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Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: This rare primate is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. They are found on Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, where they inhabit lowland and hill forests in these isolated and fragile ecosystems.
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur, also known as the Pig-tailed Langur, is one of the most distinctive and endangered monkeys in the world. These ultra rare and critically endangered small primates are known for their short, upturned noses and unique pig-like tails. Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langurs are critically endangered due to palm oil and timber deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation in their tiny island homes of Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, Indonesia. Immediate conservation action is necessary to protect the remaining population and their delicate ecosystem from disappearing forever. Fight for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Forgotten #primate 🙊🐒 Pig-tailed Snub-nosed #Langur is now critically endangered on tiny islands near #Sumatra #Indonesia 🇮🇩 from #palmoil #deforestation and hunting pressures. Help them survive #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyPig-tailed Snub-nosed #langurs have a cute upturned nose and a pig-like tail. They’re critically #endangered by #palmoil #deforestation and hunting in #Indonesia 🇮🇩🐒 Resist their #extinction! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyAppearance and Behaviour
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is a medium-sized primate with a striking appearance. Their dense, greyish-brown fur contrasts with lighter underparts, and their small, upturned nose gives them a unique and endearing look. Their short, thick tail, resembling that of a pig, is another defining feature (IUCN, 2020).
These langurs are diurnal and arboreal, spending most of their time in the forest canopy. They live in social groups of up to 20 individuals, where they engage in complex communication and social bonding. Their dynamic foraging strategies allow them to adapt to the heterogeneous environments of the Mentawai Islands.
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because a population decline of 80-90% over the last 36 years (three generations) is estimated due to heavy hunting pressure and extensive habitat loss (especially on southern islands but quite significant throughout species range). The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is threatened mainly by heavy hunting and commercial logging (Whittaker 2006, Quinten et al. 2014).
IUCN Red List
Diet
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is primarily folivorous, feeding on a variety of leaves, but they also consume fruits, seeds, and flowers when available. This specialised diet ties them closely to their forest environment, making them highly vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation (IUCN, 2020).
Reproduction and Mating
As with many langurs, this species is believed to have a low reproductive rate. Females give birth to a single infant after a long gestation period, and young langurs are raised with the support of the social group. This cooperative behaviour is vital for ensuring the survival of the next generation in their challenging environment.
Geographic Range
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is restricted to the Mentawai Islands, including Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai. These islands are home to diverse but fragile ecosystems, where this species relies on primary and secondary forests for survival. Their limited geographic range makes them highly vulnerable to localised threats (IUCN, 2020).
Threats
They are also threatened by the conversion of rainforest into oil palm plantations, as well as forest clearing and product extraction by local people. Sometimes, animals are taken for the pet trade (Whittaker 2006).
IUCN Red LIST
- Palm oil and timber deforestation: The rapid expansion of out-of-control palm oil plantations, logging, and agricultural activities has resulted in the widespread destruction of the Mentawai Islands’ forests.
- Illegal hunting for bushmeat: The langur is heavily hunted for bushmeat, a significant threat in local communities.
- Habitat Fragmentation: Infrastructure development and forest clearing have fragmented their habitats, isolating populations and reducing genetic diversity.
Take Action!
Protecting the Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur requires urgent conservation measures to halt deforestation and hunting. By boycotting products containing palm oil, supporting indigenous-led conservation initiatives, and advocating for forest preservation, you can help safeguard this critically endangered primate. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan
Conservation efforts for these critically endangered small primates is underway. Read more about Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) in Indonesia.
Further Information
Quinten, M, Setiawan, A., Cheyne, S., Traeholt, C. & Whittaker, D. 2020. Simias concolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T20229A17953422. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T20229A17953422.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.
Zhao, L., et al. (2024). Dynamic foraging strategy adaptation to heterogeneous environments contributes to social aggregation in snub-nosed monkeys. Zoological Research, 45(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.047
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pig-tailed Langur. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig-tailed_langur
GBIF. (n.d.). Simias concolor. Retrieved from https://www.gbif.org/species/4267130
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CottonHeadedTamarinSaguinusOedipus #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #Indonesia #langur #Langurs #Mammal #palmoil #Primate #Sumatra #vegan
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AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Questing Beast – Birth
By Dolphin Whisperer
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
In this year of 2024, artists on the rise have an untold treasure of heavy metal history and knowledge from which they may conjure works of the distorted and riffy kind. That’s how young acts like Questing Beast can come across with their self-imposed “power doom” tag without sounding too much like bearers of the odd torch who came before like Memory Garden or Morgana Lefay. Rather, Birth wears shades of power through vocalist Joe Harris, whose trained vibrato runs equal parts dramatic and powerful while still finding room to switch to a sorrowful tone. And the doom comes out to play through traditional lurching riffs, dry stoner drives, and extended harmonic melodies. But with Elder-like (or maybe a little more Lyle Mays to these ears) glistening interludes and shifting tempo structures, is this also prog? My oh my, what a journey Questing Beast has set forth for our hard-to-please Rodeö crew. But I think it’s a beast they can wrangle, at least this time around. – Dolphin Whisperer
Questing Beast // Birth [June 14th, 2024]
Kenstrosity: I am not known for being particularly picky when it comes to metal in general. However, for one reason or another, I tend to be more selective about the tried and trve ways ov heavy metal. Regardless of pedigree or outside hybridizations, when I see the “heavy metal” tag, I exclaim with much prejudice, “we’ll see about that!” Enter New Hampshire’s proggy heavy metal quintet Questing Beast and their debut full-length, appropriately named Birth. Unexpectedly crunchy grooves and frankly beautiful melodies characterize the majority portion of these pieces (“At Crater’s Edge,” “Growth,” “Titan’s Grip”). But, it’s the more consistent presence of palpable grit in the instrumentation, as companion to the smooth and crystalline pipes at the mic, which makes the magic of the record’s best moments (“The Comet’s Tale,” Beneath Red Leaves,” “Corruption,” “Call of the North”). Using this uncommonly well-realized formula as the basis for strong storytelling and musical composition, Questing Beast handily carve out a niche for themselves in the metalverse that makes the most out of their heavy metal heritage without trying to play strict homage to it. While many of their songs could use a bit more immediacy and the vocalist’s falsetto a bit more stable power, Questing Beast make a compelling case for themselves on their first try. Let’s see if they can follow through on album two! 3.0/5.0
Cherd: On paper, Questing Beast looks like a textbook case of multiple personality disorder. They refer to themselves as “power doom,” but their sound is a circus tent pitched over three rings of power metal, classic doom, traditional/epic heavy metal and progressive metal. And that’s not all, folks. “Corruption” includes the above PLUS a healthy dose of djenty deathcore. Remarkably, the band mostly pulls it all off. Their debut full-length Birth is best when it leans into the older styles of metal. “Titan’s Grip” is a fine epic heavy metal tune updated for contemporary ears. Meanwhile, “At Crater’s Edge” sees them sounding like a bouncier Candlemass. This comparison is especially apt because of classically trained vocalist Joe Harris, who hews closer to Johan Längqvist than to Messiah Marcolin. Harris’ powerful pipes and smooth-like-butter timbre, along with the clearly talented instrumentalists in this quintet, keep Questing Beast’s sound from descending into chaos. Things do go a bit soft in the middle of the record from a songwriting standpoint, but all the material before the first instrumental and after the second one is eyebrow-raising, invigorating stuff. 3.0/5.0
Itchymenace: Beast indeed! This album has a lot going on. There are elements of thrash, prog, death, classic metal and even some jazz. Unfortunately, this ambitious hodgepodge never coalesced in a way that I found compelling or enjoyable. Birth’s primary fault is a lack of a common thread or a narrative that ties it all together. I felt pulled in numerous directions, questing for a voice that would guide me through the disparate tracks. Instead, I got a lot of operatic wailing that never seemed to find its place within the music. Where bands like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest use this style effectively to balance the sonic frequencies across the mix, it feels like Questing Beast stole a vocal track from one album and tried to make it fit over another. I don’t know if it’s a shortcoming in the production, the songwriting, the performance or all three. Much of the lyrical content doesn’t help either. The call and response during “At Crater’s Edge” was about as silly as it gets without being Anvil. Musically, I can appreciate what the band is trying to do. The guitars are crunchy with a classic harmonic metal sound that I love. There are some good riffs and competent playing but that is not enough to make me want to put it on again. Hopefully there is life after-Birth. I wish I could give this a better score. 2.0/5.0
Why unicorn a band when they have their own mythical beast icon?
