Covering FISA in my surveillance course this week and going over the history (Watergate, COINTELPRO, etc). It all seems so quaint and innocent now.
reshared this
Ants — yes, ants — could protect apples, nuts, cocoa, and other beloved crops from disease and climate change.
Not expected to be surprised:
@futurebird
reshared this
Many plants recruit ants. The assumed reasons for this are primarily that ants will drive out and eat many herbivorous insects (and even deter some larger vertebrate herbivores) After that possibly pollination?
But this notion that ants may prevent fungi, and other problems (due to the fastidious cleaning habits they have cultivated for millions of years to survive in dense colonies without disease) may help explain just how many plants seem to be "ant seekers."
reshared this
Some plants roll out a velvet carpet for ants. They have "extra floral nectaries" which are like little juice stations where the ants can drink sweet nectar. Carnivorous plants have been known to host more insect prey so the ants can find the protein they need. And many plants have hollow structures that make perfect humidity regulated nesting places for ants.
We ought to sit up and take notice and learn a thing or two from the plants.
reshared this
please yes, contemporary society does NOT have enough extra floral nectaries along active transportation corridors.
@datum These are the posts that keep me coming to mastodon 😀 I'm glad I clicked through to see the thread that led to this after envisioning floral nectaries on my bus route...
this reminds me that there are effectively two examples of herbivory among spiders (often thought to be "enirely obligate carnivores", but no). One is pollen; just about all spiders that build webs can digest pollen, and the other is spiders that live on ant-acacias; ant-acacias grow "treats" to attract ants that protect them from other herbivores. But along comes some canny spiders that have evolved to eat the treats grown for the ants.
reshared this
@llewelly
And AFAIK the one with the highest percentage of plant material in its diet is bagheera kiplingi, so it's named after a black panther, and that amuses me greatly.
(There was a married couple of jumping spider enthusiast who were also fans of Kipling and named at least 3 species after characters from his works. )
And AFAIK the one with the highest percentage of plant material in its diet is bagheera kiplingi, so it's named after a black panther, and that amuses me greatly.
(There was a married couple of jumping spider enthusiast who were also fans of Kipling and named at least 3 species after characters from his works. )
Mark likes this.
@kechpaja
imagine the spider: "because I have vowed to eat only pollen, I've cut five flies and a beetle out of my web today, and I felt so bad the flies were so terribly injured and I don't even if know if they'll live, while the beetle was super rude and huffy for having merely been inconvenienced by my web ... "
imagine the spider: "because I have vowed to eat only pollen, I've cut five flies and a beetle out of my web today, and I felt so bad the flies were so terribly injured and I don't even if know if they'll live, while the beetle was super rude and huffy for having merely been inconvenienced by my web ... "
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Surprised at the WSJ. Expected them to spin this for Trump, not make him look weak.
reshared this
Here is a delightful video on wingless crane flies!
Can someone in Hawaii please gently check if these insects are still around?
youtube.com/watch?v=i3RYBPEkje…
- YouTube
Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.www.youtube.com
This entry was edited (Tuesday, February 4, 2025, 10:12 AM)
Mark likes this.
reshared this
El País de España con un editorial de que Musk está asaltando el Estado de derecho, y lo ha violado, en los EE.UU.
elpais.com/opinion/2025-02-04/…
Spain’s @el_pais with an editorial calling out that Musk is attacking the rule of law, and he’s breached it, in the U.S.
#musk #ruleoflaw #democracy #media
Musk quiere todo el poder
Las facultades ejecutivas que Trump ha otorgado al hombre más rico del mundo suponen una brecha del Estado de derecho en EE UUEl País (Ediciones EL PAÍS S.L.)
Mark reshared this.
Canadians fought and died alongside Americans, sheltered them during the Iran hostage crisis, and welcomed stranded travelers on 9/11—only to be told Americans "aren't treated well by Canada".
like this
reshared this
@ghostinthenet Please note we have not all forgotten nor are unappreciative. Sadly, that is only a very loud minority of our country.
