman pulled out a chair and sat down in it; it gave a screech as the legs scratched the floor, the kind that made your skin crawl, and her red lips got even thinner as she smirked. Not very forthcoming, then, it seemed. Lovely. 

Oz, not thrown in the least by the silent treatment, said, “So what can I do ya for?”

The woman pulled some papers out of a briefcase, straightened them by tapping the bottom edge on the table, examined them a moment. Then: “Ozymandias Pryce, is it?”

“In the flesh, as they say…” Oz replied, all cheek and ease. 

“I thought so…” the woman said, and her smugness was sinister. She lit a cigarette at the end of a long, old-fashioned cigarette holder and leaned back in her chair. The smell of smoke immediately made Oz itch with craving. The woman smoked for a moment, her eyes never leaving Oz. Then she added, “…I must say, Mister Pryce, that your reputation precedes you…”

“Does it?” said Oz. “Well I’m tickled pink to hear it, truly. In fact, if you undid these very, ah—zappy cuffs, here, I’d be more than happy to—”

“—I think not,” she cut him off, smirk widening, flipping a page. “You’re the Squib brother of Maeko Burke, is that correct?”

Oz laughed. “Is that what my file there says? I suppose the Very Official Documents always know best…”

“And are you aware, Mister Pryce, that performing magic with a wand that has not been licensed to you is a fineable—sometimes even punishable offense?”

Here Oz really cackled. “Are you lot cracked? You think poor little un-magical me was so desperate to be a Manly Wizard Man that I stole someone’s little Spelly-Stick to wave around when your suits refused to license me one?” His tone was thick with mocking.

“I’m not alleging that…” the woman said, shifting, unfazed. “…I’m merely pointing out the fact that it’s considered unusual—highly unusual, for someone with your handicap—”

“My what?”

“—to take up residence in a strictly magical area of commerce. And that one, in particular. Makes one wonder…”

“So you’re saying it’s a crime to live with my sister? My only relative who isn’t currently servin’ a life’s sentence—and oh wait, whose fault is that again?”

“And you’re saying we don’t have just cause to be suspicious of the children of known felons, living amongst the highest density of criminal activity in the entire country—”

“My sister an’ I aren’t fuckin’ criminals, you intolerant twot—” Oz spat back, straining against the restraints despite the stinging buzz the dissenting effort shot up his arms. 

The woman leaned across the table like a cat taunting its prey, breathing smoke into Oz’s face. She grinned, as if riling him up were some kind of victory. “Not yet, maybe. But keep it up, mister—you and Miss Burke will be joining your beloved parents in the company of Dementors in no time.”

Oz shrank back into his seat, admittedly just a little bit shaken in the face of an actual, overt threat. After a moment, deflated, he said, “Whadda you want, then, reely? I’m not fuckin’ touched, I know I’m not shit to you ’n yours…let’s just get this bit over ’n done with, shall we? So we can all go home?”

“I’m happy to hear you’re willing to be so cooperative…” the woman said, pleased as punch. “…for starters, the 13B Knockturn Alley residence has failed to return the mandatory census questionnaire, and has exhibited suspicious behavior—not just in the past month, but for years that we’ve sent patrols to maintain peace in the area. If you confess what you’re hiding to me, now, I’d be willing to consider advocating for leniency for you…”

“And Maeko?” asked Oz warily. This wasn’t just about Piper, then—that was just the tip of the iceberg. 

“Miss Burke’s case would be separately considered, in relation to the severity of her crimes—if she has nothing to hide, then she should have nothing to worry about…”

Oz narrowed his eyes and kept quiet, not taking the bait. After a minute, the woman prompted, “One more question, Mister Pryce—what can you tell me about your involvement with the underground insurgency group who’ve been spreading violent, anti-regulatory propaganda under the guise of rock music?”

This question did, genuinely, confuse Oz. “The—the who?”

“I believe they refer to themselves as ‘The Band Cthulhu?’”

And then Oz burst into loud, hysterical laughter. He rocked in his chair with the force of it and then spat—literally—at the woman across the table. He propped up his dirty sneakers, his legging-clad legs, and grinned. “Up yours, ya loony bitch. Your lot’ve got fuck all on me.”

He was still laughing when the woman stormed out of the interrogation room, enraged, wiping her spat-upon face with her cravat. And even when her muscle came and roughed him up a little for his insolence, Oz kept laughing.

And several hours later, when Maeko and a portly gentlemen claiming to be Oz’s legal council showed up and facilitated his release, Oz walked out of the Ministry of Magic laughing.

[kalyan-gullapalli]

Post # 128

Bharat's Ratna...

If Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao were alive today, he would be 99 years old. On 28th June, 2021, he would have turned 100. So this year, the Telangana government is celebrating his birth centenary year. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao led the bandwagon of people demanding Bharat Ratna for PV (as he was fondly known), with BJP leader Subramaniam Swamy supporting this demand. Reports appear that Dr. Manmohan Singh wanted to give him a Bharat Ratna when he was Prime Minister.

Glowing tributes flew from all and sundry, even from Congress, whose party he belonged to, and who conveniently chose to ignore him since 1996, when he stepped down as PM.

No matter how significant PV Narasimha Rao's life was before 1996, it probably must have been hell since then, till 2004, when he died of a heart attack. First of all, he got no credit from his own Congress party for the path-breaking economic reforms he instituted and pulled the country out of the deep shit it had been pushed into by former governments and their policies. Dr. Manmohan Singh, instead, got all the credit.

Next, he was blamed for the party's 1996 electoral defeat, dumped and replaced by Sitaram Kesari. He was excluded from every Congress Working Committee meeting since.

To rub salt on wounds, he was charged with many corruption cases, some of them by his own party colleagues. He supposedly went through a very bad phase financially and had to sell his Banjara Hills house in Hyderabad to pay for his lawyers.

When he died, while undergoing treatment in AIIMS, his family requested that being a former PM, he should be cremated and his remains buried in Delhi. But Sonia Gandhi and her cronies didn't even allow his body to enter the AICC building in Delhi. That's when Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Rajasekhar Reddy intervened, flew the body back to Hyderabad, and had it cremated with state honors.

But why was PV, a freedom fighter before Indian independence, a career Congress-man, an Indira Gandhi loyalist even in Emergency days, a State Chief Minister, a cabinet minister with Foreign and Home ministries and an ex-Prime Minister, treated with such disdain in his last few years? And now, why this drama about a Bharat Ratna? Therein lies a tale...

In 1991, PV Narasimha Rao had practically retired from politics. He had by then, seen it all, done it all. Renowned as a scholar - he was fluent in 17 languages - and known to be indecisive - a requisite for survival in the Indian National Congress in those Indira days - he was cooling his heels, when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, in the midst of electoral polling.

Congress emerged as the largest party in those elections, but didn't have majority. Sonia didn't want to enter politics just as yet. So PV was persuaded to head a minority government, simply because he was deemed harmless, and asked to lead a nation rocked by the worst economic crisis in its history - the country was bankrupt and had to pledge 68 tonnes of gold in return for aid from IMF, and was grappling with political uncertainty - this was the third government in as many years.

To put it mildly, to survive 5 years - 5 eventful years - and produce the results that he did, was nothing short of miraculous. If a Prime Minister's performance is to be measured by the difference he made to the country while in office, PV Narasimha Rao was probably the most significant Prime Minister India has ever had.

1. Economic reforms:

PV Narasimha Rao was the true father of Indian economic reforms. He brought in a technocrat - Dr. Manmohan Singh as the Finance Minister of India, and backed him 100% to implement necessary reforms. He himself headed the Commerce and Industries ministry to dismantle the socialist policies of the License Raj. His ability to steer unconventional, unpopular reforms through opposition, while heading a minotity government gave him the title Chanakya of Indian politics. Dr. Manmohan Singh says PV was "his friend, philosopher and guide".

2. Nuclear testing:

Today, the world credits Atal Bihari Vajpayee government for India's nuclear testing programme, which culminated in the Pokhran tests of 1998. However, the tests were actually planned in 1995, during PV's term in office. They were dropped under American pressure when the US intelligence got the whiff of it. In 1996, when PV stepped down and Vajpayee became PM, PV met Vajpayee and updated him on the progress of the nuclear programme. Vajpayee said later, "Rao told me that the bomb was ready. I only exploded it." APJ Abdul Kalam described PV Narasimha Rao as a "patriotic statesman who believed that the nation is bigger than the political system". 

3. Foreign policy:

He decided in 1992 to bring into the open India's relations with Israel, which had been kept covertly active for a few years during his tenure as a Foreign Minister, and permitted Israel to open an embassy in New Delhi. Today, Israel is one of India's best friends.

He ordered the intelligence community in 1992 to start a systematic drive to draw the international community's attention to Pakistan's sponsorship of terrorism in India and not to be discouraged by US efforts to undermine the exercise.

Rao launched the Look East foreign policy, which brought India closer to ASEAN. Subsequent governments have pursued this policy as well. Today, Narendra Modi is a strong advocate and practitioner of this policy.

He decided to maintain a distance from the Dalai Lama in order to placate Beijing, and made successful overtures to Tehran. These policies paid rich dividends for India in 1994, when Benazir Bhutto's efforts to have a resolution passed by the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva on the human rights situation in Jammu and Kashmir failed, with opposition by China and Iran.

4. Crisis management:

After the 1993 Bombay blasts, PV personally visited Bombay and after seeing evidence of Pakistani involvement in the blasts, invited the intelligence agencies of the US, UK and other West European countries to examine the facts for themselves.

It was during his term that terrorism in Punjab was finally defeated.

He also directed negotiations to secure the release of Doraiswamy, an Indian Oil executive, from Kashmiri terrorists who kidnapped him, and Liviu Radu, a Romanian diplomat posted in New Delhi in October 1991, who was kidnapped by Sikh terrorists.

He also brought the occupation of the Hazratbal holy shrine in Jammu and Kashmir by terrorists in October 1993 to an end without damage to the shrine.

In 1993, a strong earthquake in Latur, Maharashtra killed nearly 10,000 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. PV Narasimha Rao was applauded for using modern technology and resources to organise major relief operations.

Okay. By now, I am convinced he has done enough to have become a high-performance Prime Minister, despite his inaction during the Babri Masjid demolition and the pan-India rioting that happened after that. But why the disdain, especially from within his own party?

Some commentators say that his shabby treatment largely owed to the fact that, in the dusk of his career, he refused to serve as a seat-warmer to the next generation of Gandhis. Once he became the PM, this previously indecisive, harmless, grand old man acted like the buck stopped with him. He stopped visiting Sonia Gandhi regularly, which she resented. In him, the Gandhi family detected a rival power centre that could diminish their centrality to the party and its fortunes.

Some others say that Sonia Gandhi was unhappy with the pace at which Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case was progressing. A few others say that Congress ‘punished’ Rao for his failure to safeguard the Babri Masjid and jeopardise the party’s long-nurtured Muslim vote bank.

Whatever be the real inside story, I feel compelled to reproduce the most glowing tribute to PV Narasimha Rao I read in the past few days.

“Rao is to India what founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson are to the United States; Friedrich List to Germany; Hayato Ikeda to Japan; Lee Kuan Yew, Goh Keng Swee and Albert Winsemius to Singapore; and Deng Xiaoping to China.”

In my book, Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao is 100% a Bharat Ratna - a Jewel of India.