Mystikus Hugebeard: Birth is a righteous debut by a brand-new band that is already swinging for the fences. This album is, upon reflection, even grander than perhaps it might feel in the moment as you listen to it. During a typical spin, my focus is easily held by the crunchy, exciting riffs that dominate the tracklist, from the slower doom that opens “The Comet’s Tail,” through the energetic classic-metal-tinged guitars in “Beneath Red Leaves,” to the unstoppable pounding riffs of “Call of the North.” But the larger scale of Birth really creeps up on you. Complex rhythms (“Corruption”) and unconventional melodies (“Growth”) speak to Questing Beast’s admirable ambition, and they have the talent to pull off these progressive elements. It’s the bodacious, borderline campy vocals, rather, that make Birth feel epic and they cement the album’s lasting appeal for me. They’re full of righteous but tastefully applied vibrato, and the singer has the endearing timbre of an unrefined but uber-talented vocalist giving 110% that’s just hard to find these days. Some elements do betray Questing Beast’s green-ness in a more harmful way, though. Birth is crying out for some killer guitar solos to punctuate the riffs and further heighten the scale, but the few we get are underwhelming and come across as a bit sloppy, with the exception of “Beneath Red Leaves.” Furthermore, I think the drums can sound a little too sharp and could use a less distracting mix. Despite that, the broad strokes of Birth are a big success for me. Birth is the kind of hidden gem that’s exciting to discover, and leaves me with a big, satisfied grin on my face. 3.0/5.0
#2024 #AmericanMetal #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #Birth #Candlemass #DoomMetal #Elder #IndependentRelease #IronMaiden #JudasPriest #Jun24 #LyleMays #MemoryGarden #MorganaLefay #PowerMetal #ProgressiveDoomMetal #ProgressiveMetal #QuestingBeast #SelfRelease #StonerDoomMetal
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AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Questing Beast – Birth
By Dolphin Whisperer
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
In this year of 2024, artists on the rise have an untold treasure of heavy metal history and knowledge from which they may conjure works of the distorted and riffy kind. That’s how young acts like Questing Beast can come across with their self-imposed “power doom” tag without sounding too much like bearers of the odd torch who came before like Memory Garden or Morgana Lefay. Rather, Birth wears shades of power through vocalist Joe Harris, whose trained vibrato runs equal parts dramatic and powerful while still finding room to switch to a sorrowful tone. And the doom comes out to play through traditional lurching riffs, dry stoner drives, and extended harmonic melodies. But with Elder-like (or maybe a little more Lyle Mays to these ears) glistening interludes and shifting tempo structures, is this also prog? My oh my, what a journey Questing Beast has set forth for our hard-to-please Rodeö crew. But I think it’s a beast they can wrangle, at least this time around. – Dolphin Whisperer
Questing Beast // Birth [June 14th, 2024]
Kenstrosity: I am not known for being particularly picky when it comes to metal in general. However, for one reason or another, I tend to be more selective about the tried and trve ways ov heavy metal. Regardless of pedigree or outside hybridizations, when I see the “heavy metal” tag, I exclaim with much prejudice, “we’ll see about that!” Enter New Hampshire’s proggy heavy metal quintet Questing Beast and their debut full-length, appropriately named Birth. Unexpectedly crunchy grooves and frankly beautiful melodies characterize the majority portion of these pieces (“At Crater’s Edge,” “Growth,” “Titan’s Grip”). But, it’s the more consistent presence of palpable grit in the instrumentation, as companion to the smooth and crystalline pipes at the mic, which makes the magic of the record’s best moments (“The Comet’s Tale,” Beneath Red Leaves,” “Corruption,” “Call of the North”). Using this uncommonly well-realized formula as the basis for strong storytelling and musical composition, Questing Beast handily carve out a niche for themselves in the metalverse that makes the most out of their heavy metal heritage without trying to play strict homage to it. While many of their songs could use a bit more immediacy and the vocalist’s falsetto a bit more stable power, Questing Beast make a compelling case for themselves on their first try. Let’s see if they can follow through on album two! 3.0/5.0
Cherd: On paper, Questing Beast looks like a textbook case of multiple personality disorder. They refer to themselves as “power doom,” but their sound is a circus tent pitched over three rings of power metal, classic doom, traditional/epic heavy metal and progressive metal. And that’s not all, folks. “Corruption” includes the above PLUS a healthy dose of djenty deathcore. Remarkably, the band mostly pulls it all off. Their debut full-length Birth is best when it leans into the older styles of metal. “Titan’s Grip” is a fine epic heavy metal tune updated for contemporary ears. Meanwhile, “At Crater’s Edge” sees them sounding like a bouncier Candlemass. This comparison is especially apt because of classically trained vocalist Joe Harris, who hews closer to Johan Längqvist than to Messiah Marcolin. Harris’ powerful pipes and smooth-like-butter timbre, along with the clearly talented instrumentalists in this quintet, keep Questing Beast’s sound from descending into chaos. Things do go a bit soft in the middle of the record from a songwriting standpoint, but all the material before the first instrumental and after the second one is eyebrow-raising, invigorating stuff. 3.0/5.0
Itchymenace: Beast indeed! This album has a lot going on. There are elements of thrash, prog, death, classic metal and even some jazz. Unfortunately, this ambitious hodgepodge never coalesced in a way that I found compelling or enjoyable. Birth’s primary fault is a lack of a common thread or a narrative that ties it all together. I felt pulled in numerous directions, questing for a voice that would guide me through the disparate tracks. Instead, I got a lot of operatic wailing that never seemed to find its place within the music. Where bands like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest use this style effectively to balance the sonic frequencies across the mix, it feels like Questing Beast stole a vocal track from one album and tried to make it fit over another. I don’t know if it’s a shortcoming in the production, the songwriting, the performance or all three. Much of the lyrical content doesn’t help either. The call and response during “At Crater’s Edge” was about as silly as it gets without being Anvil. Musically, I can appreciate what the band is trying to do. The guitars are crunchy with a classic harmonic metal sound that I love. There are some good riffs and competent playing but that is not enough to make me want to put it on again. Hopefully there is life after-Birth. I wish I could give this a better score. 2.0/5.0
Why unicorn a band when they have their own mythical beast icon?