Senator Brian Schatz Is Actually Doing Something (When Very Little Can Be Done)
esquire.com/news-politics/poli…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
Senator Brian Schatz Is Actually Doing Something (When Very Little Can Be Done)
Republicans and some Democrats will call him a hypocrite for this.Charles P. Pierce (Esquire)
Mark reshared this.
'Sponsored by Turbo Tax': Critics jab Elon Musk over IRS cuts
rawstory.com/elon-musk-irs/
#BoycottTurboTax #StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
'Sponsored by Turbo Tax': Critics jab Elon Musk over IRS cuts
One of Elon Musk's biggest cuts was to the team that helps run the easy filing system for the Internal Revenue Service. Although the "Direct File" program isn't mandatory, conservatives have criticized it as a program for the left.Sarah K. Burris (Raw Story)
Mark reshared this.
All #MoronInChief Trump did was hurt America in the eyes of the world.
'Folding like a bad poker player': Critics say Trump 'got played' by Trudeau
rawstory.com/trump-canada-tari…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
'Folding like a bad poker player': Critics say Trump 'got played' by Trudeau
Critics on social media laughed as news broke that President Donald Trump paused plans to levy severe tariffs on Canada.Daniel Hampton (Raw Story)
Mark reshared this.
Elon Musk announced that he has dissolved the Internal Revenue Service’s free file program, effectively firing the staff who worked on the popular program, the Daily Beast reports.
The billionaire revealed that he “deleted” the group of individuals who oversaw the system that allows Americans to easily file their taxes for free on the IRS website.
#DeportElonMusk #FreeFile #StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
reshared this
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) announced Monday that she will support Tulsi Gabbard to become director of national intelligence, giving her a key boost in her confirmation push, The Hill reports.
Mark reshared this.
First, she doesn’t own her own body and yet she keeps doing his stuff. She’s beyond useless.
Lawrence Summers: "Stop or I'll shoot myself in the foot! It's a lose-lose."
Ex-US treasury secretary warns Trump’s 'absurd' tariffs are 'driving people into China's arms'
alternet.org/Frontpage-videos/…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #Tariffs #China #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
Ex-US treasury secretary warns Trump’s 'absurd' tariffs are 'driving people into China's arms'
Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers criticized President Donald Trump’s claim that Canada is inciting a trade war, telling CNN Monday that the move would ultimately benefit China. “It's absurd,” Summers said. “Canada is our friend.Naomi LaChance (Alternet.org)
This entry was edited (Monday, February 3, 2025, 9:50 PM)
Mark reshared this.
LOL. Big, tough Trump.
Trudeau Says Trump Tariffs Delayed 30 Days After Call
bloomberg.com/news/articles/20…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
Trump Tariffs on Canada Delayed 30 Days After Call: Trudeau
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Monday that new US tariffs would be paused 30 days after a call with President Donald Trump.Jordan Fabian (Bloomberg)
Mark reshared this.
Trump backs down again. Good for all of us, but how any sentient being can think he's "tough" is beyond my ken. Irrational, yes. A bully, yes. But "tough"? No.
like this
reshared this
One of Musk's minions, Gavin Kriger, has an apparent social media history filled with neo-Nazi posts. So they don't want any reporting on DOGE!
Elon Musk’s Pet U.S. Attorney Threatens Anyone Reporting on DOGE
prospect.org/politics/2025-02-…
#StopTrumpNow #DOGE #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
Elon Musk’s Pet U.S. Attorney Threatens Anyone Reporting on DOGE
The shadow president wants total secrecy around his seizure of government agencies.Ryan Cooper (The American Prospect)
Mark reshared this.
I’m going grocery shopping today.
And believe me, I’m looking at all the labels. If I see Made in the USA, I ain’t buying.
