The Guardian — The age of extinction Madagascar’s unique wildlife faces imminent wave of extinction, say scientists Study suggests 23 million years of evolutionary history could be wiped out if the island’s endangered mammals go extinct Phoebe Weston — Tue 10 Jan 2023 From the ring-tailed lemur to the aye-aye, a nocturnal primate, more than … Continue reading Extinction – Closing In on unique Madagascar Wildlife
White-Guy Pundits at Twilight: Two formerly leading conservative columnists ponder the prospects for their former political home, and the cloudy “trajectories” of their careers . . . Quotes of the Week, from: Conservative Columnists David Brooks & Bret Stephens “The Party’s Over for Us. Where Do We Go Now?” (Excerpts) New York Times — 01/12/2023 David … Continue reading Surveying the Republican Ruins: Eavesdropping on Conservative Pundits
The Guardian: Global pollinator losses causing 500,000 early deaths a year – study Insect declines mean reduced yields of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables and increased disease in people Damian Carrington Environment editor — Mon 9 Jan 2023 The global loss of pollinators is already causing about 500,000 early deaths a year by reducing … Continue reading The Pollinators are Dying — And That’s Killing People
[NOTE: one scholar cited here says that the number of tenured professors ballooned after World War II, when more Amerians, especially veterans, went to college, got advanced degrees and stayed on to teach. Today, student body numbers are falling, but grad schools keep churning out new PhDs. So there’s a glut, too many carrying … Continue reading Academic Tenure Will Soon Be Gone — Unless . . .
I missed a significant anniversary last month, on December 7. No, not Pearl Harbor Day, December 7 1941, when a deadly Japanese surprise attack on American bases in Hawaii pulled the U. S. into World War II. Nor was it December 7, 1973, my son’s birthday.