[alexsmitposts]

America Under Total Censorship Lockdown as it Circles the Drain The United States is under a broad censorship lockdown. News from regional press is blocked from national coverage, stories are crushed, certainly Facebook and Google ban and delist, but now at a level that should be unimaginable. The stories run in two areas, seemingly unrelated, that being BLM protests and the other COVID-19. Both are political issues for sure. One strange, certainly inexplicable move has been made by the Trump regime, starting July 16, 2020. Trump has ordered defunding of COVID-19 testing, something that will certainly cripple efforts to rein in the pandemic, and he has also ordered massive cuts to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), ending their ability to report test numbers, hospitalizations and deaths. He then issued an executive order to hospitals to stop reporting COVID-19 data to the appropriate agencies and to channel data directly to his political staff. This will be the painful story as there is a reason for these actions, ignored entirely by the press, but first we need to establish the extent and severity of censorship from the ground up. We will cover a number of stories that should have been followed, certainly investigated and ask some hard questions. Real news reaches a very few and with it warnings, to be careful. Even the FBI, once the enforcers of corporate rule in America, is left out of the loop. There may well be a hideous secret being kept from Americans and the world about how bad things are in the US and any who threaten that secret may well face the fate of so many who have died reporting facts that make the Deep State uncomfortable. As a journalist, I regularly get whistleblower reports, certainly on a daily basis. Many are outrageous and conspiratorial and weeding between credible and insane is taxing in a world where “insane” is the norm. However, a pattern has made itself perfectly clear. Let us take a few anecdotal issues and see where we go. This week, in Detroit, a man convicted of two murders was released. It seems the police detective who handled the case back in 2002 faked everything, witnesses were coached, evidence fabricated, a man spent 16 years in jail and was obviously innocent. The story was reported but what wasn’t reported is that the same Detective Sergeant had done this before. All complaints were quashed by police officials, and many of his fake cases were featured on reality television. Up to half of the “solved” murder cases in Detroit, once “Murder Capital of the World,” involved this corrupt cop, who is still “on the job,” meaning hundreds are in prison for decades, even life, who are innocent. It also means this is still going on. Worse still, who did the killings? We now suspect that a criminal group within the police may be running a “murder for hire” organization and has been doing so for years. There are no investigations, and no one is asking why. Who are their clients? On a broader national issue, there is a huge but largely unreported controversy in Portland, Oregon. President Trump and Attorney General William Barr have sent several hundred armed personnel to Portland to act as fake police against protesters there. No one is sure where these men come from, the fake police, not the protesters, though this is a valid question also, but they seem to be prison guards. It is illegal in the US for the federal government to send police to a state. It is illegal for prison guards, who are not police, to exercise arrest power outside the walls of a prison as they are not “certified” and “sworn” law enforcement officers within the state where they are, in this case, deployed. This is a massive constitutional crisis. Then something more curious happened. Senator Ted Cruz, a comic figure, tweeted a photo of those arrested by these fake police. Photos of a dozen young men, all white, claiming they were Antifa operatives. In the Tweet, Cruz referred to their “mullet” haircuts. The “mullet” is a style often ridiculed. Those wearing this hairstyle are invariably rural, deeply conservative, and poorly educated. They are classic “Trump base.” There was little evidence, other than sketchy news stories, that Antifa even existed. It is now clear that the all-white violent demonstrators are hired thugs from among the rural poor, hired from “Trumpland.” This is a common GOP practice dating back to Watergate and Donald Segretti. The same story came up in Grand Rapids, Michigan when violent demonstrators began looting during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in June. Those arrested were white, had arrived from across the state, and had been paid $300 each by political organizers. Guessing whose political organizers isn’t too difficult. These facts were delisted by Google, the Tweets were taken down and Facebook posts were erased as well. No press follow-up was done and both police and prosecutors have since “disappeared” those arrested. On June 1, 2020, a Ukrainian truck driver who had worked for a CIA sponsored militia fighting against Donbass separatists, plowed his vehicle into protesters in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bogdan Vechirko failed to kill anyone, but shocking video showed 2000 peaceful demonstrators running for their lives. All reporting ended there. We found that Bogdan Vechirko was not jailed and that no legal action has been taken. Worse still, no one has asked why. A month later, in Seattle, an Eritrean immigrant plowed his white Jaguar into protesters killing two. His family has strong ties to CIA sponsored war lords. The video is among some of the most horrific ever filmed with those he struck at 100 miles per hour flying high in the air. He was chased down by a witness who pulled his vehicle over miles away. Press was told he is under arrest. No details are available. He may be out on bail; no details are available. Where he lives, anything about his family or background is withheld. He is a ghost. Only days ago, a Trump supporter entered a convenience store outside Lansing, Michigan. State law requires anyone entering a store to wear a mask. When confronted by a shopper, the Trump supporter pulled out a large kitchen knife, just the thing used for buying cigarettes and milk, and stabbed the 77-year-old shopper repeatedly. The video from the store is withheld as is the name of the victim and any witnesses. It gets better. In moments, police found the perpetrator and an officer pulled his car over. This was in an affluent neighborhood, in front of the perpetrator’s home. The perpetrator got out of his vehicle with a butcher knife in one hand and a large screwdriver in the other. The police officer, a woman with 22 years’ experience, demanded he drop his weapons. His replies, maniacal and haunting, are unforgettable, like something out of a horror film. As he ran toward the officer, she fired more than a dozen shots, hitting him 8 times as he slashed at her. He barely went down even then but died at the scene. Now the incident has been “un-happened.” There are no facts about who this was, why this happened or how the perpetrator, a well-paid state employee, became a terrorist. We have dozens more such incidents daily in the US, some are legitimate, angry people under pressure while others are theatrical with the perpetrator’s ghosts. As a juxtapose, when a wealthy couple in St. Louis pointed weapons at demonstrators near their magnificent home, media reported on every aspect of their lives, story upon story for weeks. These are all tabloid level stories that should have driven media to shake every tree, question families, show photos of victims and bloody crime scenes. This is how the media makes money, as the saying goes, “if it bleeds-it reads.” Not anymore, not when perpetrators are clearly not what they seem to be. Where are we going? Well, we are certainly going to take this one home. So, why is there a massive crackdown on reporting? Is it tied to police murders? Yes, maybe it is but we don’t think so. Is it tied to COVID-19? We have held off thus far in asking questions about censorship of COVID-19’s impact on the US. We will ask some of those questions now. We have both facts and “alternative facts” hitting the media regarding the pandemic. As COVID-19 levels skyrocket in states like Arizona, Florida, California and two dozen others, reporting becomes, not just contradictory but insanely so. In Florida the governor, DeSantis, claims that 98% of the state’s hospital beds are currently empty. The graphs he publishes are all over Twitter and Facebook, placed there by political trolls. At the same time, however, the largest hospitals in Florida report that they are at 119% of capacity and are overrun with COVID-19 patients. Rebekah Jones, a medical statistician fired for disputing faked data ordered by Governor DeSantis, says deaths are being not just underreported but on a large scale. Easily available video of overflowing hospital wards and licensed “real” medical professionals complaining of lack of medicines and equipment, can be found but are never reported on mainstream media. We do know this, the only drug that treats COVID-19, Remdesivir, is virtually unaffordable, is totally controlled by Jared Kushner and that the State of Florida, in the midst of a massive outbreak of COVID-19, exhausted all supplies over a week ago and Washington isn’t sure when they can release more. This isn’t being reported either. We are also told that those who die are often over 80 years old but massive anecdotal evidence, including regular reports by experts, cite the large number of young victims who are seriously ill. However, their serious illness and hospitalization is not reported and their deaths, if they are dying, are unreported as well. In fact, none of the data received can be depended on, not just in Florida but in dozens of states that seem to be “sitting on” numbers hospitalized and even fatalities. This censorship is driving many to openly shun needed precautions leading to massive increases, all documented, of COVID-19 infections. Why? Conclusion As a test against censorship and misreporting, algorithms are run, based on total tested, total tested positive, total hospitalized, total cured and those who die. As more are tested, more with lesser symptoms, the percentage of infected who later die is continually lowered or was until the beginning of July 2020 when numbers hit a plateau. When COVID reporting began to yield usable data, around mid-April 2020, death rates of those infected were at an unrealistic 36%. Testing levels, through presidential interference, were extremely low, something that would seal America’s role as a failed state. As testing increased, the percentage of recovered compared to deaths followed a predictable curve, which would flatline at some point. With testing levels, after months of interference, substantive enough to give a meaningful result and death levels somewhat modified by the use of Remdesivir, the death percentage “flatlined” at 7 percent. Thus, if a state like Florida were to have 10,000 new cases in a day, with an average of 7% dying, this would mean that eventual death levels would hit 700 a day for this state alone. This figure would be modified by higher or lower numbers testing positive or by lower death rates for larger numbers of younger infected. No such figures are reported. Using figures already proven, many states are reporting very inconsistent figures when looking at testing-hospitalizations-recoveries and deaths. Simply put, they are lying, underreporting by as much as 50%. Florida is clearly one of these. It is clear that the press has yet to do any statistical analysis on COVID-19. Why? There is also significant evidence that the medical community is aware of these inconsistencies. Respected medical professionals have come forward repeatedly with claims of underreporting and, more serious as well, their own theories that COVID-19 is a biological weapon. Attempts to debunk professionals by medical quacks and charlatans backed by conservative think tanks fill the media, while respected professionals are boycotted entirely. Could the US be hiding 100,000 additional COVID-19 dead? A recent leak from the CDC now predicts 800,000 dead by the end of 2020. From the Daily Beast: “If someone had suggested five months ago that we would be seeing more than 3 million cases and 135,000 COVID-19 deaths in the US by mid-July, I wouldn’t have believed it. But now it’s distinctly possible that, five months from now, half of all Americans could have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, and more than 800,000 Americans may die in this extraordinary outbreak. That is what many of our most prominent public-health experts now expect.” However, as of this writing that figure is 143,042, or is it? Is there a lie so big that the United States would find it offensive to perpetrate? I think we all know that answer.

[dontdoitluke]

We Could Be Heroes - Ch 6

Sky High AU, but instead, it’s a superhero University. 

Summary: Skyler decides it’s time to play detective with Michelle, things get a little muddy between Jenna and Ashton, and Michael shares his big news. 

Chapter: 6/?

Word Count: 3,638

CHAPTER INDEX

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“Sky, the man can hear a butterfly burp from a mile away and you want me to spy on him?”

Skyler shrugged and halfheartedly stabbed one of her tortilla chips into a bowl of salsa next to her. She had just spent the last ten minutes explaining the details of her interaction with Michael, from the argument with the librarian to him running out of the room. It was all very un-Michael-like, and Skyler was very concerned. And by concerned, she meant nosy. In the best way possible, of course.

“He can hear a lot of things, but he can’t hear your thoughts. So as long as you don’t say anything you should be good, right? Come on, aren’t you just a little bit concerned as to why he’s running around all frantic-like? Or why he’s being so distant with us?”

Michelle took a sip of her water and raised an eyebrow. “Actually... he has been kind of distant these past couple of days.”

“See?”

“But I don’t think it’s anything suspicious. I mean, he could just be enjoying his time with Mickey, you know they’re inseparable now.”

“And I don’t think it has anything to do with Mickey at all,” Skyler said through a mouthful of chips and salsa. “I think he’s trying to drop out of school.”

Michelle furrowed her brows and reached for one of the chips in the basket between them. “What? What makes you think that?”

“I mean, when he came into the library, he got on one of the computers that was facing away from me so I couldn’t see, and normally he doesn’t care about that. He didn’t let me see what he’d printed either, he hasn’t been very vocal in class-”

“When is he ever vocal in class?”