Mexico, you’re cool. So is everyone else. But USA, you don’t get a cent.
globalnews.ca/news/10995583/bu…
‘Buy Canadian’ sentiment grows as Trump tariffs spark trade war
The push to buy domestically ramped up over the weekend, after Trump announced he would apply 25 per cent tariffs to Canadian goods, with a lower 10 per cent duty on energy.The Canadian Press (Global News)
reshared this
"...conspicuous spots are more likely to evolve in forest-dwelling species and in areas with more canopy cover, whereas species inhabiting open areas and deserts tend to lose them... taxa with conspicuous spots transition between open and forested habitats less often... We suggest that spots in velvet ants require complex visual environments to be effective... In simpler environments, carrying conspicuous spots could be costly..."
Mark likes this.
reshared this
Elon Musk, who is building a payments app as part of X, has been given access to the Treasury Department payments systems. This is beyond a conflict of interest and a threat to the US payments infrastructure.
Not to mention a privacy matter for anyone that gets any kind of payments from the Federal government including tax refunds.
americanbanker.com/payments/ne…
#FinTech #FinServ #Banking #Payments #PayTech
How Elon Musk's influence could upend Treasury payments
As Elon Musk and his associates gain access to internal computers, Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden slammed the move and said it poses a national security risk.John Adams (American Banker)
reshared this
Mr. Art of the Deal strikes again!
"It seems like the trick to negotiating with Trump is to realize he doesn’t have any idea what the current facts are," said Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell. "'Oh you want 10,000 troops?' says world leader who already deployed 15K. 'Great 10k it is.'"
Mark likes this.
reshared this
#DeportElonMusk
I’m a Federal Worker. Elon Musk’s Government Data Heist Is the Entire Ballgame.
slate.com/news-and-politics/20…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
reshared this
Does anyone know if #Mastodon (or any other popular fediverse software) supports the part of the #ActivityPub spec (§ 6.2.1) that (if I’m reading it correctly) allows for pushing an object without a wrapping “Create” activity?
It’s described as a client-to-server behavior for actor outboxes, but I’m wondering if any server-to-server applications support it for inbox delivery.
w3.org/TR/activitypub/#object-…
ActivityPub
The ActivityPub protocol is a decentralized social networking protocol based upon the [ActivityStreams] 2.0 data format.www.w3.org
reshared this
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Canadians cancel trips, ban American booze after Trump's tariffs
reuters.com/world/americas/can…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #Canada #Tariffs #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
This entry was edited (Monday, February 3, 2025, 5:59 PM)
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
International newspapers are covering what’s happening at alarm levels warranted. I used Kiosco.net to grab covers from papers from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, the UK, Mexico, Canada, Switzerland, Panama and Venezuela here. I don’t speak French or German, so relying on translations there, but the gist is clear.
#tradewar #trade #media #trump
Mark reshared this.
@Lundemo well Fox OAN, ONN, and the rest have proven that a good portion of america doesn't want truthful news, just news that reinforces their world beliefs.
The U.S. government may not believe in climate change, but research estimates climate change will cause a $1.47 trillion decline in U.S. home values by 2055, according to a new study from climate-research company First Street. Here in the Wall Street Journal wsj.com/real-estate/climate-ch…
#climate #climateaction #Insurance
#climate #climateaction #Insurance
Mark reshared this.
The Russians are here! The Russians are here!
USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it
apnews.com/article/trump-musk-…
#StopTrumpNow #USAID #TrumpDidThis #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
USAID staffers told to stay out of Washington headquarters after Musk said Trump agreed to close it
Staffers of the U.S. Agency for International Development have been instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.AP News
Mark reshared this.
An Open Letter To The Majority Of Congressional Democrats
wonkette.com/p/an-open-letter-…
#StopTrumpNow #TrumpDidThis #TrumpCoup #RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #NoRepublicansEverAgain #USPol
An Open Letter To The Majority Of Congressional Democrats
The norms are gone. Wake the hell up!Ali Davis (Wonkette)
Mark likes this.
reshared this
"Some of you are acting like this is just Helen the new office manager changing the birthday cake schedule around and soon it will all blow over and you can all be friends at the pizza party at the end of the month. You cannot.