Mystikus Hugebeard: Birth is a righteous debut by a brand-new band that is already swinging for the fences. This album is, upon reflection, even grander than perhaps it might feel in the moment as you listen to it. During a typical spin, my focus is easily held by the crunchy, exciting riffs that dominate the tracklist, from the slower doom that opens “The Comet’s Tail,” through the energetic classic-metal-tinged guitars in “Beneath Red Leaves,” to the unstoppable pounding riffs of “Call of the North.” But the larger scale of Birth really creeps up on you. Complex rhythms (“Corruption”) and unconventional melodies (“Growth”) speak to Questing Beast’s admirable ambition, and they have the talent to pull off these progressive elements. It’s the bodacious, borderline campy vocals, rather, that make Birth feel epic and they cement the album’s lasting appeal for me. They’re full of righteous but tastefully applied vibrato, and the singer has the endearing timbre of an unrefined but uber-talented vocalist giving 110% that’s just hard to find these days. Some elements do betray Questing Beast’s green-ness in a more harmful way, though. Birth is crying out for some killer guitar solos to punctuate the riffs and further heighten the scale, but the few we get are underwhelming and come across as a bit sloppy, with the exception of “Beneath Red Leaves.” Furthermore, I think the drums can sound a little too sharp and could use a less distracting mix. Despite that, the broad strokes of Birth are a big success for me. Birth is the kind of hidden gem that’s exciting to discover, and leaves me with a big, satisfied grin on my face. 3.0/5.0
#2024 #AmericanMetal #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #Birth #Candlemass #DoomMetal #Elder #IndependentRelease #IronMaiden #JudasPriest #Jun24 #LyleMays #MemoryGarden #MorganaLefay #PowerMetal #ProgressiveDoomMetal #ProgressiveMetal #QuestingBeast #SelfRelease #StonerDoomMetal
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AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö: Questing Beast – Birth
By Dolphin Whisperer
“AMG’s Unsigned Band Rodeö” is a time-honored tradition to showcase the most underground of the underground—the unsigned and unpromoted. This collective review treatment continues to exist to unite our writers in boot or bolster of the bands who remind us that, for better or worse, the metal underground exists as an important part of the global metal scene. The Rodeö rides on.”
In this year of 2024, artists on the rise have an untold treasure of heavy metal history and knowledge from which they may conjure works of the distorted and riffy kind. That’s how young acts like Questing Beast can come across with their self-imposed “power doom” tag without sounding too much like bearers of the odd torch who came before like Memory Garden or Morgana Lefay. Rather, Birth wears shades of power through vocalist Joe Harris, whose trained vibrato runs equal parts dramatic and powerful while still finding room to switch to a sorrowful tone. And the doom comes out to play through traditional lurching riffs, dry stoner drives, and extended harmonic melodies. But with Elder-like (or maybe a little more Lyle Mays to these ears) glistening interludes and shifting tempo structures, is this also prog? My oh my, what a journey Questing Beast has set forth for our hard-to-please Rodeö crew. But I think it’s a beast they can wrangle, at least this time around. – Dolphin Whisperer
Questing Beast // Birth [June 14th, 2024]
Kenstrosity: I am not known for being particularly picky when it comes to metal in general. However, for one reason or another, I tend to be more selective about the tried and trve ways ov heavy metal. Regardless of pedigree or outside hybridizations, when I see the “heavy metal” tag, I exclaim with much prejudice, “we’ll see about that!” Enter New Hampshire’s proggy heavy metal quintet Questing Beast and their debut full-length, appropriately named Birth. Unexpectedly crunchy grooves and frankly beautiful melodies characterize the majority portion of these pieces (“At Crater’s Edge,” “Growth,” “Titan’s Grip”). But, it’s the more consistent presence of palpable grit in the instrumentation, as companion to the smooth and crystalline pipes at the mic, which makes the magic of the record’s best moments (“The Comet’s Tale,” Beneath Red Leaves,” “Corruption,” “Call of the North”). Using this uncommonly well-realized formula as the basis for strong storytelling and musical composition, Questing Beast handily carve out a niche for themselves in the metalverse that makes the most out of their heavy metal heritage without trying to play strict homage to it. While many of their songs could use a bit more immediacy and the vocalist’s falsetto a bit more stable power, Questing Beast make a compelling case for themselves on their first try. Let’s see if they can follow through on album two! 3.0/5.0
Cherd: On paper, Questing Beast looks like a textbook case of multiple personality disorder. They refer to themselves as “power doom,” but their sound is a circus tent pitched over three rings of power metal, classic doom, traditional/epic heavy metal and progressive metal. And that’s not all, folks. “Corruption” includes the above PLUS a healthy dose of djenty deathcore. Remarkably, the band mostly pulls it all off. Their debut full-length Birth is best when it leans into the older styles of metal. “Titan’s Grip” is a fine epic heavy metal tune updated for contemporary ears. Meanwhile, “At Crater’s Edge” sees them sounding like a bouncier Candlemass. This comparison is especially apt because of classically trained vocalist Joe Harris, who hews closer to Johan Längqvist than to Messiah Marcolin. Harris’ powerful pipes and smooth-like-butter timbre, along with the clearly talented instrumentalists in this quintet, keep Questing Beast’s sound from descending into chaos. Things do go a bit soft in the middle of the record from a songwriting standpoint, but all the material before the first instrumental and after the second one is eyebrow-raising, invigorating stuff. 3.0/5.0
Itchymenace: Beast indeed! This album has a lot going on. There are elements of thrash, prog, death, classic metal and even some jazz. Unfortunately, this ambitious hodgepodge never coalesced in a way that I found compelling or enjoyable. Birth’s primary fault is a lack of a common thread or a narrative that ties it all together. I felt pulled in numerous directions, questing for a voice that would guide me through the disparate tracks. Instead, I got a lot of operatic wailing that never seemed to find its place within the music. Where bands like Iron Maiden or Judas Priest use this style effectively to balance the sonic frequencies across the mix, it feels like Questing Beast stole a vocal track from one album and tried to make it fit over another. I don’t know if it’s a shortcoming in the production, the songwriting, the performance or all three. Much of the lyrical content doesn’t help either. The call and response during “At Crater’s Edge” was about as silly as it gets without being Anvil. Musically, I can appreciate what the band is trying to do. The guitars are crunchy with a classic harmonic metal sound that I love. There are some good riffs and competent playing but that is not enough to make me want to put it on again. Hopefully there is life after-Birth. I wish I could give this a better score. 2.0/5.0
Why unicorn a band when they have their own mythical beast icon?