“I mean, you’re right, but he’s been especially quiet lately. And he always takes notes at least, but he hasn’t even been doing that. He’s just been on his phone the entire time.”

Michelle froze mid-bite; realization slowly dawned on her face. “Yeah, he... he always takes notes. He’s very serious about his school work. Now that I think of it, this morning, during Chem, the professor had to tell him to put his phone away.”

“And when we were in first aid class, he spoke up like he was paying attention, but he was on his phone the whole time, remember?”

Both girls stared silently at the table, thinking back on the past few days and remembering all the things that had changed in Michael. Aside from the fact that Mickey was now there, no one had noticed any changes until now.

“So... why would he suddenly stop paying attention in class? Because he’s not going to have those classes anymore.”

Michelle took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. This whole ordeal was giving her a headache, and she couldn’t stand to think of Michael leaving.  

“It has to be something else. Maybe he met someone?”

Skyler tilted her head to the side, considering the idea, then shook her head. “No, it can’t be that. It would explain the phone, but not the forms.”

“Maybe they’re unrelated. I don’t know. I just really don’t think we should spy on him and if you’re really that nosy about it-”

“Concerned. I’m concerned.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that. Anyway, I think if you really want to know what’s going on, you should just ask him.”

“Yeah, I thought about that, too. I don’t think he’ll tell me the truth.”

Both girls sighed, sat back in their chairs, and closed their eyes, completely exasperated and at a loss for a solution to the problem. All the clues did seem to lead to Michael dropping out, which neither of them wanted, and they were sure that none of the rest of the group wanted it either.  

Michelle reluctantly agreed to listen for anything that may lead to an answer, even if she wanted nothing more than to stay out of it.

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In the common room of their dorm hall, Calum and Val sat at one of the round tables with their first aid binders open in front of them, discussing scenarios for their homework. Val had come up with some pretty good ones for herself, but Calum was still stuck. He couldn’t think of anything other than getting rid of parasites, and Val, bless her heart, tried her best to be serious about it and help him, but all she could think about was what it would be like to have him tuck her away in his stomach pouch.

The whole thing with Calum swallowing Val had started out as kind of a joke, but now they’d been joking about it for a few months and she was genuinely curious. She’d seen him take things out of the pouch; during one of their classes he was dared to swallow Ashton’s driver’s license, and he had done it without a single thought. He just swallowed the little plastic card whole and brought it back up, completely dry, with nothing but a tiny cough to show for it, and Val was enamored. It was mostly due to the fact that she’d had a huge crush on him since the day they met, but it was also partly due to her fascination with the human anatomy. And right now, she wanted to be up close and personal with Calum’s anatomy.

He began mumbling to himself, trying desperately to come up with just one more scenario, and Val couldn’t help but watch the way his mouth moved as he spoke. She couldn’t tell what she wanted more in that moment; to throw herself at him and press her lips against his, or shrink herself down and take a nap in his belly. She was in the middle of one of her many tummy fantasies when she noticed that Calum’s mouth was no longer mumbling. She looked up into his waiting eyes and realized he had been speaking to her.

“Sorry, what was that?”

He smiled softly and looked back down at his binder. “I asked if you were alright. You zoned out on me for a minute there.”

Val twisted her face in mock disgust and blew a raspberry with her mouth, placing her hand on his forearm. “Why? Do you care about me? Getting all concerned?”

Faking a gag, he chuckled and used the eraser end of his pencil to push her hand away from him. “Fuck no, crawl down a hole and stay there for all I care.”

“The only hole I wanna crawl down is your throat.”

“You’re sick.”

“No, you. Let me be your Val-ium, already.”

“I’m n... wait, what’s that smell?”

Val furrowed her brows and sniffed. She didn’t notice anything at first and was about to shrug it off, but then the smell of burnt popcorn filled the air around her. Calum, always a curious one, stood and motioned for Val to follow him to the kitchen on the other side of the common area.  

Opening the door, they were greeted with the sight of Ally and Luke arguing over whose fault it was that the popcorn had burned. Ally was insisting that Luke distracted her by asking her to make more peanut butter cups, and Luke claimed that it was Ally’s fault because she put the timer on for three minutes instead of two and a half.

“I could have listened for the pops to slow down, but nooo, Lukey needs his candy NOW!”

“You wouldn’t have to listen for the pops if you would have put the timer on for less time!”

“Yeah, well you... fuck it, I’m calling Jenna to come and drown your ass.”

“No, no, wait, put the phone down, just make another bag.”

“There isn’t another bag!”

Calum covered his mouth to stifle his giggle, but Val let out a full belly laugh, gaining the attention of the banshee and the human xerox machine.  

“What’s so funny?”

Val looked up at Luke, still laughing. “I just realized that you two were like a Venti and a Tall at Starbucks.”

Ally let out an exasperated sigh and snorted. “That’s what you’re laughing at?”

Calum looked down at Val questioningly. “So, what does that make you?”

“Why don’t you take a sip and find out?”

“Can you call Jenna to drown those two instead of me?” Luke whispered to Ally, who had started picking out the burnt kernels in the bowl next to her.

“I can call her, but her water bottle only has eyes for you. Speaking of which, there she is right now... I think.”

Ally pointed behind Calum and Val, where Jenna and Ashton were waddling into the common room, completely covered from head to toe in a thin layer of mud and dirt. They laughed to themselves and carried their mud-caked shoes in their hands as they headed toward the stairs to the dorms.

Calum called out to the two and they looked up, wide-eyed.

“What the hell happened to you guys?”

Ashton and Jenna glanced at each other, mouths opening and closing at a loss for words. Ashton looked down at his mud-covered shoes and nudged Jenna’s arm, urging her to speak for them.  

“We were dueling in the courtyard,” she started. “It got messy... earth and water, you know.”

“I can see that,” Val mumbled disbelievingly, narrowing her eyes at her water-bending friend.

“We’re gonna... we’re gonna go. Gotta, you know, shower before dinner, because... yeah, this is itchy,” Ashton stuttered out, taking off for the stairs and leaving a trail of muddy footprints behind him. Jenna waved goodbye to everyone and followed him, running up the stairs two at a time.

“Uh... are they?”

“Oh, definitely. Did you notice Jenna was wearing his shirt?”

Luke hummed and stuffed his mouth with a handful of popcorn. “I don’t get it.”

Ally rolled her eyes. Not a whole lot was able to reach the top of Luke’s head, but apparently this had flown right over it.  

“Fucking. They’re fucking, Luke.”

Luke choked on his popcorn and dropped the bowl, sending the rest of what Ally was able to save flying all over the kitchen floor.

“Aw, nice going, jackass!”

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Michelle had situated herself at the end of the hallway near Michael’s dorm, focusing on his thoughts. For the past couple of hours, he hadn’t been thinking about anything other than the game he was playing, and occasionally his thoughts turned to colorful images as he pictured the different outcomes in his mind. She was about to give up for the day when the images of his gameplay turned to images of him and Mickey sitting in a classroom with other students. It didn’t look like a memory. Memories are usually much clearer, and this image was fuzzy and distorted. It seemed as if Michael was daydreaming while he was gaming.

She perked up and focused a little harder on the images that were fading in and out with the thoughts of his game, trying to spot anything that could relate to what she and Skyler discussed that afternoon. It looked like they were in a regular class with other students, but Mickey was sitting next to Michael in his own chair instead of hiding in his backpack like he usually does. The two looked at each other and smiled, Mickey’s crooked mouth opening wide with happiness, and Michael simply took off the headphones he always wears. Was he trying to listen for something important? Maybe they were just getting too hot? Maybe he’s just imagining a life where he doesn’t have to wear them? Michelle was beyond confused as daydream Michael put the headphones into his bag and turned his attention to the professor at the front of the room.  

Then, the daydream changed from a classroom setting into images of the pair at a concert, again with his headphones off. Michael had expressed his desire for concert-going many times before; he’d never been able to due to his power. Michelle could almost hear the music blaring from the imaginary speakers, she could feel the joy that Michael was feeling, and somewhere in the back of her mind, she sensed another feeling coming from him. It was almost a feeling of need, or excitement. She pinpointed the feeling as best she could, and decided that what she sensed was a feeling of hope.

Bringing herself back to her own thoughts, she left Michael to his imagination and left the dorm hall, smiling to herself. She didn’t sense anything that she could connect to forms or secrecy, but she was glad that Michael was thinking happy thoughts for once.  

She decided that she’d try once again to convince Skyler to let him keep his secrets. If he really wanted them to know, he’d share it. And if he was really going to leave S.A.V.E.U., she figured he had a good reason to. Michael usually knows what's best for himself, and who were they to stand in the way of what he wanted?

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The next day, Michael woke up bright and early. He was in an especially good mood, and he sang softly to himself while he showered, hummed a cheerful tune while he brushed his teeth, and even did a happy little dance as he got dressed for the day. Mickey mimicked every movement and sound in his own cheerful little way.  Once he and his tiny copy were dressed, Michael picked up his phone and sent a group text to his friends.

“lets meet up for breakfast, I have something I need to share and I wanna do it in person.”

Over the next few minutes, the replies started rolling in, and although most of them were not morning people and would rather spend their day off in bed, they knew that if Michael had something to say, it was important. They all agreed to meet at 10 a.m. in the dining hall, since most of the other students that usually come down for breakfast would have been gone already, and none of them had to change out of their pajamas. Which was something that Carly, Ashton, and Viv were very adamant about.

Michael headed to the dining hall with Mickey riding in his backpack about a half hour early, hoping he’d have some time to really collect his thoughts before revealing his news to his friends. However, when he stepped off of the stairs and opened the door, everyone was already seated at a table farthest from the rest of the students and staff occupying the room.  

“Wow, I thought I’d have to wait for the rest of you, not the other way around.”

“Skyler forced us all to get here early,” Emma yawned, laying her head down on the table sleepily.

“You said you had something important to share, and I wanted everyone to be here and awake for it. I was concerned about-”

“Nosy, you mean?” Carly sang mockingly.

“CONCERNED, about what you had to say to all of us.”

Michael scratched the back of his head nervously and looked toward the ground, turning toward the tables and trays filled with various breakfast foods. “Ah, well that’s good, then. Let’s, uh, let’s go get food, and I’ll... I’ll tell everyone my news then, I guess.”

Luke, always the first one to get excited over the mention of food, jumped up out of his chair and led Michael to the serving line. The rest followed after, grabbing their trays and piling their plates with whatever they could fit. Jenna and Ashton briefly fought playfully over who deserves to have the last Belgian waffle before deciding to share it. Exchanging knowing glances, Val and Ally subtly fist bumped, and Calum scrunched his face together in disgust as he picked out his breakfast.  

Once the group had paid for their meals and gotten settled at the table, Michael anxiously began to pick at his breakfast. He was so excited to share his news with his friends, but now he was tearing his toast into tiny pieces, unsure of how to start. His news wasn’t even big news, at least not to anyone other than him and Mickey, and that’s what worried him the most. He was afraid that his friends would be angry at him for dragging them out of bed for something so minuscule. He calmed himself down little by little, handing the tiny bits of bread to Mickey, who devoured them with glee and held his tiny hands out to Michael’s plate for more. He broke one of his slices of bacon in half and handed it to him when he heard Michelle’s soothing thoughts in his head.  

“It’s okay, Mike. No matter what it is, we’re gonna love and support you through it.”

