Scientists say Russia is warming at least 2.5 times faster than the rest of the world, melting the long-frozen tundra that covers about 65% of the country's landmass and releasing greenhouse gases stored in the thawed soil. (source)
If you have a NYT subscription there’s a good column up with more info than the Reuters post. I dunno if this link will get you in (it was gifted to me) but here it is all the same. And here's a snippet:
Russia is not the only country confronting the problems caused by dangerous permafrost melt. In Canada slumps like Batagaika have transformed scenic forests into bleak mudscapes. In China the Tibetan Plateau is collapsing. In Alaska houses in rural villages are sinking into the ground as the shoreline falls into the sea.
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In 1937 a Moscow geologist discovered tin ore near the present-day town of Batagay. As the Soviets settled and mined the area, they cut down the forest that shielded the land from warming sunlight and held the earth in place. The permafrost survived previous warming cycles without melting, but this deforestation, it seems, pushed it over the edge. In his largely autobiographical collection of short stories, “Kolyma Tales,” Varlam Shalamov, a former gulag prisoner, described a mass grave that had burst out of the stony ground. “The earth opened,” he wrote, “baring its subterranean storerooms, for they contained not only gold and lead, tungsten and uranium, but also undecaying human bodies.” The permafrost can keep secrets, but it can also testify to crimes. (source)
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Some rapper was arrested at the airport in Amsterdam for carrying “soft drugs.” I’m assuming she had a joint in her purse. Why was she stopped and searched?
I only mention it but if not for a last minute purse cleaning before heading to the airport this could have been me. Back in the days when I smoked (versus getting my gummy on), I always kept a just-in-case j in my bag. I guess I had a subconscious wish to be the first person to get busted for bringing doobies INTO Amsterdam. DOH!
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There’s an astounding number of people who should NEVER EVER be allowed to have children. Sometimes it’s because they’re cruel or otherwise mentally unbalanced. Sometimes it’s because they’re devoid of empathy and compassion. Sometimes it’s because they’re just blindingly ignorant and/or stupid.
Tamara Banks was sentenced in the death of her daughter Karmity Hoeb after her mom fed her a nearly all Mountain Dew diet.DISSOLVED HER TEETH! She was four years old. FOUR!
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The little girl died at a hospital on Jan. 25, 2022, from a diabetes-related brain injury and being fed a sugary drink through a bottle that dissolved her teeth. (source)
The father has also been charged and will be sentenced this week.
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I see that Cheato gave a speech at the Libertarian Party National Convention last night. He didn’t get the same reception as at his usual pep rallies.
"I'm asking for the Libertarian party's endorsement or at least, lots of your votes, lots and lots of libertarian votes.”Apparently the worm killer, RFK jr., was at the convention and had handed out squeaky rubber chickens with “Debate Bobby” scrawled on them in black marker (no word as to whether or not it was written with a black Sharpie) but Secret Service agents confiscated them all. Party poopers.
The speech was around 30 minutes of chaos – nonstop warring booing, cheering and jeering from the crowd and Libertarian members getting tackled to the ground and physically kicked out by law enforcement. (source)
It’s a shame. The image in my head of Doofus Don the Dimbulb being pelted by rubber chickens is a stone winner.
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