Mystikus Hugebeard: Birth is a righteous debut by a brand-new band that is already swinging for the fences. This album is, upon reflection, even grander than perhaps it might feel in the moment as you listen to it. During a typical spin, my focus is easily held by the crunchy, exciting riffs that dominate the tracklist, from the slower doom that opens “The Comet’s Tail,” through the energetic classic-metal-tinged guitars in “Beneath Red Leaves,” to the unstoppable pounding riffs of “Call of the North.” But the larger scale of Birth really creeps up on you. Complex rhythms (“Corruption”) and unconventional melodies (“Growth”) speak to Questing Beast’s admirable ambition, and they have the talent to pull off these progressive elements. It’s the bodacious, borderline campy vocals, rather, that make Birth feel epic and they cement the album’s lasting appeal for me. They’re full of righteous but tastefully applied vibrato, and the singer has the endearing timbre of an unrefined but uber-talented vocalist giving 110% that’s just hard to find these days. Some elements do betray Questing Beast’s green-ness in a more harmful way, though. Birth is crying out for some killer guitar solos to punctuate the riffs and further heighten the scale, but the few we get are underwhelming and come across as a bit sloppy, with the exception of “Beneath Red Leaves.” Furthermore, I think the drums can sound a little too sharp and could use a less distracting mix. Despite that, the broad strokes of Birth are a big success for me. Birth is the kind of hidden gem that’s exciting to discover, and leaves me with a big, satisfied grin on my face. 3.0/5.0
#2024 #AmericanMetal #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo #AngryMetalGuySUnsignedBandRodeo2024 #Birth #Candlemass #DoomMetal #Elder #IndependentRelease #IronMaiden #JudasPriest #Jun24 #LyleMays #MemoryGarden #MorganaLefay #PowerMetal #ProgressiveDoomMetal #ProgressiveMetal #QuestingBeast #SelfRelease #StonerDoomMetal
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Wrath of Pele
Originally published May 2018.
In 2018 Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, put on a big show with activity at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. Kilauea’s Puu Oo crater had been active since 1983, making it the world’s longest continuously erupting volcano. In quick succession in the first week of May 2018, the lake of lava drained from the top of Kilauea volcano and new fissures opened to the east, emitting dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas. Then, effusive fountains of lava spewed up to 330 feet high.
“Volcanoes give us warning when they’re about to do something,” [Tari] Mattox said. The emptying of the Puu Oo crater’s lava lake, the surge in seismic activity along the East Rift Zone, and weeks of uplift around the crater all signaled that something was bubbling under the surface. [Source]
Residents nearby were urged to evacuate. Increased earthquakes indicated movement of molten rock towards the surface. A large quake measuring magnitude 6.9 occurred on May 4 caused landslides and small tsunamis. The magma had already reached the surface of the East Rift Zone on May 3 in what was the neighborhood called Leilani Estates. Over two dozen homes have been destroyed so far and lava flows are rendering the area increasingly inaccessible. Officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have closed the park to visitors. Visiting the eruption area is highly discouraged as crews work to ensure public safety. Currently, the gas emissions are the main problem, as the fumes prevent crews from entering areas and may inhibit rescue attempts.
From Hawaii News Now:
Sam Knox, also of Leilani Estates, said all he can do as he waits to hear if his home will survive is appeal to a higher power.
“If there’s a God out there maybe he can help us out,” he said, adding that seeing the lava soaring into the sky into his own neighborhood was surreal. “It was incredible. It was fuming. It was roaring. It was thundering. Rocks were flying out of the ground,” he said.From the USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory:
A fissure about 150 m (492 ft) long erupted mostly spatter and intermittent bubble bursts for about 2 hours. Lava did not travel more than a few m (yards) from the fissure. Hawaii County Civil Defense is coordinating needed response including evacuation of a portion of the Leilani subdivision. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory deployed geologists to the eruption site overnight, and other scientists are monitoring various data streams telemetered to the observatory 24/7.
The lava eruptions may continue for days or weeks, perhaps longer, as new basalt rock obliterates the old landscape, and the island grows. Even though some fissures may cease emission of lava, other new fissures can open. Some residents believe it was Pele’s doing, reclaiming her land.
“The way I kind of look at it is, the land doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to Pele,” [Jordan] Sonner said, referring to the Hawaiian volcano goddess. “We get to live on it while we can, and if she wants it back, she’ll take it. I have good insurance.”[Source]
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her story, told before we had any understanding of geology, traces the age of the islands from north (Kure Atoll) to south (Hawaii island) as the earth’s plates move over the hot spot that creates vulcanism in this famous tropical paradise. The stories about Pele and her family are rich – I cannot adequately reproduce their depth and variety here. In short, Pele was the daughter of the gods but was mortal. She fought with her sister, Namakaokaha‘i who represents the ocean, where Pele is the land. When the two sisters battled, it created explosions and Pele was torn apart, just like when molten rock meets water. Upon her death, Pele became a god and her spirit eventually took up residence on Hawaii island, at the summit of Kilauea, Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
Pele is said to have become impatient at times with her brothers and sisters. Then she would destroy their pleasure resorts in the valleys. She would send a flood of lava in her anger and burn everything up. Earthquakes came when Pele stamped the floor of the fire-pit in anger. Flames thrusting themselves through cracks in a breaking lava crust were the fire spears of Pele’s household of au-makuas or ghost-gods. [Source]
There are several more modern legends of Pele. One is that she disapproves of tourists removing parts of the island. Taking pieces of lava rock from the island is discouraged as bad luck will follow you home. Many people who disregard the tale eventually come to believe they have been cursed by their rashness and mail back the rocks to the island.
Another local legend is that Pele appears in human form as a young beautiful woman or an elderly lady in need of assistance. Often, she is accompanied by a dog (solid white or black). If you attempt to help her, you will be rewarded. If you ignore her or are unkind, she will seek revenge. Lately, many people may be wondering who disrespected Pele to spark the current evidence of her anger.
Hawaii island is the only active surface volcanic area in the state. Loihi is a seamount that is growing but will remain submerged off the coast of the island for thousands of years.
We should be grateful to the scientists who risk their lives measuring the pulse of Kilauea and several other volcanoes to warn the rest of us of dangerous hazards.
Pele’s Hair and Tears
As molten rock flies through the air, it forms into substances known as Pele’s hair and tears.
Pele’s hair – Natural History Museum, LondonSo-called Pele’s hair, named after the Goddess of Fire who inhabits Kilauea volcano, is vitrified lava, or threads of glass, that looks very much like golden hair. Millimeters in thickness but sometimes very long, they are lightweight and carried by the wind. Strands of the “hair” blown in the wind collect in clumps on the ground or in vegetation. The fine threads are formed when bubbles of lava burst, blown hot into the wind to stretch and cool. The substance can be found in relation to lava fountains in Hawaii and in Iceland where it’s also called Nornahár meaning Witch’s Hair.