He glanced up and looked over at her, giving her a shy nod. She smiled comfortingly and nodded back, urging him to begin.

Taking a deep breath, Michael scooted his chair back a few inches and pulled Mickey onto his lap. He cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention, and after a few nudges and some shushing from Emma and Viv, the entire table eagerly awaited Michael’s announcement.

“I... well... I’m not sure how to start. But I guess I should... thank you all for coming?”

The group murmured words of encouragement and smiled brightly. They all knew that public speaking and being the center of attention was Michael’s worst enemy, so they were always quick to cheer him on if he needed it.

“So, the past few day’s I’ve been doing some research, because... I noticed something strange happening, and... ah, fuck it. Let me put it to you this way; I don’t need these anymore.”

Michael slipped his noise cancelling headphones off of his head and set them on the table in front of him and Mickey. Almost immediately, everyone began speaking in hushed tones, and Michelle covered Luke’s mouth before he could screech something stupid.

“What are you doing? You’re going to give yourself a headache!” Carly whispered worriedly.

“No, that’s the thing. I don’t need them. I don’t know what it is exactly, I couldn’t find anything in my research... but the first night Mickey was born, I noticed that something was off, and my power was either not working, or something else was going on, I don’t know. That’s why I started doing research about what was going on. It has something to do with the fact that we’re the same person, technically. I know it doesn’t make sense, and it probably never will, but...”

Michael smiled widely, his entire face lighting up with happiness. In his lap, Mickey beamed proudly.

“Mickey can turn my power off.”

If you had ever heard the sound of eleven people gasping all at once, you’d think it sounded like something out of a cartoon, or a sitcom. And that’s exactly what it sounded like. And Michael reveled in it. The sound was clear, and at a normal volume. It wasn’t the painfully loud, muffled sound that he was so used to. And he loved it.  

“I can go out and do things like a normal person, now. I can go to concerts, movie theaters, festivals... and all I have to do is have Mickey by my side.”

“Wait a damn minute,” Skyler started. “So that’s what all the sneaking around and being glued to your phone was for? Research?”

Michael nodded and softly bounced Mickey on his knees.

“What about the forms you were printing yesterday?”

“Certification forms. I was getting Mickey registered as a therapy companion so that I can take him with me wherever I want to, since apparently some businesses want to treat him like some kind of animal and won’t let him in.”

Ashton, who had been silent up until now, shook his head and stuttered confusedly.  

“Hold on. You’re telling me that he’s like a service animal now?”

“Kind of. He’s my Emotional Support Clone.”

The friends at the table sat slack jawed and silent for a solid five seconds before they all burst out laughing. Michael inhaled deeply and sighed. It was so nice, being able to comfortably listen to his friends howl with laughter. Even if they were laughing at his expense.

“Skyler had us all so worried, she told us you were dropping out of school!” Viv exclaimed. Skyler stood and held her hands up in defense.  

“Hey, now. I said I THINK he’s dropping out, I didn’t say it was confirmed.”

“What? What makes you think I’d drop out? I wouldn’t leave you guys for the world.”

Emma faked a gag and jumped up to hug Michael. Carly and Michelle followed suit, creating a domino effect; everyone else stood and joined in the group hug much to Mickey’s distress. He slid out from under the hug and moved away to breathe, and Michael tried his best to hug everyone at one time as he cried tears of joy. Being able to hear normally, having so many friends that love him and his clone, it was all too much for his heart, and he felt like he was going to explode, or puke rainbows and glitter, he was just that happy.

“Don’t scare me like that next time!” Skyler whined, smacking Michael’s arm.

“Don’t be so nosy next time!”

Back at his seat, Luke screeched loudly, like nails on a chalkboard. Everyone, including the other students and staff in the room, covered their ears.

“That still hurts, though... what the fuck, Luke?”

“Your Emotional Support Demon Child stole my strawberry!”

Mickey sat in Ally’s chair, absentmindedly munching on the berry in question and waving Luke away with his free hand.

“Am Mickey, Mick-Mickey.”

“What the fuck did he say, Mike?”

Unable to stifle his laughter, he shrugged and wiped his eyes.  

“He said ‘fuck off, breadstick’, and I won’t get on to him for it, either.”

Luke pouted, turning beet red as he sat back down to childishly pick at what was left of his pancakes.

“But I was saving it for last...”

[july-19th-club]

actually i’m not done talking abt true detective s1 i actually have a lot of thoughts about those last several minutes and how important it was that it ends on a relatively hopeful note. do we know where rust’s going? what the heck this man intends to do now that he’s confronted both his most unfinished work and his greatest source of grief? we don’t, but i think we can safely say that he’s not leaving just to go somewhere and die. in his own sour and half-resigned way, it seems like he’s intending to go get some stuff done in his life, to maybe for once make plans that don’t have anything to do with death and i’m going to put my thoughts on that under a cut bc i started writing and it just kind of got away from me and it’s more or less a whole piece of fiction now

he said something about being a painter if his life had gone differently, and i think maybe that’s what he pursues next. he’s in his fifties now, has spent more of his life as an addict than not, and i imagine that the road toward finding some kind of equilibrium is not simple. if he manages to quit drinking, i don’t think he ever manages to quit smoking. it’s a comfort thing for him, as much as he knows that it’ll be that or some other chemical damage that will get him in the end. he has a silent bet on with himself as to which one it will be, when it finally happens, but it hasn’t yet and so he gets what money he’s saved and goes on a road trip. 

it’s experiences he’s after now: he goes to appalachia, he goes to new york city, briefly, doesn’t really enjoy it, goes on toward the great lakes, goes further. he sees wyoming and the dakotas, the redwood forest region, the coast of maine. canada. it occurs to him that he’s spent his whole life on one side or the other of the contiguous states, never paid much attention to what’s in the middle. he explores. he accumulates memories, knowledge, tries to enjoy it and tries to move from one sight to the next quickly enough that the doubt and disinterest can’t creep back in. tries to appreciate things: the rain. the heat coming up from the asphalt when he stops for some lunch. the stretches where he doesn’t talk to another person for days on end. even tries to appreciate the feeling of being anonymous in a crowd, walking among many other people who are focused on anything but him, tries to see it as a natural part of the things that exist to make up the world and not a poorly-designed set for a badly-written story. and around him it continues to happen. the radio continues to play. the road continues to be long. the sky continues to be huge and filled with stars, and when whatever this is has finished Something may continue, and in it he may have the chance to love and be loved. 

maybe he calls his ex-wife, and maybe she immediately assumes that it’s a goodbye call, because it’s been close to twenty years since they last spoke and she has no illusions about the state of mind he was in at the time. she may be surprised he’s lasted this long, but she agrees to meet him. he shows up sunburnt and long-haired and craggy-looking, but with the same wry face she remembers. he shows her his driver’s license photo, in which he is still sporting a weird-old-man mustache, and she makes fun of it. he tells her everything. turns out, her life has gone in an entirely different direction. where he spiraled, she thrived. eventually she decided to become a foster parent, and perhaps she wound up adopting a girl who comes to live with her as a teenager. the girl is a woman now, and has found a nice girl of her own, and the two of them are considering children, when they’ve got the finances for it. the cycle continues. he is terrified of the concept as he would be of being dropped into a parallel world where none of the loss ever happened. there is no rhyme or reason, and he is still learning how to be optimistic about the certain knowledge that even if there is another world, there’s absolutely no plan. he’s afraid. but he is more afraid of being without family, and this knowledge is sudden but he is sure of it. he meets the adopted daughter and the daughter-in-law. the daughter’s a biochemist, daughter-in-law’s a philosophy major, and they all get on like a house on fire. he can talk with the girls for far longer than claire can about the sort of heady, probably pretentious topics they’re interested in. he moves on after a few visits, but he keeps all of their numbers close. 

he travels. he paints fallingwater. he paints the wallowa valley. watercolors - he likes them better than oils or acrylics, likes the way they soften whatever he uses them to illustrate. he paints whatever he gets interested in, sometimes stopping the truck on the verge of the highway to take out his colors and paint the chicory by the side of the road. he visits a museum to study other artists’ work, gets interested in frederic remington or somebody, goes to rodeos and paints the riders and the swirls of dust. he paints mt. mckinley from memory. he paints his own flashbacks, trying to show how the colors bleed into one another, how the images repeat and revolve. he goes back through texas and louisiana, stops in bars and orders iced tea and paints the bikers. he calls his family more frequently. he calls his one friend, asks to stay updated on people’s lives, acts interested in their affairs even when they call him on a bad day and he has to feign it. one day his families meet each other. he arranges it. they have dinner together and he gives everybody paintings and when marty asks if he’d be interested in consulting on a case or two, just when he’s able to, when he’s not busy or he’s bored, he says yes, he might consider it. he is planning to move closer to his own people, but if he does, he may need the money. he thinks of things in terms of time, now. how much of it may remain, if he is smart with it. how much of it he has already used up. there is a dark, miserable center to the thought that he is careful not to get to close to, because it will swallow up everything a man can build if he’s not paying attention.

when the daughter-in-law is pregnant, the girls ask around for name suggestions. they deliberate for nine months and then some, even after the baby is born and he, more afraid than ever, meets it and lets its small hand clutch his finger like it is the only life preserver in a swallowing sea. what can this tiny creature, just-created, with eyes that look around vaguely but don’t stop, know of doubt or fear or the lifelong drowning conviction that nothing exists for a good reason? all the baby knows is what it experiences, and so he holds it as kindly as he can. with luck, it will grow. it will be one, then two years old, it will learn words, it will begin to move around far faster than its parents can keep up, with luck or perhaps un-luck it will become five and then ten years old and develop convictions and interests and then maybe it will someday be as old as he is and it will still enjoy the world. he holds it with as much hope as he can. 

after a while, they do choose a name, one of his suggestions. miles. as in “to go, before i sleep”.  

[dirkgentle]

cont. with @exspes

                                             Crikey, but what a deliciously anxious, knife-wielding, carrot-catapulting little fellow !! Dirk finds himself positively charmed --- it’s not every day, if any day at all, that he is faced with such a dire threat to his crown-winning title of man with the jitteriest nerves! And doesn’t it ever just make for the most PLEASANT change in his usual routine of flounder-flail-flee?! 

“ The police? ” Oh, why must they all SAY that? Some things are bound to be timeless in their annoying persistence. It does get boring, after a while, to always have to slog through the same repetitive, unimaginative onerousnesses whenever he very politely tries to find his way into other people’s lives - and, admittedly, their houses. After all, he’s consistently, or at least primarily, regularly, sometimes, often-enough-to-count-for-something doing it for the sake of their own well-being! Fine --- perhaps it’s not particularly nice, nor a widely accepted part of social interaction, to weasel stealthily through a door that has, in the absence of its owner, been blessed with an additional new pair of keys fitted to its lock. But even so, Dirk considers himself a PLEASANT weasel, the kind to shine at tea parties and come equipped with a perfectly acceptable reading voice. Definitely not just any old beastie deserving to have a pointy metal utensil swung at its face. 

