You remember, I assume, the horrible fires in 2020 that did such damage to the redwood forest in California, trees as much as 1,500 years old were thought to be lost. If you have ever been in the Big Basin Redwoods State Park you know what I have experienced several times; you are in a sacred place of nature unlike anywhere else on earth. Well, here is some wonderful good news. The redwoods are coming back.
It was feared the redwoods would never recover, but many of the trees began sprouting tiny leaf needles from blackened trunks. Credit: Edgar/Alamy
In August 2020, wildfire burned almost the entire Big Basin Redwoods state park in California, scorching ancient redwood trees, some dating back more than 1,500 years and among the tallest living things on Earth.
Redwoods are naturally fire resistant thanks to their thick bark, but the wildfire was so intense and flames so high the trees’ foliage was destroyed, even in tree canopies more than 300ft high.
It was feared the redwoods would never recover, but a few months later something incredible happened – many of the trees began sprouting tiny leaf needles from blackened trunks and branches, and two years later the forest had turned green.
Much of this fresh growth sprouted from buds under the bark and also deep inside the trees, some buds having lain dormant for more than 1,000 years.
When researchers covered the sprouting buds to stop them photosynthesising, they still grew. The buds were tapping into stored sugars and radiocarbon dating revealed these […]
Here is some good news about blocking the ability of utility companies to use your money to lobby state and federal legislators to protect their corporate profits. The states are Arizona, California, Illinois, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Virginia. What I consider particularly good news in this report is that both Red and Bue states are on this list.
Credit: Patrick Semansky / AP
When households in the United States pay their gas and electric bills, they’re paying for energy, the wires and pipelines it takes to get that energy into their home, and the costs of maintaining that infrastructure. But those monthly payments could also be funding efforts by utilities to lobby against climate policies.
While federal law prohibits utilities from recovering lobbying expenses from customers, consumer advocates say that those rules lack teeth and aren’t sufficiently enforced. Now, states are taking the lead to ban the practice. According to the utility watchdog group Energy and Policy Institute, lawmakers in eight states, including California and Maryland, have introduced bills this year that would block utilities from charging customers for the costs of lobbying, advertising, trade association dues, and other political activities. The measures build on a growing trend in state policy: Last year, Colorado, Connecticut, and Maine became the first states in the nation to pass comprehensive laws preventing utilities from passing on the costs of lobbying to […]
Derek Thompson , Contributing Writer - The Atlantic Magazine
Stephan:
The Americans who need chaos is the title of this article, and I chose it because finally I am beginning to see open discussion in the media about what is happening to our culture, as about a third of the Whites, particularly men, but women as well, have given themselves over to hate, resentment, anger, and fear fueled by misinformation. This is all correlated with the rise of social media and the MAGAt propaganda media. When I was a journalist you had to be able to demonstrate to your editor that your story was factually accurate, and the same was true of television media. In 1989 when I produced Psychic Detectives as a prime-time special for ABC, the vice president of the network for standards and practices demanded that we also produce over 2,000 pages of documentation on every statement we made in the special, and would only accept sworn testimony, on-camera interviews with relevant police and prosecutors, and court documents. That world has disappeared as the CPAC show I watched today made clear to me.
Illustration by The Atlantic
Several years ago, the political scientist Michael Bang Petersen, who is based in Denmark, wanted to understand why people share conspiracy theories on the Internet. He and other researchers designed a study that involved showing American participants blatantly false stories about Democratic and Republican politicians, such as Bernie Sanders, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump. The subjects were asked: Would you share these stories online?
The results seemed to defy the logic of modern politics or polarization. “There were many people who seemed willing to share any conspiracy theory, regardless of the party it hurt,” Petersen told me. These participants didn’t seem like stable partisans of the left or right. They weren’t even negative partisans, who hated one side without feeling allegiance to the other. Above all, they seemed drawn to stories that undermined trust in every system of power.
Petersen felt as though he’d tapped a new vein of nihilism in modern politics—a desire to rip down the Elites, whatever that might mean. He wanted to know more about what these people were […]
I spent part of the afternoon watching the CPAC meeting. I don’t think I have ever heard a public political meeting like this that was essentially nothing but lies designed to provoke the audience into resentment, anger, and fear. Rapist criminal Trump has changed American culture into something I barely recognize, and you may feel the same. This is a good article, which is why I picked it, because it addresses both the problem and the solution.
Encouraging speaking up is important in many contexts, but more vocal people online means more opportunity for conflict. Credit: Shutterstock
“Outrage culture” is pervasive in the digital age. It refers to our collective tendency to react, often with intense negativity, to developments around us.
Usually, this ire is directed at perceived transgressions. The internet wasted no time in raging at Taylor Swift when she received Album of The Year at the Grammys, seemingly frustrated by her lack of acknowledgment of Celine Dion, who presented the award.
Whether or not Swift’s behavior could be considered rude isn’t the point. The point is the backlash arguably wasn’t proportionate to the crime. This so-called “snub” incident is, therefore, a good example of how quickly and easily people will jump on the online hate train.
Modern outrage culture, which is also known as call-out culture and is linked to cancel culture, often devolves into a toxic spiral. People wanting clout compete to produce the meanest and most over-the-top commentary, stifling open dialogue and demonizing those who make mistakes.
ALEXANDER WARD and HEIDI PRZYBYLA, Staff Writers - Politico
Stephan:
This is where the United States is headed if Trump is elected. If you listen to almost anyone in the Republican cult they make their intentions about this clear. And although I would like to say it won’t happen as the christofascists wish, to be honest, I am not sure. Americans don’t seem to be clear about what society would be like if Trump were to win.
Russell Vought is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term. Credit: Francis Chung /Politico
An influential think tank close to Donald Trump is developing plans to infuse Christian nationalist ideas in his administration should the former president return to power, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.
Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, who served as Trump’s director of the Office of Management and Budget during his first term and has remained close to him. Vought, who is frequently cited as a potential chief of staff in a second Trump White House, is president of The Center for Renewing America think tank, a leading group in a conservative consortium preparing for a second Trump term.
Christian nationalists in America believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life. As the country has become less religious and more diverse, Vought has embraced the idea that Christians are under assault and has […]