The Republicans have been radicalized. There’s a whole crop of them who actually believe Fox News. And a whole bunch of those who crave a king, either because they are insecure dipwads who need a strong Daddy or because they are calculating that they’ll at least get to lap up some of the ketchup that drips off the napkin tucked into Trump’s collar. They are not here to make the country work. They do not believe any rules should apply to them. Rules only apply to YOU, and those rules will keep changing."
Cainmark Does Not Comply 🚲 reshared this.
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
"January 6 was nothing compared to this. But make no mistake, this too is the gov't being torn apart by a mob of thugs."
"And for those of you in the Congress (or anywhere else in the country for that matter), make no mistake what is going on here is precisely the same as what happened on January 6 in that it is an effort to negate the role of both the Congress and the people in our system of government."
bsky.app/profile/djrothkopf.bs…
Mark reshared this.
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
In #JapaneseFolklore kaze no kami are invisible, evil spirits believed to cause sickness and suffering by travelling on, and controlling, the wind. Particularly active during spring weather, they move from place to place and home to home. When they encounter...#MythologyMonday #yokai1/4
reshared this
I was busy in my garden when my neighbour looked over the fence and asked what I was doing ...
I said 'I'm putting all my plants 🌿 in alphabetical order'
She replied 'Really? I don't know how you find the time'
Oh that's easy I said, 'It's right next to the sage ... '
like this
reshared this
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
From Pentonville Road Looking West: Evening by John O’Connor 1884
Oil on Canvas
(Museum of London)
reshared this
Trump just triggered “the dumbest trade war in history”, says The Wall Street Journal. His tariffs will see those “notorious American adversaries”, Mexico and Canada, hit with a 25% tax on goods exported to the US, while China, “a real adversary”, will endure just 10%. The official justification is they aren’t doing enough to stop illegal drugs across the border. The real explanation appears to be Trump’s apparent belief the US can be a “perfectly closed economy making everything at home”.
Mark reshared this.
Does Trump really have the authority to put tariffs in place? The Congressional Research Service in December explained that, technically, only Congress has the authority to impose tariffs. But the president does have the authority to adjust tariffs in some cases, according to the CRS. Those cases include situations where an import threatens the national security of the United States, or when tariffs are deemed necessary in order to protect a domestic industry.
What I want to know is what mechanisms are in place to charge tariffs? Is it an honour system by the purchaser or is every truck stopped at the border?
Who administers, given civil servants are being fired right and left?
Who administers, given civil servants are being fired right and left?
He can do whatever folks let him get away with. And apparently that's a quite a lot.
Laws don't mean shit if not enforced.
This entry was edited (Monday, February 3, 2025, 3:43 PM)
#EightYearsAgoToday #AreYouBetterOff
February 3, 2017 – Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai rolled back an agreement with nine internet service providers that had encouraged ISPs to provide affordable internet access to low-income communities. This reversed the decision of Pai’s Obama-era predecessor, Tom Wheeler, and will remove a $9.25 per month credit for low-income households to purchase internet service.
#StopTrumpNow #GOPKakistocracy #RepublicansDidThis #WeirdGOP #USPol
Mark reshared this.
"The whole country is behind the retaliation the prime minister has announced, so now we are going to tax American exporters who are trying to sell us stuff. That means Americans are going to lose jobs, so this is really, it is self-mutilation. America is hurting itself. We think that it is utterly crazy, and we're also really, really angry at you.”
— Chrystia Freeland, former Canadian deputy prime minister
#RepublicansDidThis #RepublicansOwnThis #GOPKakistocracy #GOPWeirdos #USPol
Mark likes this.
reshared this
We, the people of the USA, are mad too and don't blame others for the retaliation. My only hope is that the anger this creates leads to action and better outcomes.
reshared this
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
Cicindela sylvicola Dejean, 1822
Specimen was captured in July 1996 in the Ardennes region, France.