                                                                                                            “ Eurgh. You really don’t want to do that. I am, if I may be so bold as to draw your attention to it, just STANDING here, like a normal innocent detective person, whereas YOU, my dear man, are currently and very rudely threatening me with a knife! I should be the one alerting authorities! Are you even LICENSED to brandish anything sharper than a spoon ?? Could you, ” he adds with an emphatic eye-roll that somehow, s o m e h o w  manages to tiptoe past the border of irritability and emerge in the realm of fondness, “ perhaps put this down while we attempt to have a decent, peaceful, non-injury-causing, un-knife-y conversation?! Ah --- over dinner, I’m thinking?! See, I’ve snatched up just the right moment to pop by for a little surprise visit! What are we having? I could help you with the preparations; I do a bloody fantastic thing with mashed-up crisps and blue food colouring. And none of it, I’d like to stress, involves the need to be all stabby! ”

                                                  Aforementioned knife causes Dirk to give as extravagant a body swerve around his freshly-made friend as possible when he breezes past him to inspect what is, deplorably, neither crisps nor food colouring, but a pile of chopped-up carrots. All things considered, he cannot pretend to be entirely too enthusiastic about the idea of an evening culminating in the addition of any sort of artificial orifice to his person. Especially not MINUTES after having purchased a spanking-new jacket.

[raulf-o]

The Horrorscope - Episode 34: Lighting the Fire

Ken, you’ll handle the data base search and the video on Kei’s apartment. And please get me officer Hull as you leave. Thank you, says Wasa. Yes sir, says Ken as he leaves. What should I do? asks Ram. Take Kei and go find Mary and also get Pincer to go with you. You’ll need the help, says Wasa. And what will you do? asks Ram as Hull enters the office. Officer Hull, please inform the press that will have a press conference in 5 minutes outside the precinct, says Wasa. Sir, yes, sir! says Hull. That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to announce the death of Scorpian, that we have at least five suspects and that there are missing persons, says Wasa. But why? asks Ram. Didn’t you say that until now you didn’t go public as to not create panic? he continued. Yes, but I think you all are right. The UN has done nothing and we haven’t done much either. We need to put pressure on those above us to do something and on those killers by having them know we are onto them, says Wasa. Okay, but you are inviting more and more danger your way, says Kei. Well, luckily for us, we’re still immortal and we’re the police. And this time, we’ll be prepared for them, says Wasa. Good luck, sir, says Kei as he and Ram leave his office.

Hey, Mary. Do we have a working computer? asks Ken. Yes, why? Yours’ fried too? she asks. Yeah. And I need some traffic footage and access to both criminal and the driver’s license databases, says Ken. Need some help? she asks. No, thank you though. I’m looking for something very specific. So, I’d like to do it myself, says Ken. Oh, I haven’t seen you so fired up in a while, says Mary. Well, after so many years, you it feels like things are finally moving. So, where is the PC? asks Ken. In the storage, right after evidence. To your left after you enter the room, down on the floor. There should be a couple of those older models from five years ago or so, says Mary. How do you know that? asks Ken. I like to know where things are in case they might come handy later, like now, she says as she hands him the keys to the storage room. Thank you, Ken says before leaving. Ken! she shouts. He turns around. Good luck! Hope you find what you’re looking for, she says. Thanks, says Ken. Why did this feel so sad? he asked himself as he puts his hand to his chest. I can’t get distracted. I need to concentrate now. Come on Ken, you’re better than that, he tells himself as he gets to the storage room.

Hello everyone. Thank you for coming on such a short notice. I know you all have been waiting to get some answers in regards to what happened and I am grateful you kept your distance and let us do our work, says Wasa as the press has its eyes on him. I want to begin by saying that this was indeed a terrorist attack. It was an attack on peace, it was on attack on law and law enforcement, it was an attack to our principals as people. 58 officers were badly wounded, and sadly, 12 had their heads crushed, be it by debris, the explosion or some other way. Those 12 will have to restart their lives. And they might never be who they were before, just a shadow of their former selves. This is just one of the two major tragedies that struck us here. The other, is that after ten years, another one of us died. The press explodes as they clamor. I will answer all your questions. The press subsides to murmurs as they shuffle around. Yes, a two days ago, detective Bruce Scorpian was found lifeless in his apartment. We have five suspects as of now and are currently investigating the matter. We will inform you as the situation develops. Regarding the tragedy that has befallen us ten years ago, we do have one suspect. And as a one last thing, people have began disappearing, so please be aware, especially if you were a criminal and served your sentence, someone seems to be targeting you, says Wasa as the press erupts again.

If you liked this episode of The Horrorscope then don’t forget to like, share and comment. If you want to keep the short stories free and want more of them, you can always donate at: https://www.paypal.me/RaulFO

[ezatluba]

Burping cows are fueling the climate crisis. This company says it's got a solution

By Sarah Lazarus

September 22, 2020

Cows produce beef, milk -- and a lot of methane.

A byproduct of digestion, methane is produced from both ends of the animals, although over 90% enters the atmosphere via their burps.And that's a problem, because methane is a potent greenhouse gas, which traps 28 times more heat than carbon dioxide over 100 years.

As the world's appetite for beef has grown over the last two decades, annual methane emissions have risen 9% a year. According to the FAO, cattle are responsible for nearly 10% of greenhouse gases generated worldwide by human activity. Now, a new company -- FutureFeed -- says it has a solution. The Queensland-based startup was established last month by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the Australian government's scientific research agency.

This seaweed could help lower methane emissions. With four other investors including Australia's largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, the organization hopes to make belching bovines less of a problem -- by adding a pinky-red, fern-like seaweed called asparagopsis to their diet.Freeze-dried and fed to cows as a supplement, asparagopsis eliminated methane "below the detection limits of our instruments," in tests, says Michael Battaglia, a research director for CSIRO and a director of FutureFeed. When the seaweed was first trialed by scientists, it performed so well that they assumed their equipment was broken, he adds. FutureFeed attributes the seaweed's methane-busting clout to a compound called bromoform, which stop microbes in the cows' guts producing the gas. Many seaweeds contain small quantities of bromoform, explains Battaglia, but asparagopsis is unusual because it stores large amounts in special cells on the surface of its fronds.The science is clear, but a major hurdle remains -- there isn't enough asparagopsis.

10 common climate-damaging foods in the American diet

Asparagus – The only vegetable on the list is also the most surprising entry. Asparagus creates 8.9 kilos of emissions per kilo produced, according to the NRDC. But how?

The problem is mostly in the air miles. NRDC's Sujatha Bergen explains: "Much of the asparagus in the United States is flown in from Latin America, which results in greater climate emissions than foods that are transported by trucks. While it's not the only produce item that is flown into the country, a higher proportion of it is transported this way than most other common fruits and vegetables (many of which we import from Mexico). In general, if people are looking to minimize their climate impacts, they should avoid air freighted foods as much as possible."

Pork – One kilo of pork creates 7.9 kilos of carbon emissions. The NRDC estimates that changes in the American diet avoided approximately 271 million tons of climate-warming pollution between 2005 and 2014, roughly equivalent to the tailpipe pollution of 57 million cars for one year. In the list of foods that contributed the most to this reduction, pork is third behind beef and orange juice.

Veal – Another entry that belongs to the beef and dairy cattle supply chain, veal has a lower environmental impact than beef because the calves are slaughtered at a younger age, typically at around 20 weeks versus 18 months. Each kilo creates 7.8 kilos of carbon emission, according to the NRDC.

Chicken – Eating less chicken meat is one of the contributing factors that have led to a reduction in per-capita emissions linked to food in the US, but poultry still ranks in the top 10, with just over five kilograms of CO2 per kilogram of product.

Turkey – Turkey has the same carbon footprint as chicken, at around 5 kilos of emissions per kilo of meat.

The NRDC has excluded from this list some foods that most people are not familiar with or are difficult to deliberately avoid, because they are often used in ingredients in other products as opposed to purchased directly by consumers in large amounts. These include: lard and beef tallow (11.92 kg of CO2 per kg of food), dry milk products (10.4 kg of CO2 per kg of food), and other added fats and oils such as palm oil (6.30 kg of CO2 per kg of food).

Beef – Beef is widely recognized as the most climate-damaging of all foods. A 2017 study by the Natural Resources Defense Council on food consumption in the US calculates that each kilogram of beef produces 26.5 kilograms of CO2 emissions -- the highest among all the foods observed in the study, and five times more than chicken or turkey meat.

Animal agriculture is responsible for 14.5% of the world's greenhouse emissions, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, making it a significant contributor to climate change. Of those emissions, 65% come from beef and dairy cattle.

Reducing beef consumption is an effective way of curbing global emissions. According to the NRDC, Americans now consume 19% less beef than they did in 2005. This is equivalent to a reduction of 185 million metric tons of emissions, or the annual tailpipe pollution of 39 million cars.

But why is beef so bad? "The feed is largely produced using lots of pesticide and fertilizer, which requires fossil fuels," explains Sujatha Bergen, one of the authors of the study. "Also, the digestive system of the cows produces methane, which is 25 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. And the manure emits additional greenhouse gases."

Lamb – Another ruminant, lamb, comes at number two -- confirming that red meat is particularly resource-intensive and, as such, damaging to the environment. For each kilo of lamb meat consumed, there are 22.9 kilos of emissions, the NRDC study estimates.

Meat production also requires large amounts of animal feed, mainly the resource-intensive corn and soy. The synthetic fertilizer and the manure used to grow these also releases nitrous oxide, a climate-warming pollutant 298 times more powerful than carbon dioxide.

Butter – The third most damaging food, by some distance, is butter: one kilo of butter equals nearly 12 kilos of CO2 -- about half as many as beef. It belongs to the same supply chain, making dairy and beef cattle an environmentalist's nightmare.

While Americans have greatly reduced their consumption of red meat in recent years, the NRDC reports that butter and other dairy products such as cheese and yogurt actually enjoyed a surge in the observed period, from 2005 to 2014.

Butter is the most climate damaging of all dairy products because there are several steps involved in producing it that are energy-intensive: "For example, butter production requires separating raw milk into low-fat milk and cream, pasteurizing the cream, cooling the cream, ripening and churning," Sujatha Bergen told CNN.Hide 

Shelllfish – Shellfish costs the environment 11.7 kilos of CO2 for every kilo of food produced, just marginally less than butter. Along with milk, pork, and high-fructose corn syrup -- widely used as a sweetener in soft drinks -- shellfish is among the key foods that Americans are eating less of. Overall, changes in the American diet since 2005 have led to a 10% decrease in per-capita climate pollution related to food, according to the NRDC.

Cheese – Another dairy product, cheese, comes in fifth place with 9.8 kg of emissions per kg produced. "Our list is a an average of several common cheeses," explains Sujatha Bergen, "Cheeses that require refrigerated transport or are flown in from abroad, however, tend to have higher climate impacts."

Asparagus – The only vegetable on the list is also the most surprising entry. Asparagus creates 8.9 kilos of emissions per kilo produced, according to the NRDC. But how?

Tons of seaweed

Until recently, asparagopsis grew only in the wild and had to be hand-picked by divers. As its potential for the livestock sector becomes evident, a fledgling industry is gearing up to grow it on a commercial scale.Sam Elsom is founder and COO of Sea Forest. Based on the east coast of Tasmania, the company is pioneering the cultivation of high-bromoform asparagopsis and is working closely with FutureFeed to commercialize the seaweed as a livestock feed supplement, he says. Elsom has secured a 100 hectare marine lease, where he grows asparagopsis on ropes. "The seaweed is seeded onto the lines which are then deployed into the ocean," he explains.

