Gareth

Doge staffers enter Noaa headquarters and incite reports of cuts and threats Members reportedly sought access to IT systems at agency that Project 2025 has called ‘harmful to US prosperity’

Your 'moment of doom' for Feb. 5, 2024 ~ Going dark.

“I think the strategy here is: ‘Well, we’re just going to do it and dare somebody to stop us, and by the time they stop us, we’ll have destroyed it.’”

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Happy piglets

Morning Peter. How do you watch it in S.A.?

If current trends in policy and technology development continue, we find there is a less than 7% chance of keeping global temperature increases below 2°C.

- Rhodium Group

2°C is considered the upper limit of 'safe' levels of warming

Why 2024 saw more transfers of power in Africa than ever before | Democracy in Africa

That so many governments are being given an electoral bloody nose against a backdrop of global democratic decline is striking. It suggests that Africa has much higher levels of democratic resilience than is often recognised, says @fromagehomme.bsky.social
democracyinafrica.org/why-2024-saw...

After multiple chances to improve his behaviour both at home and at school, our son has still not got his act together. As a result, he's got one Christmas present. It's a video of me unwrapping all of his would-be presents, and dropping them off at our local food bank.

Into the hills
KwaZulu Natal
South Africa

#photography #landscape

Ploughing through the Inheritance Tax debate: a fairer future for farmland? Changes in IHT are stirring controversy. Can we protect family farms while addressing wealth inequality? Changes in IHT are stirring controversy. Can we protect family farms while addressing wealth in...

Changes in inheritance tax are stirring controversy. Can we protect family farms while addressing wealth inequality? |Mike Barnard

YouTube video by BBC World Service What will happen in 2025? - The Global Story podcast, BBC World Service

More talking heads

How many more years can we shove this off? youtu.be/1mnTz1Hs784?...

Managed correctly, sheep, goats, and pigs can also contribute positively to a healthy eco system and environment. I manage predation (nature tax) without harming any predators, and we have an abundance because they have sufficient natural prey. Predators are an integral link in our ecosystems.

Love it when bookshops or libraries arrange their books appropriately...

Christmas lunch on the spit

An elephant on the side of the road behind road signs

An elephant on the side of the road

Seems there are some Botswanan #elephants in South Africa that don't care about fences! 🤣🐘🇿🇦

Elephants and potholes, a true African road in SA! 😆 On the R572 to Mapungubwe NP! 🐘

#Mammals

As power theft cripples Eskom, it discovers a massive racket involving its staff | Business The utility estimates R23 billion was lost to electricity theft, more than the R20 billion lost to load shedding.

As power theft cripples Eskom, it discovers a massive racket involving its staff. www.news24.com/fin24/compan...

“Apartheid’s Baboons: How the State Weaponised Animal Bodies” Lunchtime Colloquium at the Rachel Carson Center with Sandra Swart.

Earlier this year, Sandra Swart presented on “Apartheid’s Baboons: How the State Weaponised Animal Bodies” at the Rachel Carson Center. You can now watch the full talk online!

@wildpasts.bsky.social #envhist

Dark clouds loom over the legacy auto industry. China's auto share hits 39% as US, Europe & Japan tumble. The EV revolution won't wait; the old guard is running out of road. The doomsday clock is ticking on the ICE age. Adapt, reinvent, innovate or face extinction. Time's up.

Dark clouds loom over the legacy auto industry. China's auto share hits 39% as US, Europe & Japan tumble. The EV revolution won't wait; the old guard is running out of road. The doomsday clock is ticking on the ICE age. Adapt, reinvent, innovate or face extinction. Time's up.🌩️🚗⚡ #EVs #AutoDisruption

Beyond the ‘Wine Mum’: Understanding Midlife Women’s Drinking - Institute of Alcohol Studies Midlife women’s drinking is shaped by stress, societal norms, and shifting identities. While the “wine mum” stereotype simplifies this, a recent study of Australian women reveals diverse influences, f...

In our latest blog, Dr @gabrielcaluzzi.bsky.social explores how midlife women’s drinking is shaped by work pressures, caregiving demands, & class.

Moving beyond the ‘wine mum’ stereotype, he highlights the need for a deeper understanding of these influences.

www.ias.org.uk/2024/12/18/b...

Mark Sinker | Hello Bluesky As the microblogging site proposing to supplant Twitter, Bluesky at first ignited pundit suspicion, with columnists...

"And since then the inane but hotly buzzing billionaire-class hive have been prancing with impunity, the Ketamine Bladder at their head, spiteful, thin-skinned, frantic for the admiration of people he disdains." www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2024/de...

Insurers Are Dropping Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen (Gift Article) Without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home.

The data in this article pairs well with recent conversation between @volts.wtf and @katenrg.bsky.social. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Insurers Are Dropping Homeowners as Climate Shocks Worsen Without insurance, it’s impossible to get a mortgage; without a mortgage, most Americans can’t buy a home.

Disaster is a function of three things: exposure, vulnerability, and hazard.

As climate change pushes up the hazard rates for wildfire, flood, hurricane & more, lack of adaptation and maladaptation on the part of both public and private entities is increasing vulnerability.

My mother just saw the lit-up "WELCOME TO HERMANUS" Christmas sign where the M went missing, and she's laughing herself into a whole new happiness zone.

Climate risks to US and EU commodity supplies Discover how climate change threatens essential US and EU supplies of key commodities, including minerals and food crops within our report.

#Climatechange poses a serious & growing threat to the world’s ability to produce essential commodities. Heat stress & #drought may disrupt US & EU supplies of key #commodities, incl. crops like #wheat, #rice & maize, which supply 42% of human calories... (1/2) www.pwc.com/gx/en/issues...

On its maiden flight, Mark Zuckerberg flew his brand-new, $80 million private jet from California to his mammoth 1,300-acre estate in Hawaii, burning 5,500 kilograms of fuel and releasing 19 tons of C...

Speaking of horrific carbon footprints. But he's a billionaire so it's OK.

luxurylaunches.com/celebrities/...

Interview: ‘Iran hates me’ — Imtiaz Sooliman opens up about Jihadism, Hamas and The Kiffness In the last week of November, Imtiaz Sooliman, the founder of Gift of the Givers, sustained an attack on his credibility from one of South Africa’s most popular musicians, David ‘The Kiffness’ Scott. ...

‘Iran hates me’ — Imtiaz Sooliman opens up about Jihadism, Hamas and The Kiffness. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024...

I would feel reassured if I knew that the engineers who design commercial aircraft had the exact right attitude rather than a highly unnecessary qualification.

Private sector funds R60 million forensics shot in the arm for Hawks | News24 The Hawks head said a new crime-fighting partnership for a digital forensics lab – funded by the private sector – was not his organisation outsourcing its law-enforcement responsibilities.

"We are not outsourcing our work. They (the private sector) are providing us with the tools so that we can easily access the information that is at their disposal," Lebeya said. "The equipment had been acquired and around 782 officers were trained in analysing bank statements." #SouthAfrica