I've used the focus-stack technique, DIY hardware only (a Raspberry HQ cam controlled by a Raspberry Pi 3, an old Pentax-m 50mm f1.7 lens, some extension tubes, and a $30 linear rail from Aliexpress)
Published under #CC0 here flickr.com/photos/101430615@N0…
#Coleoptera #Caraboidea #Carabidae #Cicindelinae #Cicindelini #Cicindela #FocusStack #Macro #Pentax #nature #photography #insect #wildlife
Cicindela sylvicola Dejean, 1822
Captured in July 1996 in the Ardennes, French side. Tentatively identified as Cicindela sylvicola, but Species and Sub-Species in this Genus are way more difficult to identify than I initially thought :p Tech details : - Raspberry HQ cam controll…Flickr
This entry was edited (Sunday, February 2, 2025, 8:02 PM)
Mark likes this.
reshared this
Sensitive content
Mark likes this.
reshared this
@Moss
It's a thread about a specific protest which one can still go to: actionnetwork.org/events/prote…
which the thread author (one of the two center-leftists I can still read) approves of and wants people to go to. It's organized by DSA. Then:
"If you don't like them [DSA] you should go help them to understand what mistakes they might be making. My understanding is they need help and energy and level heads. If you have one full of opinions go lend your voice in that manner."
Protect Trans Kids
On January 29th, Donald Trump signed an illegal executive order that attempts to ban gender affirming care for youth under the age of 19, an attempt to detransition all trans children in the US.actionnetwork.org
@Moss
What I was responding to was really a well-meant post saying that centrists should join DSA protests and pull them to the center.
Shakira standing up for immigrants, dedicates her Grammy to them. ✊🏼❤️
bit.ly/4hhoznB
#grammys #shakira #immigrants
bit.ly/4hhoznB
#grammys #shakira #immigrants
Shakira Wins Grammy for Best Latin Pop Album 2025
Shakira won the Grammy for best Latin pop album 2025 and dedicated the victory to immigrants. Here's what she said in her speech.Griselda Flores (Billboard)
Mark reshared this.
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
My 25 years of palaeoart chronology...
Here are a few crops from a mural I painted for Wollaton Hall Museum (Nottingham, UK), 2020. This is one of the most detailed paintings I've ever created.
#Art #Painting #PaleoArt #PalaeoArt #SciArt #SciComm #DigitalArt #Illustration #Dinosaurs #Birds #Reptiles #Palaeontology #Paleontology #Owl #Gorrilla
Hypolite Petovan likes this.
reshared this
Over on X a bunch of dimwits are posting every nonsense red-yarn-on-chalkboard conspiracy theory bullshit about what USAID funds (terrorists! censorship! woke prosecutors! campus protests!) and Elon is just retweeting each one as if they're true... leaving out the fact that they're all bullshit.
Mark likes this.
reshared this
The media in this post is not displayed to visitors. To view it, please go to the original post.
X (Formerly Twitter) disclosed on HackerOne: Discoverability by...
**Summary:** By using this vulnerability an attacker can find a twitter account by it's phone number/email even if the user has prohibited this in the privacy options. **Description:** The...HackerOne
This entry was edited (Saturday, December 24, 2022, 6:21 PM)
Mark reshared this.
Sensitive content
Mark reshared this.
Matt Blaze
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •Narrator voice: It was not so quaint and innocent.
See the Church Committee report for some not-so-distant examples of what happens when checks and balances are absent or fail. intelligence.senate.gov/sites/…
Gerrit 🇪🇺🌍🍉🔻 reshared this.
Matt Blaze
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •Matt Blaze
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •Carl Malamud
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •Matt Blaze
in reply to Carl Malamud • • •Schamschula
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •Kim Scheinberg
in reply to Matt Blaze • • •One almost wishes Nixon were alive to see what Trump is getting away with. He'd need to be put in a straight jacket.
...or in the cabinet, I guess
Matt Blaze
in reply to Kim Scheinberg • • •Matt Blaze
Unknown parent • • •Matt Blaze
Unknown parent • • •