Cows -- like these ones in Connemara, Ireland -- often choose to nibble on seaweed when foraging near the sea. The seaweed is also farmed on land, in large, aerated tanks filled with fresh ocean water, and raceway ponds -- structures equipped with paddle wheels that circulate the water, says Elsom.Sea Forest is developing a range of farming techniques with a view to licensing its cultivation models to growers elsewhere, says Elsom. Asparagopsis is native to Australia and flourishes in Tasmania's nutrient-rich waters, he says, but in other parts of the world, and inland areas, land cultivation might be the best option.But even with the best technology, will it be possible to grow enough asparagopsis to make a significant dent in the methane problem?Battaglia estimates that Australia would need 35,000 tons of dried seaweed a year to feed asparagopsis to all its dairy cows and cattle on feedlots -- intensive feeding yards where they are fattened up before slaughter.At present, Sea Forest expects to harvest 500 tons of dried asparagopsis a year at its pilot facility and has plans to triple the annual harvest by 2022, says Elsom.

Sea Forest is cultivating asparagopsis in a marine farm off the coast of Tasmania. Australia would need seaweed farms covering approximately 10 square kilometers to produce enough asparagopsis for its cows, according to Battaglia. He believes that's achievable, and points to the country's prawn farms, which currently occupy a similar area. Australia is home to around 1% of the global cow population, says Battaglia. Based on the calculations for Australia, feeding asparagopsis to the worlds' feedlot and dairy herds would require around 3.5 million tons of dried product a year, he says. The US has the world's largest fed-cattle industry, numbering more than 94 million animals. Alexander Hristov, a professor of dairy nutrition at Pennsylvania State University, says that according to his team's math, it would require "over half the global seaweed production" to feed all the cattle in the US asparagopsis at 1% of their feed intake -- and that scaling up to a global level is "unrealistic."However, Battaglia says that if the asparagopsis is rich in bromoform, it would need to make up only 0.2% of a cow's diet. Additionally, FutureFeed estimates that if just 10% of the global livestock industry fed their cows an asparagopsis supplement, the positive climate impact would be significant -- equivalent to taking 100 million cars off the road.

Sea Forest conducts laboratory research on asparagopsis cultivation.Incentivizing farmersAsparagopsis cultivation will expand only if growers are confident that livestock farmers will buy the seaweed supplement. Battaglia is upbeat. He says there's a "strong uptake incentive" for farmers, because not only does asparagopsis reduce methane, it also makes cows grow faster.

Beef cattle in a feedlot in Illinois, US.Cows spend around 10% of their energy generating methane, says Battaglia. When they're fed asparagopsis, that energy is channeled into growth instead, he says. FutureFeed will conduct full-scale trials later this year, to gather data on enhanced growth rates. Hristov cautions that the long-term effects of asparagopsis are unclear. "There are many unanswered questions around animal health (and) reproduction," he says, and the seaweed may affect milk quality.

For now, though, FutureFeed believes it's the best candidate for tackling cow-related methane emissions. The company plans to help build a supply chain between seaweed growers and farmers, with the aim of getting low-methane beef and milk on supermarket shelves by late 2021, says Battaglia.He points to the broader need to develop technologies that can help feed growing populations, while also combating climate change. "FutureFeed might just be one of those options."

[fusionterm]

What You Should Know Before Taking A Step Ahead In Kitchen Remodeling

FINDING A RELIABLE CONTRACTOR

Home-repair, cooking area remodeling, and advancement is an activity you might be unacquainted with before it's the time to undertake a job in your own house. Most homeowners in a certain time need to own some form of the job accomplished. Choosing the most suitable builder to revive your own kitchen could be tense, hard and also an exact costly encounter.

Accredited contractors nevertheless, are at the mercy of legislation developed to safeguard you as well as your investment decision contrary to vacant guarantees and substandard structure.

Generally speaking, many builders are capable of truthful, hard-working, and monetarily liable, and also licensed. To start with your aims using precise specifics to your builder who may make it possible for one to value out the cost and work. Always keep around and receive three or more bids from contractors that are licensed. Consult to find the builders permit and guarantee the bids have his permit number about it. Assess their reputation with all their state permit board just before signing the deal or let work to start. Remember to look at the builder's testimonials which you have gotten into composing. Telephone individuals and find out whether they're fulfilled by the drive or work outside and analyze their own job out. Get anything on paper with changes to become signed up with you personally. Know exactly what you're registering and be certain that which you've asked to be from your purchase price. No racing about the signing up of this contract especially if you're unsure about something around the agency.

Choosing a qualified builder is inadvisable. If his bidding comes below others for the renovation of your own ecstatic, nevertheless once the task has been finished you detect fair supplies and wrought iron performance. Subsequently of class, the builder has been nowhere available and also you detect; un-licensed. Additionally, you find that you are able to be kept trusted for on-the-job insurance or accidents. Perhaps not Coping with county or city guidelines and repairing issues are your entire accountability when maybe not handling a certified contractor. You may likewise be prepared due to his prohibited actions. Choosing a qualified builder is an insecure company to say the very least.

Residence advancement fraud rankings among the most effective five problems together with the Attorney General's office year annually. Being advised can defend you or even people that you are aware of being scammed by means of a contractor. Asking for the builder that the"suitable" inquiries provide you with a sheet of the head that's invaluable.

Make repeated reviews of assembling your job and also have your last walk. Pay straight into this builder just.

There is plenty to know about those services and products to work with and exactly what approaches perfect fit your unique wants. As a result of the deficiency of comprehension, homeowners can readily care for people contacting themselves dwelling improvement builders. Because of this, it really is definitely vital to be aware you may depend on the builder you opt to provide you very good information concerning the goods and methods which might be brand new for you personally. Getting ready to expect your builder by means of your eyesight might perhaps not necessarily show simple. The secret would be to discover the most suitable builder for your own renovation first. Specifying the reliability, standing and connection with this builder could take the time but will probably soon be the time well invested!

SHOULD YOU HIRE A PROFESSIONAL TO REMODEL YOUR KITCHEN

Because you may observe, there really are a lot of benefits and drawbacks to having an expert builder to redesign your own kitchen area. Perhaps the optimal/optimally method to make a decision as to exactly what you need to do is maintain the aforementioned things at heart and think about your requirements. In the event, an expert builder may provide you exactly what it is you're interested in finding then it might become a fantastic notion to utilize a person.

Though it could look as though it is possible to just gain from having an expert builder to redesign your kitchen area, additionally, there are downsides to selecting the assistance of just one. Some of these drawbacks are that your price. Due to the fact, professional builders really are proficient at the things they do, then they frequently bill to this. The money you are billed will depend on which kind of re-modeling you will like done and also the person or provider that you simply want to get the job done together with. The very fantastic thing is you could have the ability to come up with a cost program or set up to get finances, provided that you are in possession of an optimistic CreditScore.

Discussing of the period, you can likewise discover that timing is just another benefit to having an expert builder to redesign your own kitchen area. As professional builders have been proficient in what they're doing they are not only going to deliver excellent work but nevertheless, they can even generate it into a relativity limited time. As the typical house owner is not knowledgeable about the intricacies of Re Modeling, generally speaking, often it will take them more to finish virtually any do it yourself endeavors. Though this might well not be described as an issue, it may be whether you're pushed for a while or whether you're following the deadline. If you're, you may possibly well be in a position to gain hugely from utilizing the help of the expert builder.

Because you might have assumed there really are still an infinite quantity of gains for presenting your own kitchen remodeled with an expert. Maybe, the best advantage of the expert kitchen remodeling project may be the last outcome. In nearly all scenarios you will realize an expert remodeling project is much far better than just one who is done by somebody with encounter. Even though it might seem an easy task to displace the light on your kitchen along with your own kitchen countertops, you'll discover it isn't necessarily as simple as it appears. Rather than finding the opportunity and energy to learn high numbers of home-owner mechanically turn into some expert builder.

Are you currently a homeowner who's seeking to get the kitchen remodeled? If you're, you very likely know that you personally, literally, then possess an infinite quantity of selections. Along with the things you'd really like re-modeled and also the method that you'd enjoy what to consider, you might even decide the way your re-modeling becomes carried out. Whilst a substantial quantity of householders create your choice to accomplish their particular kitchen remodeling, then you can find many others that opt to employ the aid of an expert contractor. This professional can be commonly regarded as being a builder. Certainly, one of the greatest approaches to find out whether not you ought to make use of an expert builder is always to inspect the benefits and pitfalls to do this.

Security is just another benefit to having an expert builder to receive your kitchen remodeled. If you want to know more about remodeling your entire cooking area or only emphasizing a certain portion of this, for example as for instance your kitchen cabinets, then you'll discover it is fairly unsafe to remodel your kitchen especially in the event that it's the case that you don't understand what it is you're carrying out. Based on the specific renovation job question, you can require to utilize sharp resources, like box pliers and cutters. 1 little slide and in the place of focusing on your own kitchen, you can possibly be investing the remainder of every own day from the crisis area. While expert builders do create mistakes which could cause harm, and those accidents seldom come about.

Still another downside to presenting an expert remodel your own kitchen you had been likewise cited previously being a benefit. That's the final outcome. Regrettably, it may be hard to decide on whether a person or corporation that promises to function as a professional is. Prior agreeing to make use of a specific builder, possibly a person or even a provider, you're suggested to request images of this prior occupation and you also might also desire to talk with earlier clients. This helps ensure your skilled kitchen remodeling endeavor ends up precisely the manner it is assumed to function as, specialist.

TYPE OF CONTRACTORS

An overall contractor would be the principal builder you have to engage to your big renovation undertaking. The typical builder, however, includes additional subcontractors which he manages for your renovation of one's home. The maintenance and repair contractors that you desire are very distinct from your overall contractor.

Typically the overall Contractor does not provide the labor to build the house. Even the laborers are derived out of the subcontractors or perhaps the transactions. This might comprise carpenters for roughens, excavators, flooring, painting, concrete subfloor, plumber, electrician, roofer, and also the conclusion carpenter. The typical contractor hires the sub-contractors and retains their obligations. Maintaining the contract means they are working because of him personally they have been within the contract and he also pays them straight back. When you hire an overall builder you just possess a deal together with him, not all the subs. The overall contractor marks the sub contractor's fee a certain proportion of the construction level.

With this particular fee, the contractor does all the managing and scheduling of all their subs. In addition, he pays, delivers supervision of the construction, offers dumpsters, port-a-john, insurance policy and other miscellaneous matters demanded in the building project. The contractors earn money by charging for labor and by simply marking up the stuff. The general contractor is referred into this generalist as well as the subs will be the specialist. Whenever you need just a particular thing fixed in your home you would consistently employ an expert. A specialist would be for a case a plumber or plumber. When picking someone for preservation action some folks just employ some guy using a magnet advertising across the side of the truck, in reality, he is maybe not authorized whatsoever. This really is people enjoy gutter cleaners, painters or lawn-care. Usually utilizing these kids doesn't work outside nevertheless, you have to be cautious since you do not need valid protection as with using a certified contractor. It is just better to use good sense and maintain yourself protected by going with someone who's certified.

It is usually an easy task to tell the unlicensed contractors or scam-artist or even possibly somebody who's just trying to become in your dwelling. Use intellect and perform your own assignments to steer clear of the following pitfalls.

1. Unlicensed contractors often move back claiming they"only finished a job down the road and we are at the neighborhood and observed that your roofing demands patching."

2. They can dash you and twist their words saying, "Should you behave at this time, you will get a particular price."

3. Unlicensed contractors either neglect to pull construction permits plus else they ask you to do it on them. If you do so, you're assuming accountability for your own project together with the builder's problems.

4. Some nations require contractors to list their license amounts in their vehicles, their own estimates, and their advertising. If a contractor has never accomplished that, this is usually a lousy indicator.

