Paul Sutton @zleap@qoto.org

Sometimes parenting is hard.

Sometimes it’s an excuse to play with coloured marzipan.

We should probably wall off Yellowstone National Park and banish people forever, because they’re too stupid to visit it.

#YNP #yellowstone #idiots

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/other/yellowstone-tourists-put-newborn-elk-calf-in-car-drive-to-police-station/ar-AA1c4ENM

Mystery pathogen is stripping sea #urchins of their flesh and turning them to skeletons — and it's spreading fast

A mysterious epidemic that began in the #Mediterranean at the start of the year looks set to wipe out all of the Mediterranean and #RedSea’s urchins, and possibly their #coral reefs too.

By Ben Turner, May 31, 2023

"Researchers spotted the first signs of the urchin plague in the Mediterranean Sea at the beginning of the year, when an invasive species of urchin began falling sick in waters around Greece and Turkey. From there, the disease appears to have spread southward through the Suez Canal to the Red Sea.

"Scientists are unsure of the exact disease causing the mass die-off, but they suspect it is a pathogenic ciliate parasite — a single-celled microorganism — which in 1983 eliminated the Caribbean’s entire sea urchin population. Before the parasite plague, the Caribbean was home to thriving tropical reefs, but since losing the sea urchins the reefs have been smothered by algal blooms that multiplied unchecked, blocking out sunlight and destroying around 90% of the region’s coral.

"The disease was only identified after a second wave hit the Caribbean in 2022, an event which gave scientists a second opportunity to study it.

"'The sea urchins are the reef's gardeners — they feed on the algae and prevent them from taking over and suffocating the corals that compete with them for sunlight,' Bronstein said. 'Unfortunately, these sea urchins no longer exist in the Gulf of Eilat [Aqaba] and are quickly disappearing from constantly expanding parts of the Red Sea further south.'

"The imperilment of the region’s corals is significant on both a local and global level. The Gulf of Aqaba is known for its numerous diving spots and is a popular tourist destination. And because the corals there evolved to high temperatures and salinity over millions of years, they are more resistant to climate change-driven temperature fluctuations that are killing off other coral reefs around the world."

#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Extinction #Oceans
Read more: https://www.livescience.com/animals/mystery-pathogen-is-stripping-sea-urchins-of-their-flesh-and-turning-them-to-skeletons-and-its-spreading-fast

'I asked people one question: Who are you?

Almost unilaterally, non-autistic people began describing themselves in terms of their relationships to others– if they were a parent, a spouse, what their career was, where they lived, what their religion is, and what their roles were related to others (sister to a Senator, military brat, pastor’s wife, soccer mom, etc.).

And, almost unilaterally, #Autistic people described themselves as what they loved to do, what their values were, and what they had experienced. Many even said this, having intuited the basis of the theory. Among the answers were, “I am a verb,” or “I am what I love,” or “Who I am is what I do.” Autistics would answer, “Lover of Justice,” or “Dreamer,” or “One who values autonomy.” Some would describe themselves as a “lover of” or “obsessed with” an intense passion, like trains, lichen and fungi, or theoretical physics and black holes.'

@actuallyautistic

#Autism #Neurodivergence #Identity

https://neuroclastic.com/the-identity-theory-of-autism-how-autistic-identity-is-experienced-differently/

Quite appropriate. The #bible contains tales of incest, polygamy, slavery, homicide, torture, civilian massacres and animal abuse. It depicts an ancient, barbaric and superstitious society. Having read it as an adult in its entirety, I consider it wholly inappropriate for children (and of exclusively historical interest for adults). If we're going to ban #books, start with it.
Utah primary schools ban Bible for 'vulgarity and violence' - BBC News https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-65794363

#GPT4All
"A free-to-use, locally running, #privacy-aware chatbot. No GPU or internet required."
https://gpt4all.io/index.html

#AI #FOSS

Jack Dorsey is a predator. He watched Twitter become a fountain of disinformation that killed thousands during the first two years of COVID-19, and now he is promoting videos from RFK Jr.. For those unfamiliar, RFK has made a booming business of anti-vaccine misinformation, typically targetting immigrant communities and other vulnerable groups, with disastrous consequences. He is responsible for the death and disability of children here in the US. Dorsey knows this.

RT @BrentNYT :
A celebrated classic of history and sociology - but, in too many states today, teachers would be fired for assigning it.

"What are the book banners afraid of? Well, we all know: They are afraid of readers—especially young readers—learning the truth about humans, about American history, about, perhaps, their own lives."

~ Jane Smiley

#BookBans #education

https://www.thenation.com/article/society/books-banned-censorship-libraries/

Several people here and elsewhere have asked why a school has a morgue. State schools, developmental centers, & institutions are all terms used at various points for residential facilities that housed people with intellectual/developmental disabilities and chronic illnesses. Like asylums, they were built to be largely self-contained mini-cities. For more check out my most recent podcast, it really is a phenomenon people should know more about even though it's wildly bleak https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/forest-haven-a-fatal-legacy-of-neglect/id1619808235?i=1000615147376

okay, now that ive gotten passionate about something, i will now get myself some taco bell

“I am the 1st person targeted for Montana’s anti-drag law, and it was *for a history lecture* about Indigenous trans/2 Spirit people...”

Montana Library Cancels Transgender Native American Author’s Event Over Drag Ban - Truthout
https://truthout.org/articles/montana-library-cancels-transgender-native-american-authors-event-over-drag-ban/

Really want to start working on designing a fediverse client app that has first class support for all the non microblogging stuff. I am not a programmer and I have no intention to start but I do have a mind filled with ideas I want to see in the world and an eye for design and UX/UI. I want it to be community guided from the beginning. If anyone has interest in colabing on a wireframe please @ me.

Evolution, environmental sustainability and the periodic table of the elements have been cut from science textbooks in India. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/india-cuts-periodic-table-and-evolution-from-school-textbooks/

Betelgeuse is getting spicy again.

https://www.universetoday.com/161751/betelgeuse-is-almost-50-brighter-than-normal-whats-going-on/#more-161751

#Astrodon #Astronomy #Betelgeuse #Boom

Another one from the archives. Here's one from 2014. A still night and gentle aurora at Hoopers Inlet. With meteor. And reflections to die for. #aurora #NewZealand