anon6789

joined 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 hours ago

It sounded like that's their current "problem.". Since it's the adults with agendas that are doing the only complaining, the kids are just using whatever bathroom is most convenient, so CIS kids are using the Identify as X bathroom because they don't care, they just need to use a damn bathroom. I took it as that's why they want the windows in the non CIS bathrooms.

I feel stupider for having to try to explain this like it makes any sense. Just have single, unisex bathrooms already like everyone has at home!

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

Thank you for your service! I've been seeing a good number of these stories lately, including ones where help arrives too late. The most recent had a Barred Owl that died from its injuries, and it was an extra shame because they said the line ball was in a very easily accessible location.

One post also pointed out that the fishing line is UV protected these days, so it doesn't break down or get weaker with time.

What do you do with the lead?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

In case anyone else was wondering how they came up with 5 types of bathroom:

bathrooms for males assigned as male at birth, females assigned as female at birth, males based on gender identity, females based on gender identity, and private, single-use bathrooms for all students to use.

Source

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago

They aren't great for us either. Most stats I saw estimate 5-8 millions deaths worldwide a year due to emissions causing cancer and other diseases. I'd much rather the windmill break up the skyline a bit. At least some people like wind turbines. I can't think of anyone that thinks coal plants are particularly attractive.

A new modelling study suggests air pollution, from the use of fossil fuels in industry, power generation, and transportation, accounts for 5.1 million avoidable deaths a year globally. These findings were published in The BMJ.

The contribution of fossil fuels equates to 61% of a total estimated 8.3 million deaths worldwide due to outdoor air pollution from all sources in 2019.

The new estimates of fossil fuel-related deaths are larger than most previously reported values, suggesting that phasing out fossil fuels might have a greater impact on attributable mortality than previously thought.

Source

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago

This is what most often gets me.

I'm here to have fun, so I try to limit my political opinions.

If it seems like someone may be missing some important info to make an informed decision and I feel I can phrase it in an educational way and not preachy or confrontational, then I'll hit publish.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 hours ago

While I also hope the wildlife is cared for, the protected zone was not established for altruistic reasons, but rather UK asserting control of natural resources of Mauritius and/or the inhabitants of Chagos to remove them from their homes.

A US diplomatic cable dated May 2009, disclosed by WikiLeaks, revealed that a Foreign Office official had told the Americans that a decision to set up a "marine protected area" would "effectively end the islanders' resettlement claims". The official, identified as Colin Roberts, is quoted as saying that "according to the HMG's [Her Majesty's government's] current thinking on the reserve, there would be 'no human footprints' or 'Man Fridays'" on the British Indian Ocean Territory uninhabited islands."

A US state department official commented: "Establishing a marine reserve might, indeed, as the FCO's Roberts stated, be the most effective long-term way to prevent any of the Chagos Islands' former inhabitants or their descendants from resettling in the BIOT."

Source

I am not well informed about Mauritius's record on the environment, but I'm not a fan of what the UK and US militaries did to establish this zone.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Perhaps if the island was already abandoned and they were clearing solely feral dogs by humane means, that would be one thing.

The dogs were the most egregious killings as they were killed to terrorize the local population to leave "voluntarily." They were not the only animals killed, as the island was self sufficient before the militaries came. The livestock was also killed, as part of the process of getting people to leave was to starve them and letting them die of disease. The actual "marine protected area" was protected not to save animals, but to ban the locals from fishing. The islanders also had some of the dogs trained to help them catch fish.

First, they tried to shoot the dogs. Next, they tried to poison them with strychnine. When both failed as efficient killing methods, British government agents and U.S. Navy personnel used raw meat to lure the pets into a sealed shed. Locking them inside, they gassed the howling animals with exhaust piped in from U.S. military vehicles. Then, setting coconut husks ablaze, they burned the dogs’ carcasses as their owners were left to watch and ponder their own fate.

By starving them and denying medical care, they would eventually ask to be taken to the mainland, where no one was allowed to return. They weren't able to take anything with them, and as the island had no outside communication, no one could send word back they were barred from returning home. Relatives had no clue what happened to anyone that left. The abandoned people were left in a country they had no familiarity, and left with only the clothes on their backs and no means to return home or even tell anyone they were alive or where to find them. They were former enslaved Africans and Indians who had won freedom and had a free society in a tropical paradise where they relied on no one but themselves, and they were kicked out of their second homeland to basically just have an old IOU cancelled.

In confidential minutes, the United States agreed to secretly wipe out a $14 million British military debt, circumventing the need to ask Congress for funding. In exchange, the British agreed to take the “administrative measures” necessary for “resettling the inhabitants.”

Those measures meant that, after 1967, any Chagossians who left home for medical treatment or a routine vacation in Mauritius were barred from returning. Soon, British officials began restricting the flow of food and medical supplies to Chagos. As conditions deteriorated, more islanders began leaving.

The authorities soon ordered the remaining Chagossians — generally allowed no more than a single box of belongings and a sleeping mat — onto overcrowded cargo ships destined for Mauritius and the Seychelles. By 1973, the last Chagossians were gone.

The rounding up and killing of the animals in front of the residents could definitely be taken as implying "you're next" to former enslaved people.

Source 1

Source 2

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

They are, and they are doing more damage to larger birds, like raptors and herons and such moreso than small songbirds. But as with anything, context is very important.

Many recent estimates have wind power killing 0.269 birds per gigawatt hour, vs 5.18 per fossils fuels. A problem with the accuracy of these numbers is that other critters can beat people to the dead birds before they get counted. Some people claim the number or bird deaths from windmills if off by a factor of 10. While very significant, that still has wind power as twice as safe for birds.