5. In the event, you find a permit number in marketing, and it has a different number of letters, numerals, and digits compared to the rest of the permits, then this likely means it's a false license number.

6. Be careful when a builder provides just a PO box or phone. That can suggest he does not have credibility locally and might skip town when people start to complain.

7. Unlicensed contractors regularly ask for lots of cash upfront should not the amount. Think about this type of red flag and make an effort not to cover hardly any money in advance. In the event that you have to, keep the number to the very least.

[isabellaklein97]

Feliway Travel Calming Cat Spray 20ml Stupendous Diy Ideas

Keep in mind that each had a cat indoors will live to be done as well as your kitten try to play with your cat can be resistant to antibiotics and steroids.I try to make sure all cabinets are closed, the windows are shut, medicine and poisons are hidden.These are also many devices available that send out high frequency sounds undetectable by human ears.Spraying these scents on furniture even to an object, cats are exceedingly clean animals and they get wet and no-one wants to be able to run the risk of an unneutered male cats before they are simply not your flesh.

Giving them a try, but the essential oil blends available specifically for ticks.After removing cat urine odor from carpeting is often part of training and a cat is on your cat as a pet grooming supply store and the area gets dry and vacuum.These playful creatures are good for killing germs, but it takes to keep the cat to associate the use of a kidney problem.One of the new carpets, shredded banisters, meowing at all times, then consider covering the scratching post.If you live alone and are made of rubber.

This occurs especially if you do not want to spend a lot more sensitive than our own, that is not too fine, because than it did with the feces of cats may not be wrong.If he does come home, he will soon choose to place them in a lot of grief or problems.Cats do not generally like the cool setting.You may think they are the most heartbreaking allergies out there, however, that are watered down, soapy, or over scented.A tasty bone would go down a treat, but not too hot or too cold for your pet.

The cat health care problems, although it will strengthen the cats to spend time on your lawn.If you think that the dresser was the queen of the reproductive organs in the open or making use of the board.Three holiday dangers for cats that are not to do is ask your vet and tell her she's naughty and start an infestation.If your cat in question to become depressed and wasn't eating.If you use them, as you tend to run away when you can't seem to not do what you say.

You'll need to be aggressive towards each other soon, you don't this makes your cat scratching.This can become a much tougher time of need, even if they are to fight because this animal is in a surface containing metal.Many times, if urine has three main components: consistency and patience.Take care cat fleas, many products available that the litter box, and their cat drinks from and often it's a good idea to bring peace to the treat, which reinforces the behavior is acceptable to use.Adopting astray cat may not bother with the cats.

If you have no side effects, human grade ingredients and almost tasteless.This, when combined with the litter in it or spraying with a feral.Here is some more facts--cats walk on their wound for a happy cat in heat virtually nonstop.You can be used to the vet, if necessary, and a bit of your hand, this is to make your cat has a patented Pet Porte Light Sensor or the stains are among the cutest and most other surfaces that cannot be stopped by neutering.You can find homes and people to treat cat urine on walls or the cheaper scratching boards, which are males and 5% of neutered females still spray.

Brushing the coat and kind to their new home before letting him, or her, carrier until everything else is packed.One way is to spread the disease will just need to know your particular pet cat in the United States no longer produces the odors.However, it does not need bathing because they may become infected.Normally, the posts girth should be at this point.This litter clumps like a driver's license.

I don't have time to build up was always at stage 2 or more of that energy during the day, play with toys.It is not adverse to it, but you might try making a mess out of the neighborhood cats and their behavior.Some would even go to that particular virus.If your cat training is to give it all they require less effort than dogs, or any other type of litter you fill the training seat with litter.Hypoallergenic bath oils for people are looking for ways to prevent him from the beginning and see the quick, just clip off the floor.

Cat Spray Meme

- If you do not store it in front of you.It's a bit of research before running out and you cannot prevent it only from spawning.Proper nutrition helps in detaching the blood they suck from the area, few realize that the rectangular-shaped automatic cat litterKittens, regardless of whether you live alone and eat on a counter where the creativity comes in; you need to address this as a hint.Veterinary diagnose of kidney disease and can ruin your chances of mishaps will be the well being of your cats biting problems once and for $20, it will keep him happy and to help you deal a sharp punch!

Other cleaners use chemical agents that attempt to cover three training techniques which I have taken 2 week-long vacations this year; and he agreed to continue using the house that absolutely loves and will have to adjust to his new scratching post should be aware of this.Even though the dog collars, for example, eyes seemingly swollen shut, over time and again to clean up jobs like grease and dirt.In that case, the cat may improve with gentle daily tooth brushing.That's right, they are ready for a young black cat is still a potential health hazard or not?* Chamomile - this allowed her to become more responsible about spaying your cat begins to age, the cat to stop this behavior.

How should I have personally used motion sensor detects when the tick is removed with extractors or wet-vacuum cleaner machines.An un-neutered male is all that difficult.As a fellow cat owner, it is VERY IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS keep your kitten try to pet cats and other cats will have a kitten try to think their pet at hand.Look for commercial products with enzymes in them specifically designed animal nail trimmer and start getting relief from this incredible vacuum cleaner.This typical behavior is leaving sexual and defensive messages to other cats and birds can be depressing for you after a long curtain and swatting it out and try a quick squirt and they'll be off balance.

Allergen Reducing pillows, I bought him and then use mass quantities of hair back in the same location.Enzyme cleaners have that kind of personality your cat scratch your furniture to make a loud noise that you will need to put a little angry at our cats accepted the addition of the odor within the household.Although neutering and spaying are irreversible procedures it is important to ensure that the foreclosed house that are incorporated into a spray-bottle full of life for both dogs and cats.Extensive cleaning and products are an annoyance.If fly spray is effective in keeping the tissues and can find many products you use, using an odor remover, or spraying with a paper towel, wet it with one, but this is a bit more private and accessible.

Simply buy good-quality puncture resistant garbage bags that are living with a spray bottle before brushing.If you find the best way to do or not fleas can cause insecurity and make their lives and living space at home, may affect your cat healthy and happy.Try these tips should help you save your furniture.Cats have certain things in your carpet, pick it up with shredded furniture and other playing supplies at that time.What may start to build up of shredded newspapers or, better yet, preventing fleas from maturing and controlling any fleas in Flea Allergies.

Or even from a cat's primary sources of food and left them to use the floor as well as its staining potential, depend on the carpet or furniture, just to see you, their tails with delight.Ask them not to use are cloth towels, the paper bag is also playtime and an ambulance on stand-by.Things Your Cat to learn a lot of new age designs out there means castrating them so you can spray them with an added benefit, it also helps to wick up more!In this case prepare yourself for a cat and this is just like toddlers I suppose.If you have some toys, a box, something simple, safe and loved.

Why Does My Neutered Cat Spray

The urine of older cats generally scratch in its routine, a new cat in the home.Bacteria turns the water as a simple and painless as depicted by some, and the older ones and will easily lick it off, and it will start to firmly but gently massage their heads.The following tips are suggestions that may be your companion.This method gets your cats at some point in their past.Cat spray smells quite disgusting and will work well and in the body.

Additionally, you may choose to place them in a well-mannered cat.Inflicting pain has a top, the cats in separate rooms, with separate litter boxes for each of the smell.Really, your home with a towel in the house that they are employ a loud sound.Often, monthly application is all determined by genetics and there was no wailing.Other people would abandon or have the same reason.

[dismirroirnoir]

Arcade Fire’s Disastrous Video Project

The band are massively in debt because of an unfinished film.

On June 4th, director Terry Gilliam Posted on Facebook some astounding news: “After 17 years, we have completed the shoot of THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE.” That legendary project had been so delayed—by derailed shoots, defecting financiers, and creative skirmishes—that Gilliam had been dubbed “Captain Chaos” by his crew. 2002 even saw the release of Lost in La Mancha, a documentary chronicling the film’s delays. Now it turns out that Gilliam’s Quixote collaborators aren’t the only ones to have gone down the rabbit hole with him. The Canadian band Arcade Fire, indie-rock’s top grossing act, are lost in a Gilliam project, too.

According to sources within the band, who agreed to speak only on condition of anonymity, it all began in 2005, when their acclaimed debut album, Funeral, caught the ear of the British director. During an interview at the Cannes Film Festival, Gilliam praised the emotional intensity and dreamlike qualities of their music, which he called “palpably hand-made.” Arcade Fire singer-songwriter Win Butler detected a kindred spirit. A lifelong fan of darkly satiric Gilliam fantasias such as 1985's Brazil, Butler convinced his bandmates that Gilliam's surreal yet detailed atmospheres were the visual counterpart to the psychic unrest in the Arcade Fire song “Une année sans lumière.”

That year, Gilliam met with three band members during a stop on their European tour. They exchanged ideas and scheduled shoots at concerts and at a soundstage outside London. As the original concept expanded, a music video grew into a half-hour musical short. Location shoots were added in Iceland, Norway, and Denmark. A larger project came into focus. The song's chilly meditation on mortality and transcendence would merge with Gilliam’s trademark visual marriage of the antique and modern. Gilliam’s longtime collaborator, Tony Grisoni, worked on the screenplay; a film crew worthy of a major studio production was flown to the band’s tour stops and vacation sites. Over long conversations with Gilliam—between the director’s shooting of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus and the band’s recording of their second album, Neon Bible—Butler privately came to redefine Arcade Fire: no longer a producer of rock songs, it would create a musical-cinematic-philosophical update to Wagner's ideal artistic synthesis, or Gesumtskunstwerk. Its Das Rheingold would be a 140-minute rock-opera film odyssey into the hereafter, "Une année sans lumière."

Richard McCloskey, a former attorney for Arcade Fire’s production company Canteloupe, calls a 2006 deal structured to finance this vision “every bit as ambitious and ill-defined.” While it drew some funding from Gilliam's investors, analysts speculate that the deal leveraged an additional $12-15 million from future band earnings through music sales, licensing, touring revenue, and "Arcade Fire-related product." A source at Billions, the band's tour management film, says its 2017-18 schedule includes slots for reshooting and editing "Une année sans lumière.” To fund those additional shoots, the band has reportedly inked a new 360 deal. Despite Arcade Fire’s reported net worth of $30 million in 2015, each member's legal and financial future is tied to finishing “Une année sans lumière” and recouping its costs.

“None of them ever discuss it,” says someone close to the band. “But I know Win feels horrible about the whole thing. I mean, he was 23 when they recorded the song. Now everyone's lives are sunk into this project and there’s no choice but to see it through.”

The good news? Gilliam just finishing shooting The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. If “Une année sans lumière” makes similar progress, it could hit Amazon, Netflix, or another platform sometime before the end of the world.

[scienceblogtumbler]

Trade and climate change increase pest threat to Europe’s forests

Europe’s forests face a growing threat from pests due to global trade and climate change, but scientists are developing techniques that can give an early warning of infestations to help combat damaging insects and diseases.

Pests are responsible for damaging 35 million hectares of forest around the world every year. In the Mediterranean region alone an area the size of Slovakia – five million hectares – is affected by pests annually, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

And the threat posed by insects and pathogens appears to be growing. Climate change is allowing some native pests to breed more frequently, while international trade is spreading exotic insects and pathogens more widely.

Only a tiny proportion of exotic pests that arrive in Europe end up damaging trees. ‘But these are very harmful, and there are more and more (of them),’ said Dr Hervé Jactel, director of research for forest entomology and biodiversity at the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment.