Pele’s hair collects on an antenna (Wikimedia Commons) 2012, Hawaii island. Large swaths of hair collect along a road.Like asbestos and fiberglass (which is what this, essentially, is), these fibers are also hazardous if inhaled and irritating if rubbed into eyes or skin.
The current eruption of Kilauea is producing “hair”. From HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey. Tuesday, May 29, 2018, 7:45 AM HST:Pele’s hair and other lightweight volcanic glass from high fountaining of Fissure 8 are being transported downwind and falling to the west of the fissure. On Monday night, there were reports of Pele’s hair falling in Pāhoa. Residents are urged to minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation similar to volcanic ash.
Drops of molten lava in a spray instantly cool to form tapered black drops of glass called achneliths or Pele’s tears. The “tear” may often be found at the end of a “hair” as the tail is spun from the trail of liquid in motion. Glass has no crystal structure as it solidifies too quickly. Because of the quick freeze, geologists can use the hair and tears to tell something about the magma from the eruption. The shape of the tears can provide an indication of the velocity of the eruption.
As the blobs of lava get bigger, the tears become “bombs” which can damage structures and even cause injury and death as the outside cools but the core remains molten.
“Tears” or tiny cooled drops of volcanic glass.#Hawaii #Kilauea #Pele #PeleSHair #PeleSTears #SpookyGeology #volcanoes
https://sharonahill.com/?p=7735
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Wrath of Pele
Originally published May 2018.
In 2018 Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, put on a big show with activity at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. Kilauea’s Puu Oo crater had been active since 1983, making it the world’s longest continuously erupting volcano. In quick succession in the first week of May 2018, the lake of lava drained from the top of Kilauea volcano and new fissures opened to the east, emitting dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas. Then, effusive fountains of lava spewed up to 330 feet high.
“Volcanoes give us warning when they’re about to do something,” [Tari] Mattox said. The emptying of the Puu Oo crater’s lava lake, the surge in seismic activity along the East Rift Zone, and weeks of uplift around the crater all signaled that something was bubbling under the surface. [Source]
Residents nearby were urged to evacuate. Increased earthquakes indicated movement of molten rock towards the surface. A large quake measuring magnitude 6.9 occurred on May 4 caused landslides and small tsunamis. The magma had already reached the surface of the East Rift Zone on May 3 in what was the neighborhood called Leilani Estates. Over two dozen homes have been destroyed so far and lava flows are rendering the area increasingly inaccessible. Officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have closed the park to visitors. Visiting the eruption area is highly discouraged as crews work to ensure public safety. Currently, the gas emissions are the main problem, as the fumes prevent crews from entering areas and may inhibit rescue attempts.
From Hawaii News Now:
Sam Knox, also of Leilani Estates, said all he can do as he waits to hear if his home will survive is appeal to a higher power.
“If there’s a God out there maybe he can help us out,” he said, adding that seeing the lava soaring into the sky into his own neighborhood was surreal. “It was incredible. It was fuming. It was roaring. It was thundering. Rocks were flying out of the ground,” he said.From the USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory:
A fissure about 150 m (492 ft) long erupted mostly spatter and intermittent bubble bursts for about 2 hours. Lava did not travel more than a few m (yards) from the fissure. Hawaii County Civil Defense is coordinating needed response including evacuation of a portion of the Leilani subdivision. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory deployed geologists to the eruption site overnight, and other scientists are monitoring various data streams telemetered to the observatory 24/7.
The lava eruptions may continue for days or weeks, perhaps longer, as new basalt rock obliterates the old landscape, and the island grows. Even though some fissures may cease emission of lava, other new fissures can open. Some residents believe it was Pele’s doing, reclaiming her land.
“The way I kind of look at it is, the land doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to Pele,” [Jordan] Sonner said, referring to the Hawaiian volcano goddess. “We get to live on it while we can, and if she wants it back, she’ll take it. I have good insurance.”[Source]
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her story, told before we had any understanding of geology, traces the age of the islands from north (Kure Atoll) to south (Hawaii island) as the earth’s plates move over the hot spot that creates vulcanism in this famous tropical paradise. The stories about Pele and her family are rich – I cannot adequately reproduce their depth and variety here. In short, Pele was the daughter of the gods but was mortal. She fought with her sister, Namakaokaha‘i who represents the ocean, where Pele is the land. When the two sisters battled, it created explosions and Pele was torn apart, just like when molten rock meets water. Upon her death, Pele became a god and her spirit eventually took up residence on Hawaii island, at the summit of Kilauea, Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
Pele is said to have become impatient at times with her brothers and sisters. Then she would destroy their pleasure resorts in the valleys. She would send a flood of lava in her anger and burn everything up. Earthquakes came when Pele stamped the floor of the fire-pit in anger. Flames thrusting themselves through cracks in a breaking lava crust were the fire spears of Pele’s household of au-makuas or ghost-gods. [Source]
There are several more modern legends of Pele. One is that she disapproves of tourists removing parts of the island. Taking pieces of lava rock from the island is discouraged as bad luck will follow you home. Many people who disregard the tale eventually come to believe they have been cursed by their rashness and mail back the rocks to the island.
Another local legend is that Pele appears in human form as a young beautiful woman or an elderly lady in need of assistance. Often, she is accompanied by a dog (solid white or black). If you attempt to help her, you will be rewarded. If you ignore her or are unkind, she will seek revenge. Lately, many people may be wondering who disrespected Pele to spark the current evidence of her anger.
Hawaii island is the only active surface volcanic area in the state. Loihi is a seamount that is growing but will remain submerged off the coast of the island for thousands of years.
We should be grateful to the scientists who risk their lives measuring the pulse of Kilauea and several other volcanoes to warn the rest of us of dangerous hazards.
Pele’s Hair and Tears
As molten rock flies through the air, it forms into substances known as Pele’s hair and tears.
Pele’s hair – Natural History Museum, LondonSo-called Pele’s hair, named after the Goddess of Fire who inhabits Kilauea volcano, is vitrified lava, or threads of glass, that looks very much like golden hair. Millimeters in thickness but sometimes very long, they are lightweight and carried by the wind. Strands of the “hair” blown in the wind collect in clumps on the ground or in vegetation. The fine threads are formed when bubbles of lava burst, blown hot into the wind to stretch and cool. The substance can be found in relation to lava fountains in Hawaii and in Iceland where it’s also called Nornahár meaning Witch’s Hair.
Pele’s hair collects on an antenna (Wikimedia Commons) 2012, Hawaii island. Large swaths of hair collect along a road.Like asbestos and fiberglass (which is what this, essentially, is), these fibers are also hazardous if inhaled and irritating if rubbed into eyes or skin.
The current eruption of Kilauea is producing “hair”. From HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey. Tuesday, May 29, 2018, 7:45 AM HST:Pele’s hair and other lightweight volcanic glass from high fountaining of Fissure 8 are being transported downwind and falling to the west of the fissure. On Monday night, there were reports of Pele’s hair falling in Pāhoa. Residents are urged to minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation similar to volcanic ash.
