Gaythia Weis @Gaythia@qoto.org

According to a draft contract seen by Mongabay, Liberia may sign away the rights to nearly 10% of its total land mass to a United Arab Emirates-based firm for carbon offset development.

The firm is owned by Ahmed Dalmook Al Maktoum, the youngest member of Dubai’s royal family and an investor in energy projects across Africa and the Middle East.

By Ashoka Mukpo
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/08/massive-carbon-offset-deal-with-dubai-based-firm-draws-fire-in-liberia/

#News #Conservation #Environment #Carbon #ClimateChange #Forests

Exactly this, this all day, *THIS THIS THIS*.

"That Trump will be tried for his coup attempt is not a violation of his rights. It is a fulfillment of his rights. It is the grace of the American republic. In other systems, when your coup attempt fails, what follows is not a trial." - Yale historian Timothy Snyder via https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/august-3-2023?utm_campaign=post

"Words are events, they do things, change things. They transform both speaker and hearer; they feed energy back and forth and amplify it. They feed understanding or emotion back and forth and amplify it."

A Le Guin classic https://t.co/GXxtXreLt2

Record flooding as glacier-dammed lake in a basin above Juneau, #Alaska releases water. https://www.juneauempire.com/news/record-flooding-from-suicide-basin-swamps-homes-cuts-off-access/

If I’ve understood 45’s argument, it’s that he found some lawyers who told him it was legal to overturn the entire election, which he really wanted to do. Then he spread lies about the election being stolen so others would be duped into helping him. So that means he’s…not guilty?

Sorry, that’s not going to fly, Donald.

This year's spring butterflies.

All of these were photographed (by me) in my small suburban garden.

I wanted to post this to show that #biodiversity does still exist. With all the climate doom & gloom in the news it sometimes feels really hopeless. Like a battle we've already lost.

But the butterflies are still here. So are the bees & other vital pollinators. It's not too late to protect them.

Gardens don't have to be expensive or elaborate to provide them a home. What matters is that we create space for #pollinators in our landscaped lives. Just adding a few flowers can make all the difference & help ensure these lovely creatures continue to survive.

It's worth the effort. I promise.

Thanks for reading this. 💚

#gardening #TexasGarden #Zone9a #butterflies #Lepidoptera

Trump wants power, impunity, and the ability to plunder. But it’s not just Trump. What he is planning to do - re-capture the state from “the Left” and transform it into a weapon - is in line with the pervasive dreams of “counter-revolution” on the Right.

A thread, outlining the key argument of my new piece: https://mastodon.social/@tzimmer_history/110819957979983300

A trans girl who was suspended multiple times for using the girls restroom at school finally broke down and used the boys restroom, and was threatened with rape by the boys.

Trans people don't use the bathrooms we use to feel affirmed, it's a decision based on pragmatism and, often, physical safety as well.

https://www.kctv5.com/2023/08/03/lawsuit-trans-student-was-denied-use-girls-restroom-platte-county-high-subject-verbal-harassment/

TODAY IN HISTORY

1876 — Wild Bill Hickok was shot dead in the city of Deadwood.

Gun control laws were being quickly adopted at this time.

Guns were outlawed within most city limits by late-1800s.

Courts ruled a person cannot "bear arms upon all occasions and in all places.”

Gun control started in Southern states, which were among the first to enact laws against concealed carry of guns.

While a few citizens challenged the bans in court, most lost.

Manafis, P. (2020). (Re)writing History in Byzantium: A Critical Study of Collections of Historical Excerpts (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429351020 #OpenAccess #OA #History #Histodon #Histodons #Medieval #LateAntiquity #Byzantium #Literature #ClassicalStudies #Language #Book #Books #Bookstodon #Ebook #Ebooks #Academia #Academic #Academics @bookstodon @histodon @histodons
@antiquidons (17)

Ron DeSantis' campaign to turn Florida students into uneducated, unemployable bigots proceeding apace as "Don't Say Gay" law effectively bans AP psychology. https://newsroom.collegeboard.org/statement-ap-psychology-and-florida

The GOP just caused America to get our credit downgraded

They’re doing to blame Dems so let’s do the numbers:

R’s:
Nixon went from a $3.2B surplus to a $6.1B deficit
Reagan took the deficit from $70B to $175B
H.W. Bush took the deficit to $300B
Dubya took 0 deficit and turned it into $1.2T deficit
Trump grew the debt by $7.8T

D’s:
Clinton created a $128.2B surplus
Obama cut the deficit by 1/2
Biden cut the deficit by more than $1.7T far

Democrats grow the economy. Bigly.

Exactly 75 years ago, President Harry S. Truman repudiated 170 years of officially sanctioned discrimination when he signed Executive Order 9981, calling for desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces. This event marked the first time a U.S. commander in chief used executive order to implement a civil rights policy, inspiring America to embrace desegregation in the future.

1/

@blackmastodon@a.gup.pe @BlackMastodon@chirp.social #BlackMastodon #Histodons #History #BlackMastodon #BlackHistory #Military #Truman #Missouri

Hidden Valley in the Valles Caldera. A nice respite on a hot day.

We first tried a bike ride on forest roads nearby, but Dave was overheating so we decided to explore a different way of getting to Hidden Valley on foot.

A massive coalition came together to oppose Greg Abbott's school voucher plan during the last legislative session. Can they beat him again?

From our magazine, McHam Investigative Reporting Fellow @josephinelee interviews two of the governor's key opponents, organizer Charles Luke and the Rev. Charles Johnson, who leads the member organization Pastors for #Texas Children:
https://www.texasobserver.org/abbott-school-vouchers-special-session/

#news #politics #USpol #TXlege #vouchers #education #schools #TXedu

Thanks to #Bidenomics, we’re making smart investments in America and our workforce—prioritizing investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, and clean energy.