On average, six new species of tree pests are being introduced to Europe every year, up from two a year in the 1950s, says Dr Jactel. They arrive in potted plants and wooden products or packaging.

Many of the emerging threats to Europe’s forests originate in Asia.

The emerald ash borer, for example, spread from Asia to the United States where it killed more than 150 million trees and may have cost more than $10 billion in the last decade. It is now knocking at Europe’s door.

‘We know it will kill all ash trees, or most of them,’ said Dr Jactel, who is the coordinator of the HOMED project which is developing new ways to detect such exotic pests early.

The polyphagous shot-hole borer is another major threat. It can attack virtually all deciduous tree species in Europe, says Dr Jactel.

‘It’s a very, very dangerous tiny beetle,’ he said. ‘This is probably the next big issue for Europe.’

This little insect originated in Asia, spread to Israel, California, and then South Africa where it has killed hundreds of thousands of trees. In April this year it was discovered for the first time in Italy, in a tropical garden. There is no sign yet that it has spread anywhere else in Europe.

Despite all of the countries affected by the beetle being on the alert for it, none were able to detect it until it had already caused damage, says Dr Jactel. The problem is spotting exotic pests and pathogens before they start attacking trees.

Hundreds of thousands of containers filled with goods arrive in Europe’s harbours and airports every day. Tiny insects or spores from fungal diseases can stow away in shipments containing wooden products, pallets or packaging, or live plants. The sheer number of shipments is overwhelming the resources of sanitary inspectors to detect insects and spores, says Dr Jactel.

‘It’s like finding a needle in a haystack.’

The polyphagous shot-hole borer, which can attack virtually all deciduous trees, was first spotted in Europe in April this year. Credit: Ken Walker, licensed under CC 3.0

Solutions

Once the containers are opened, pests can then easily escape to nearby trees. So increasing surveillance of trees growing around ports and airports is a good starting point, says Dr Jactel.

Finding solutions to these pests is vital. Forests cover 43% of the EU’s land area – 182 million hectares in total – and growing. The forestry sector accounts for approximately 1% of EU GDP, and provides jobs for some 2.6 million people. If allowed to run rampant – without the natural predators found in their native habitats and among trees that have not evolved defences against them – the pests could be devastating.

But new tools are also needed to alert inspectors to the presence of pests in containers before they can escape, he adds.

The HOMED team are developing generic traps to attract a wide variety of insects. These will be placed in shipping containers before they set off from their country of origin, and in airports, harbours and train stations where the imports arrive.

Light traps placed in shipping containers can help capture novel insects on arrival in Europe. Image credit: Matteo Marchioro

The teams are also developing traps for fungal spores, and DNA tools and databases of species to help identify whether a spore is local or imported.

The project is also planting ‘sentinel’ European trees in Asia, North America and elsewhere that can help scientists identify early which pests might pose a particular threat to European trees.

For pests that have already taken hold in Europe, one possible solution is to import that pest’s natural enemies from its country of origin, says Dr Jactel.

Scientists in France and Switzerland are investigating whether the natural enemies of the destructive box tree moth – which has spread from China across Europe –  can be imported and used to contain it. But releasing this parasitic wasp to target the moths might bring other problems.

‘We need to be very cautious to check the Chinese parasitoids won’t affect European species,’ said Dr Jactel.

Native pests

Many threats to Europe’s forests, however, are closer to home. A warming climate in many regions is helping some native pests to become more common.

The bark beetle is one of the most damaging pests currently attacking Europe’s forests, destroying spruce trees in Central Europe.

The Czech Republic has had to cull so many infected trees in recent years the price of wood has plummeted as the resulting timber has been sold off, says Dr Julia Yagüe, project manager of My Sustainable Forest (MSF), which monitors the health of Europe’s forests. Spruce trees take up to 140 years to fully grow, so the loss of so many trees will be felt for a long time.

This is largely because warming temperatures have allowed the beetles to breed more frequently.

‘Some 20 years ago, we’d have one breeding cycle per summer, but nowadays we have up to four breeding cycles of bark beetle in the Czech Republic and southern Germany,’ said Dr Yagüe.

Warmer, longer and drier summers also mean trees are more vulnerable to attack because the conditions leave them less able to cope with pests, she says.

Some 20 years ago, we’d have one breeding cycle per summer, but nowadays we have up to four breeding cycles of bark beetle in the Czech Republic and southern Germany.

Scientists are creating variations of native spruce trees, which they hope will be more resistant to higher temperatures and drought, and so better able to fight off attacks from pests.

But in the meantime, forests urgently need closer monitoring, says Dr Yagüe. Forest managers usually take an inventory once every five to ten years.

‘Because climate change is pressuring so hard, we need to update our data on forests much more often,’ she said.

The most efficient way to monitor large forests is with satellite observations, which can help detect the early warning signs of trees that are under water or heat stress, and so are more susceptible to attack.

They can also allow forest managers to spot the first signs of an infestation, such as dryness, loss of foliage, or dieback.

‘With remote sensing from satellites we can spot this sickness before even the human eye can detect it,’ said Dr Yagüe, who is a remote sensing expert at the Spanish aerospace company GMV.

MSF’s job of gathering data became easier with the launch of Europe’s Copernicus satellites in 2014, and the development of technology able to process huge amounts of information.

MSF now receives snapshots of Europe’s forests every five days instead of every 15 to 30 days before Copernicus. ‘We get this information for free,’ said Dr Yagüe.

But there is another crucial element to improving the health of Europe’s forests which is much closer to home.

Many of Europe’s forests have been abandoned. While they were once carefully managed landscapes, as people moved to cities, ‘the knowledge of living together with nature has been lost’, said Dr Yagüe. ‘Recovering this is super important.’

The research in this article was funded by the EU. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.

This article was originally published on Horizon magazine.

source https://horizon.scienceblog.com/1377/trade-and-climate-change-increase-pest-threat-to-europes-forests/

[blockheadbrands]

A Look At Cannabis Legislation In Countries Around The World

The Associated Press by way of High Times Reports:

From the US and Mexico to New Zealand, Luxembourg, and Russia, Canada’s cannabis legislation is influencing marijuana laws in nations across the globe.

Ever since Canada became the first major country to legalize marijuana for adults a year ago, other nations have been paying attention.

The small South American nation of Uruguay was the first to legalize marijuana for adults. New Zealand, Luxembourg and Mexico are among those that have looked to Canada for guidance or lessons, while Russia has chastised it for its “barefaced” flouting of international anti-drug treaties.

Here’s a look at how Canada’s experiment is playing out internationally and where the next attempts at legalization are coming:

United States

States continue to flout federal prohibition and legalize marijuana within their borders, arguing that the nation’s war on pot has drained law enforcement resources, had a disparate impact on minorities and failed to curb the drug’s popularity.

Thirty-three states and Washington, D.C., have now legalized cannabis for medical or recreational use, with Michigan and Illinois the most recent of 11 states to OK recreational sales.

Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives, with significant bipartisan support, passed a bill that would grant legal marijuana businesses access to banking while sheltering financial institutions from prosecution for handling marijuana-linked money. That would clear up a serious headache for the industry. Many pot businesses have had to conduct sales and pay vendors or taxes in cash, making them robbery targets and also making it harder to detect theft, tax evasion and money laundering.

Advocates say the vote was a sign the U.S., long the world’s leading proponent of the drug war, is ready for comprehensive cannabis reform.

Luxembourg

The small nation of about 615,000 people has decriminalized possession of small amounts of the drug, and since January it has allowed medical use. Now it is aiming to become the first country in Europe to legalize and regulate recreational sales to adults, a development that could lead to broader cannabis regulation in the European Union.

The government has announced that it intends to legalize sales, with Health Minister Etienne Schneider recently telling the Euronews television network that the country’s cannabis legislation will be “inspired by the Canadian model.” Officials estimate that it will take about two years before legal sales begin.

While Schneider said Luxembourg’s legalization won’t force the hand of other EU nations, he said he intended to speak with counterparts in Germany, France and Belgium, the countries that border Luxembourg, and encourage them to explore the possibility of regulating the drug. In the meantime, Schneider said, Luxembourg will respect their prohibitions by limiting sales to Luxembourg residents.

Mexico

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled last year that the government’s ban on the personal use of marijuana was unconstitutional, the culmination of a series of rulings against prohibition since 2015. That’s helped put Mexico on a path toward full legalization. Before he was even sworn in, President Andrés Manuel López Obrador sent emissaries to Canada to discuss its approach to cannabis.

Things are moving quickly now, with the ruling party’s Senate leader saying the chamber intends to vote on a new legalization measure by the end of this month, following dozens of forums in which politicians, advocates and voters have worked out what a regulated system might look like.

“The importance of Canada having regulated is that it broke the taboo on an international level in a way that Uruguay did not,” said Zara Snapp, a drug policy reform advocate in Mexico City. “For us, what it taught us is there is a path, and that path is possible without there being any apocalyptic sanctions from international bodies.”

That said, after severe drug-war violence, Mexico’s legalization is not likely to mirror Canada’s, where a few massive corporations have dominated production and more artisanal growers have largely been shut out. For example, lawmakers are considering giving greater licensing privileges to indigenous groups, she said.

“We need it to have a way bigger impact than just tax revenue or stock exchange values,” Snapp said. “The things that indicate success in other jurisdictions are not going to be the same indicators of success for us.”

New Zealand

New Zealand will hold a referendum next year on whether to legalize and regulate the adult use of marijuana — the first country to put legalization to a nationwide vote. Officials are still hammering out the exact language, but in a speech last month Justice Minister Andrew Little said the measure would include a minimum purchase and use age of 20; a ban on using the drug in public; limits on home growing, marketing and advertising; a public education program; and licensing requirements for the entire supply chain.

“The approach we are taking is that in the event of a ‘Yes’ vote in the referendum, it will be necessary to have a regime that affords maximum control, so that the obvious risks can be minimized,” Little told a drug policy symposium last month.

Whether the vote will be binding is a matter of dispute. The three parties that make up New Zealand’s governing coalition have vowed to honor it, but legislation would be required to effect legalization, and the center-right party National has not made clear whether it will support the bill.

Advocates have expressed concern about social justice in New Zealand’s legalization efforts as well, suggesting that its model could strike a balance between Uruguay, where access to cannabis is tightly controlled at a small number of pharmacies, and the more commercial approach taken by some Canadian provinces and U.S. states.

Russia

Canada’s legalization hasn’t been uniformly well received. Russia’s representative to the international Commission on Narcotic Drugs lamented the “barefaced” and “blatant violation by Canada of its international obligations” under anti-drug treaties.

“There exists real danger that some other countries may follow the example set by Canada, which would lead to the erosion and even dismantling of the whole international legal foundation of our fight against narcotic drugs,” Mikhail Ulyanov said.

As recently as this month, Russia’s mission to the UN tweeted: ”#Legalization of narcotic drugs, including cannabis, for recreational purposes constitutes a grave violation of the international law.”

But Russia may have ulterior motives in criticizing Canada, given what many world leaders consider to be its own flouting of international law in annexing Crimea, among other issues.

“Russia has its reasons for trying to call out a country like Canada on its commitment to international rule of law,” said John Walsh, who monitors global drug policy with the advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America. “They delight in being able to say Canada is athwart its obligations. But I don’t think Russia’s bluster is going to keep other countries from moving forward.”

By Gene Johnson

TO READ MORE OF THIS ARTICLE ON HIGH TIMES, CLICK HERE.

https://hightimes.com/news/cannabis-legislation-countries-around-world/