Drops of molten lava in a spray instantly cool to form tapered black drops of glass called achneliths or Pele’s tears. The “tear” may often be found at the end of a “hair” as the tail is spun from the trail of liquid in motion. Glass has no crystal structure as it solidifies too quickly. Because of the quick freeze, geologists can use the hair and tears to tell something about the magma from the eruption. The shape of the tears can provide an indication of the velocity of the eruption.
As the blobs of lava get bigger, the tears become “bombs” which can damage structures and even cause injury and death as the outside cools but the core remains molten.
“Tears” or tiny cooled drops of volcanic glass.#Hawaii #Kilauea #Pele #PeleSHair #PeleSTears #SpookyGeology #volcanoes
https://sharonahill.com/?p=7735
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Wrath of Pele
Originally published May 2018.
In 2018 Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, put on a big show with activity at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. Kilauea’s Puu Oo crater had been active since 1983, making it the world’s longest continuously erupting volcano. In quick succession in the first week of May 2018, the lake of lava drained from the top of Kilauea volcano and new fissures opened to the east, emitting dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas. Then, effusive fountains of lava spewed up to 330 feet high.
“Volcanoes give us warning when they’re about to do something,” [Tari] Mattox said. The emptying of the Puu Oo crater’s lava lake, the surge in seismic activity along the East Rift Zone, and weeks of uplift around the crater all signaled that something was bubbling under the surface. [Source]
Residents nearby were urged to evacuate. Increased earthquakes indicated movement of molten rock towards the surface. A large quake measuring magnitude 6.9 occurred on May 4 caused landslides and small tsunamis. The magma had already reached the surface of the East Rift Zone on May 3 in what was the neighborhood called Leilani Estates. Over two dozen homes have been destroyed so far and lava flows are rendering the area increasingly inaccessible. Officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have closed the park to visitors. Visiting the eruption area is highly discouraged as crews work to ensure public safety. Currently, the gas emissions are the main problem, as the fumes prevent crews from entering areas and may inhibit rescue attempts.
From Hawaii News Now:
Sam Knox, also of Leilani Estates, said all he can do as he waits to hear if his home will survive is appeal to a higher power.
“If there’s a God out there maybe he can help us out,” he said, adding that seeing the lava soaring into the sky into his own neighborhood was surreal. “It was incredible. It was fuming. It was roaring. It was thundering. Rocks were flying out of the ground,” he said.From the USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory:
A fissure about 150 m (492 ft) long erupted mostly spatter and intermittent bubble bursts for about 2 hours. Lava did not travel more than a few m (yards) from the fissure. Hawaii County Civil Defense is coordinating needed response including evacuation of a portion of the Leilani subdivision. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory deployed geologists to the eruption site overnight, and other scientists are monitoring various data streams telemetered to the observatory 24/7.
The lava eruptions may continue for days or weeks, perhaps longer, as new basalt rock obliterates the old landscape, and the island grows. Even though some fissures may cease emission of lava, other new fissures can open. Some residents believe it was Pele’s doing, reclaiming her land.
“The way I kind of look at it is, the land doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to Pele,” [Jordan] Sonner said, referring to the Hawaiian volcano goddess. “We get to live on it while we can, and if she wants it back, she’ll take it. I have good insurance.”[Source]
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her story, told before we had any understanding of geology, traces the age of the islands from north (Kure Atoll) to south (Hawaii island) as the earth’s plates move over the hot spot that creates vulcanism in this famous tropical paradise. The stories about Pele and her family are rich – I cannot adequately reproduce their depth and variety here. In short, Pele was the daughter of the gods but was mortal. She fought with her sister, Namakaokaha‘i who represents the ocean, where Pele is the land. When the two sisters battled, it created explosions and Pele was torn apart, just like when molten rock meets water. Upon her death, Pele became a god and her spirit eventually took up residence on Hawaii island, at the summit of Kilauea, Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
Pele is said to have become impatient at times with her brothers and sisters. Then she would destroy their pleasure resorts in the valleys. She would send a flood of lava in her anger and burn everything up. Earthquakes came when Pele stamped the floor of the fire-pit in anger. Flames thrusting themselves through cracks in a breaking lava crust were the fire spears of Pele’s household of au-makuas or ghost-gods. [Source]
There are several more modern legends of Pele. One is that she disapproves of tourists removing parts of the island. Taking pieces of lava rock from the island is discouraged as bad luck will follow you home. Many people who disregard the tale eventually come to believe they have been cursed by their rashness and mail back the rocks to the island.
Another local legend is that Pele appears in human form as a young beautiful woman or an elderly lady in need of assistance. Often, she is accompanied by a dog (solid white or black). If you attempt to help her, you will be rewarded. If you ignore her or are unkind, she will seek revenge. Lately, many people may be wondering who disrespected Pele to spark the current evidence of her anger.
Hawaii island is the only active surface volcanic area in the state. Loihi is a seamount that is growing but will remain submerged off the coast of the island for thousands of years.
We should be grateful to the scientists who risk their lives measuring the pulse of Kilauea and several other volcanoes to warn the rest of us of dangerous hazards.
Pele’s Hair and Tears
As molten rock flies through the air, it forms into substances known as Pele’s hair and tears.
Pele’s hair – Natural History Museum, LondonSo-called Pele’s hair, named after the Goddess of Fire who inhabits Kilauea volcano, is vitrified lava, or threads of glass, that looks very much like golden hair. Millimeters in thickness but sometimes very long, they are lightweight and carried by the wind. Strands of the “hair” blown in the wind collect in clumps on the ground or in vegetation. The fine threads are formed when bubbles of lava burst, blown hot into the wind to stretch and cool. The substance can be found in relation to lava fountains in Hawaii and in Iceland where it’s also called Nornahár meaning Witch’s Hair.
Pele’s hair collects on an antenna (Wikimedia Commons) 2012, Hawaii island. Large swaths of hair collect along a road.Like asbestos and fiberglass (which is what this, essentially, is), these fibers are also hazardous if inhaled and irritating if rubbed into eyes or skin.
The current eruption of Kilauea is producing “hair”. From HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey. Tuesday, May 29, 2018, 7:45 AM HST:Pele’s hair and other lightweight volcanic glass from high fountaining of Fissure 8 are being transported downwind and falling to the west of the fissure. On Monday night, there were reports of Pele’s hair falling in Pāhoa. Residents are urged to minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation similar to volcanic ash.
Drops of molten lava in a spray instantly cool to form tapered black drops of glass called achneliths or Pele’s tears. The “tear” may often be found at the end of a “hair” as the tail is spun from the trail of liquid in motion. Glass has no crystal structure as it solidifies too quickly. Because of the quick freeze, geologists can use the hair and tears to tell something about the magma from the eruption. The shape of the tears can provide an indication of the velocity of the eruption.
As the blobs of lava get bigger, the tears become “bombs” which can damage structures and even cause injury and death as the outside cools but the core remains molten.
“Tears” or tiny cooled drops of volcanic glass.#Hawaii #Kilauea #Pele #PeleSHair #PeleSTears #SpookyGeology #volcanoes
https://sharonahill.com/?p=7735
-
Wrath of Pele
Originally published May 2018.