Since we're the owl club, we can see some owl specific numbers:

The grey bar is predicted deaths, the line the upper prediction. Top scales is estimated deaths per windmill. Bottom scales is # of species for the listed order. Number is indicated by the black dot in the grey bar. There are around 250 species of owl, so you can see their black dot is around there.

Plenty of human related things cause multitudes more deaths of birds per year though. All types of habitat destruction, fossil fuels, building strikes, car strikes, and cats dwarf the number or windmill fatalities.

This article has a pretty good writeup if you want more, and if you are super smart, this is the research doc that is the primary source for the easy to read one.

Large scale wind turbines are relatively new, so we're still learning how to mitigate there damage, some ideas are mentioned in that article, from changing the blade colors to more mindful loaction of the turbines.

Also interesting to note, the articles show bats are killed in significantly higher numbers than birds, and I've never heard that talked about.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

The same where they tortured all the animals to death?

From That's When the Nightmare Started...

The next stage in the expulsion, once the US decided to proceed with the construction of the military base, involved the BIOT administrators telling the remaining population of Diego Garcia, in January 1971, that they had to leave. British officials emphasized the point by ordering the killing of the Chagossians’ dogs.

The same year, Greatbatch ordered all the dogs on Diego Garcia to be killed, an order that was carried out by company manager Marcel Moulinie. Moulinie described later how he first tried shooting the dogs, then poisoning them. Eventually more than 1,000 dogs, including pets, were gassed with exhaust fumes, from pipes attached to the exhaust pipes of US military vehicles. Talate Louis said her family’s dog was killed; they felt it was done to make them leave.

Great Behind the Bastards podcast on this whole story if you prefer audio.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 12 hours ago

Yikes, you're right! They traded the talons for this:

The owl mouth is still pretty cool, with directional ridges and a tongue bone, but owl prey is usually pretty well dispatched by the time it ends up there.

It seems the more teeth the better when catching a fish with your mouth while you're both shooting around like torpedoes!

 

From WAND tv

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - The Springfield Police Department rescued an owl wrapped in fishing line.

Officers brought the owl to the Illinois Raptor Center where experts started untangling the fishing line. They found several hooks and fishing lures caught in the bird's skin and feathers.

"What we got was a big, beautiful Great Horned Owl who was completely engulfed in fishing line and fishing lures. I have been doing this for 30 years. A bird coming in wrapped up in fishing line is not a surprising thing. I have never seen anything this bad," said Jacques Nuzzo, Program Director for the Illinois Raptor Center.

The Illinois Raptor Center said they hope to release the owl in a few days.

 

From Dan Kev

Same owl, many looks. Which is your favorite?

 

Photo by Billy Davidson

Went looking for landscapes and found this beautiful lady!

Every opportunity we are given to set with a barred owl is extremely powerful! This lady was on a beautiful perch eye level in excellent light. -in Clinton County, Missouri.

 

No source was provided for this one, but it was too fun to not share!

 

From Victor Carerra:

From what I can tell, these were taken at The Raptors at Vancouver Island. Looks like a place where you can have all levels of raptor encounters.

 

From Ronald Milne

Most of the pics I get of these big fellas are in captivity, so it was a nice find for me to see this.

 

Photos by Gary Jones

Barn Owls

Thankfully the evening storms and rain around El Barraco stayed away this evening to spend some time photographing the Owls in Jose's fantastic barn set up.

The group get to do this each evening, and after a long day photographing the Eagles in the mountains it was a real nice change.

 

From Bigdan Boen

Eurasian Scops Owl - Bulgaria

 

From Owl Moon Raptor Center

In a heartwarming rehabilitation story, six eastern screech owls-Diego, Joey, Howie, Emmy, Gwen, and Dora-were released together after successful recoveries. Each owl came to Owl Moon at different times late last fall and early winter suffering from head and eye trauma. They found camaraderie during their healing process residing together in the same mew. The screechies overcame feather damage through a full molt and formed strong bonds with one another. Prior to release, the staff carefully conducted live prey tests to ensure they were ready for life in the wild.

When the time came and all were healthy, their mew door was left open overnight to let the six loose. Since the screech owls are all young, they could be released in a new territory since this is the age they typically venture out to find their own homes away from home nests. Since they became bonded to one another, it is possible that some will journey together, pair up, and raise families in the near future. Since their release, nights at the Center are full of screech owl calls and responses, a sign that members of the group are not only thriving but also establishing their presence in the area. We hope our new neighbors hang around and have a full life back in nature together!

 

From Middle TN Raptor Center

Back on July 6th, we took in a young female Barn Owl with what we called the most gruesome injury we'd seen to date: the end of her wing was accidentally severed by a chain saw. The before pictures show a clean cut across the end of her wing and the wound on her side. We did not expect her to survive the ordeal but treated her anyway. We have been reluctant to post about her because many times we considered her future quality of life and thought she would have to be euthanized due to the wing damage. We didn't even name her because we didn't think she would be with us long enough.

Today, we are happy to show you her recovery progress. Look at how well that wing has recovered in the after photos! She still has challenges to overcome, but we are hopeful for her continued recovery. We're so excited to announce that once the weather lightens up, she will finally get to move outside to start building flight strength, do live prey tests, and hopefully push toward one of the most unlikely freedom day releases we've ever had.

 

Photo by Supratim Kar

Spotted Owlet with hypnotic gaze.

 

Photo by Jeremy Jonkman

I captured this Image of a barred owl inflight 16 frames after my latest take off post. The owl was flying right at me and landed on a stump less than 10 feet from me trying to catch a squirrel which it missed by inches. This is only about a 15% crop as it eventually overfilled the frame. Taken in king County, hope you all enjoy!

view more: next ›