Lisa Friedman, Climate and Environmental Reporter - The New York Times
Stephan: I'm sorry I have to be honest and say I find Donald Trump a vile and repugnant person, and I would feel that way about him whether he was the president or a neighbor at the end of the lane. He lacks morals, he lacks ethics, and he lacks compassion.
A new interpretation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in 2017 means that as of now, companies are no longer subject to prosecution or fines even after a disaster like the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 that destroyed or injured about one million birds and for which BP paid $100 million in fines. Credit: Lee Celano/Reuters
WASHINGTON — As the state of Virginia prepared for a major bridge and tunnel expansion in the tidewaters of the Chesapeake Bay last year, engineers understood that the nesting grounds of 25,000 gulls, black skimmers, royal terns and other seabirds were about to be plowed under.
To compensate, they considered developing an artificial island as a haven. Then in June 2018, the Trump administration stepped in. While the federal government “appreciates” the state’s efforts, new rules in Washington had eliminated criminal penalties for “incidental” migratory bird deaths that came in the course of normal business, administration officials advised. Such conservation measures were now “purely voluntary.”
Stephan: The fact that the Amazon forest continues to be cut down in spite of what we know about the importance of the world's forests and, particularly, the Amazon in controlling the climate is a measure of the inability of most humans to think beyond immediate greed, and the failure of governments to plan for the long term.
Here, potentially, at least, is some good news about this sad trend.
I am here in the jungle, a half-day’s journey by pickup truck and boat from the nearest major city, two-thirds of the way up the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, the tallest structure in South America, to experiencea force that defines the Amazon rainforest as we know it.
The hundreds of billions of trees, spread over the 2.1 million square miles of forest below, channel a colossal volume of water into the air every day. Alongside that water, they emit an elixir of chemicals that react to form particles, inducing that moisture to fall back out of the sky.
The rainforest, amazingly, makes about half of its own rain.
In the early morning hours, a huge upward torrent of fog emanates from the treetops, spreading so thick that it’s impossible to see more than a few feet in any direction. This moisture rises into the sky and condenses as it cools, forming clouds (scientists call this the evapotranspiration process). When it meets dust and particles, it forms drops that create rainfall.
Sarah Knapton, Science Editor - The Telegraph (U.K.)
Stephan: The latest news on transplants. This development would have very serious social implications because people who could afford this would want healthy strong bodies, and where would they come from?
The world’s first human head transplants may be just a decade away, a former NHS neurosurgeon has said, after working out how to achieve the groundbreaking operation.
Bruce Mathew, a former Clinical Lead for Neurosurgery at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, is now an expert in hyperbaric medicine, helping divers to recover from the bends.
But while working on a science fiction novel with the futurist author Michal J Lee, he realised there was a plausible way to move the consciousness of one person to another body, and that recent advancements in robotics, stem cell transplants, and nerve surgery now make the prospect achievable within the next decade.
The controversial Italian professor Sergio Canavero is also currently working on the world’s first head transplant, but his method involves severing the head from the spinal column and reattaching it to a donor body.
But Mathew said it would be far more effective to take the whole head and spinal cord as a single entity, and replace it in a donor body.
Stephan: The American Gulag is, in my view, a national shame, and the idea of privatizing it is so morally repugnant that it is hard to believe anyone would propose it. But, of course, in an America where profit is the only social priority it seemed like a good idea. Now, as this article describes, this is what it is becoming.
Protesters gather in front of the GEO Group headquarters to speak out against the company that manages private prisons across the United States on May 4, 2015, in Boca Raton, Florida. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty
Many people believe that the United States government is constantly battling corporations, with the government enforcing regulations and corporations skirting them. While this is true in isolated cases, the reality is much more complex. The prison-industrial complex, for example, encompasses a state-run apparatus that is symbiotically intertwined with various private entities.
A growing public relations crisis threatens all entities in this complex. Widespread grassroots movements calling for no new jails and prisons have gained power. Incarcerated people have organized the largest prison strikes to date within the past several years. All major Democratic presidential candidates call for the abolition of private prisons. Even large banks — including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase — have committed to ending their relationships with private prisons following pressure from employees and activists.
Yet private prison corporations, some state legislatures and Immigration […]
Stephan: I have always seen this holiday, whatever form of it one celebrates, as most of all a time to take stock with family and friends. To acknowledge the importance to you of those special people from the 7 billion individuals that populate the world, the people linked to you by both blood and friendship. And I send you my support and best wishes as you celebrate this day.
-- Stephan
I am here in the jungle, a half-day’s journey by pickup truck and boat from the nearest major city, two-thirds of the way up the Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, the tallest structure in South America, to experience a force that defines the Amazon rainforest as we know it.:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/19428445/4O2A0685.jpg)
The world’s first human head transplants may be just a decade away, a former NHS neurosurgeon has said, after working out how to achieve the groundbreaking operation.