In 2018 Pele, the goddess of fire and volcanoes, put on a big show with activity at Kilauea volcano on Hawaii. Kilauea’s Puu Oo crater had been active since 1983, making it the world’s longest continuously erupting volcano. In quick succession in the first week of May 2018, the lake of lava drained from the top of Kilauea volcano and new fissures opened to the east, emitting dangerous levels of sulfur dioxide gas. Then, effusive fountains of lava spewed up to 330 feet high.
“Volcanoes give us warning when they’re about to do something,” [Tari] Mattox said. The emptying of the Puu Oo crater’s lava lake, the surge in seismic activity along the East Rift Zone, and weeks of uplift around the crater all signaled that something was bubbling under the surface. [Source]
Residents nearby were urged to evacuate. Increased earthquakes indicated movement of molten rock towards the surface. A large quake measuring magnitude 6.9 occurred on May 4 caused landslides and small tsunamis. The magma had already reached the surface of the East Rift Zone on May 3 in what was the neighborhood called Leilani Estates. Over two dozen homes have been destroyed so far and lava flows are rendering the area increasingly inaccessible. Officials at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park have closed the park to visitors. Visiting the eruption area is highly discouraged as crews work to ensure public safety. Currently, the gas emissions are the main problem, as the fumes prevent crews from entering areas and may inhibit rescue attempts.
From Hawaii News Now:
Sam Knox, also of Leilani Estates, said all he can do as he waits to hear if his home will survive is appeal to a higher power.
“If there’s a God out there maybe he can help us out,” he said, adding that seeing the lava soaring into the sky into his own neighborhood was surreal. “It was incredible. It was fuming. It was roaring. It was thundering. Rocks were flying out of the ground,” he said.From the USGS Hawaiian Volcanoes Observatory:
A fissure about 150 m (492 ft) long erupted mostly spatter and intermittent bubble bursts for about 2 hours. Lava did not travel more than a few m (yards) from the fissure. Hawaii County Civil Defense is coordinating needed response including evacuation of a portion of the Leilani subdivision. USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory deployed geologists to the eruption site overnight, and other scientists are monitoring various data streams telemetered to the observatory 24/7.
The lava eruptions may continue for days or weeks, perhaps longer, as new basalt rock obliterates the old landscape, and the island grows. Even though some fissures may cease emission of lava, other new fissures can open. Some residents believe it was Pele’s doing, reclaiming her land.
“The way I kind of look at it is, the land doesn’t really belong to us. It belongs to Pele,” [Jordan] Sonner said, referring to the Hawaiian volcano goddess. “We get to live on it while we can, and if she wants it back, she’ll take it. I have good insurance.”[Source]
The legend of Pele is relatively well known even outside of Hawaii. Her story, told before we had any understanding of geology, traces the age of the islands from north (Kure Atoll) to south (Hawaii island) as the earth’s plates move over the hot spot that creates vulcanism in this famous tropical paradise. The stories about Pele and her family are rich – I cannot adequately reproduce their depth and variety here. In short, Pele was the daughter of the gods but was mortal. She fought with her sister, Namakaokaha‘i who represents the ocean, where Pele is the land. When the two sisters battled, it created explosions and Pele was torn apart, just like when molten rock meets water. Upon her death, Pele became a god and her spirit eventually took up residence on Hawaii island, at the summit of Kilauea, Halemaʻumaʻu crater.
Pele is said to have become impatient at times with her brothers and sisters. Then she would destroy their pleasure resorts in the valleys. She would send a flood of lava in her anger and burn everything up. Earthquakes came when Pele stamped the floor of the fire-pit in anger. Flames thrusting themselves through cracks in a breaking lava crust were the fire spears of Pele’s household of au-makuas or ghost-gods. [Source]
There are several more modern legends of Pele. One is that she disapproves of tourists removing parts of the island. Taking pieces of lava rock from the island is discouraged as bad luck will follow you home. Many people who disregard the tale eventually come to believe they have been cursed by their rashness and mail back the rocks to the island.
Another local legend is that Pele appears in human form as a young beautiful woman or an elderly lady in need of assistance. Often, she is accompanied by a dog (solid white or black). If you attempt to help her, you will be rewarded. If you ignore her or are unkind, she will seek revenge. Lately, many people may be wondering who disrespected Pele to spark the current evidence of her anger.
Hawaii island is the only active surface volcanic area in the state. Loihi is a seamount that is growing but will remain submerged off the coast of the island for thousands of years.
We should be grateful to the scientists who risk their lives measuring the pulse of Kilauea and several other volcanoes to warn the rest of us of dangerous hazards.
Pele’s Hair and Tears
As molten rock flies through the air, it forms into substances known as Pele’s hair and tears.
Pele’s hair – Natural History Museum, LondonSo-called Pele’s hair, named after the Goddess of Fire who inhabits Kilauea volcano, is vitrified lava, or threads of glass, that looks very much like golden hair. Millimeters in thickness but sometimes very long, they are lightweight and carried by the wind. Strands of the “hair” blown in the wind collect in clumps on the ground or in vegetation. The fine threads are formed when bubbles of lava burst, blown hot into the wind to stretch and cool. The substance can be found in relation to lava fountains in Hawaii and in Iceland where it’s also called Nornahár meaning Witch’s Hair.
Pele’s hair collects on an antenna (Wikimedia Commons) 2012, Hawaii island. Large swaths of hair collect along a road.Like asbestos and fiberglass (which is what this, essentially, is), these fibers are also hazardous if inhaled and irritating if rubbed into eyes or skin.
The current eruption of Kilauea is producing “hair”. From HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY STATUS REPORT
U.S. Geological Survey. Tuesday, May 29, 2018, 7:45 AM HST:Pele’s hair and other lightweight volcanic glass from high fountaining of Fissure 8 are being transported downwind and falling to the west of the fissure. On Monday night, there were reports of Pele’s hair falling in Pāhoa. Residents are urged to minimize exposure to these volcanic particles, which can cause skin and eye irritation similar to volcanic ash.
Drops of molten lava in a spray instantly cool to form tapered black drops of glass called achneliths or Pele’s tears. The “tear” may often be found at the end of a “hair” as the tail is spun from the trail of liquid in motion. Glass has no crystal structure as it solidifies too quickly. Because of the quick freeze, geologists can use the hair and tears to tell something about the magma from the eruption. The shape of the tears can provide an indication of the velocity of the eruption.
As the blobs of lava get bigger, the tears become “bombs” which can damage structures and even cause injury and death as the outside cools but the core remains molten.
“Tears” or tiny cooled drops of volcanic glass.#Hawaii #Kilauea #Pele #PeleSHair #PeleSTears #SpookyGeology #volcanoes
https://sharonahill.com/?p=7735
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Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Extant (resident): Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Singapore; Thailand; Viet Nam
Presence Uncertain: China
Sunda #pangolins, also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolins, possess quirky traits that make them truly intriguing. They are capable swimmers and have a remarkable defense mechanism of curling into a protective ball, walk in an upside-down manner, and communicate through scale vibrations. As consummate insectivores, they rely on their long, sticky tongues to extract ants and termites from mounds. These pangolins have a slow metabolism, lack teeth but have a gizzard-like structure, and feature a specialised digestive system. To protect these unique creatures and their habitat, it’s crucial to take action. Join the movement and raise awareness about their primary threat #poaching and also by boycotting palm oil, which is also contributing towards their demise and putting them at risk of extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket
Sunda #Pangolins have no teeth and their scales vibrate to help them communicate. They’re critically #endangered due to #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🔥🙊🚫 and #poaching in #Indonesia and #Malaysia. Help them when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyFascinating #Sunda #Pangolins curl up like #pokemons 🏀🤯 to evade predators. They’re facing #extinction due to rampant #palmoil #deforestation and #poaching in South East Asia. Fight for them! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkySunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
Appearance & Behaviour
Here are some quirky facts about Sunda Pangolins which demonstrate their reign as one of the most fascinating creatures in the entire animal kingdom:
- Walking on the ceiling: Sunda pangolins have an interesting way of moving about. When they are on the ground, they walk on their hind legs with their forelimbs curled upwards. This peculiar method of locomotion is commonly referred to as the “upside-down walk.”
- Defensive and protective curl: When Sunda pangolins feel threatened, they have a unique defense mechanism. They curl up into a tight ball, using their scales as a protective armor. This posture makes it incredibly challenging for predators to attack them effectively.
- Consummate Insectivores: Sunda pangolins have an exceptionally specialised diet. They are insectivores, primarily feeding on ants and termites. Their long, sticky tongues, which can be longer than their body length, allow them to probe deep into termite mounds and anthills to extract their prey.
- Their scales vibrate: Sunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
- They have no teeth: Unlike most #mammals, Sunda pangolins lack teeth. However, they possess a muscular stomach and a unique adaptation known as a gizzard-like structure. They swallow small stones or grit, which aids in grinding up their insect prey within the digestive system.
- They have a slow Metabolism: Sunda pangolins have a relatively slow metabolism, which contributes to their low energy requirements. This metabolic trait allows them to survive on a diet consisting mainly of insects, which provide them with the necessary nutrients and energy.
- Their unusual digestive system: The digestive system of Sunda pangolins is adapted to handle their specialised diet. It features a long and complex intestine to maximize nutrient absorption, enabling them to extract as many nutrients as possible from the insects they consume.
Threats
Sunda Pangolins are heavily threatened and are now critically endangered. Their main threat is from hunting and poaching for local and international use. Their secondary threat is habitat destruction across their range for palm oil, timber and other crops.
- Demand comes from China and Vietnam: this drives the illegal trade in poaching, involving large quantities of live and dead animals, meat, and scales. Sophisticated trade routes exist over land and sea, contributing to the decline of Sunda Pangolin populations.
- Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia: accelerates poaching with increased access to animals from deforestation activities.
- Indonesia is a major source of illegal exports: involving live pangolins and meat, especially since 2000.
- Pangolin meat is consumed as a luxury product: in high-end urban restaurants, and scales are used in traditional medicine.
- Illegal trade is supported by insufficient legal protection in SE Asia.
- Snaring, accidental mortality, and injuries pose risks due to pervasive hunting practices in South East Asia.
Take action to protect the Sunda Pangolin and their habitat and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.
Habitat
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are found across Southeast Asia. Their range includes countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
In terms of habitat, Sunda pangolins prefer forested environments, including primary, secondary, and scrub forests. They can also be found in plantations such as rubber and palm oil plantations. These pangolins have adapted to spend a significant portion of their lives in trees, making use of their prehensile tails for climbing.
Diet
Sunda pangolins primarily feed on ants and termites, making them insectivores. Their diet consists mainly of these small invertebrates. They use their long, sticky tongues to probe into termite mounds and ant hills, collecting the insects as their main source of sustenance. The lack of teeth in pangolins is compensated by their specialised tongues and digestive system, which are well-adapted to consuming large amounts of ants and termites. This diet of ants and termites provides the necessary nutrients and energy for Sunda pangolins to thrive in their natural habitats.
Mating and breeding
Pangolins are fascinating creatures that give birth to one or two offspring annually. Their breeding season takes place in autumn, and females carefully select winter burrows where they give birth. They prefer mature forest tree hollows for added fortification and stability during the birthing and nurturing process.
Parental care lasts for about three months, during which the mother’s range significantly decreases as she travels and forages alongside her young. Only in the weeks before the offspring becomes independent, brief bursts of diurnal activity may be observed. Pangolins are typically solitary and nocturnal, using their ability to roll into protective balls to safeguard their vulnerable underparts when feeling threatened.
They are skilled diggers, creating burrows lined with vegetation near termite mounds and ant nests for insulation. Sunda pangolins are believed to engage in polygynous breeding, with males mating with multiple females.
The gestation period lasts around 130 days, and newborn pangolins have soft scales that harden shortly after birth. Weighing between 100 to 500 grams, the young are nursed by the females for three months, who display strong protective behaviour. During their travels and foraging, the baby pangolins often ride on their mother’s tail, and when danger looms, the mother instinctively curls up into a tight ball, providing a secure haven for her young.
Support Sunda Pangolins by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Challender, D., Willcox, D.H.A., Panjang, E., Lim, N., Nash, H., Heinrich, S. & Chong, J. 2019. Manis javanica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12763A123584856. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12763A123584856.en. Accessed on 02 June 2023.
Sunda Pangolin on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_pangolin
Sunda Pangolin on Animalia.bio – https://animalia.bio/sunda-pangolin
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,528 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #Cambodia #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Laos #Malaysia #Mammal #mammals #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #singapore #Sunda #SundaPangolinManisJavanica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #Thailand #vegan #Vietnam
-
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Extant (resident): Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Singapore; Thailand; Viet Nam
Presence Uncertain: China
Sunda #pangolins, also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolins, possess quirky traits that make them truly intriguing. They are capable swimmers and have a remarkable defense mechanism of curling into a protective ball, walk in an upside-down manner, and communicate through scale vibrations. As consummate insectivores, they rely on their long, sticky tongues to extract ants and termites from mounds. These pangolins have a slow metabolism, lack teeth but have a gizzard-like structure, and feature a specialised digestive system. To protect these unique creatures and their habitat, it’s crucial to take action. Join the movement and raise awareness about their primary threat #poaching and also by boycotting palm oil, which is also contributing towards their demise and putting them at risk of extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket
Sunda #Pangolins have no teeth and their scales vibrate to help them communicate. They’re critically #endangered due to #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🔥🙊🚫 and #poaching in #Indonesia and #Malaysia. Help them when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyFascinating #Sunda #Pangolins curl up like #pokemons 🏀🤯 to evade predators. They’re facing #extinction due to rampant #palmoil #deforestation and #poaching in South East Asia. Fight for them! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkySunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
Appearance & Behaviour
Here are some quirky facts about Sunda Pangolins which demonstrate their reign as one of the most fascinating creatures in the entire animal kingdom:
- Walking on the ceiling: Sunda pangolins have an interesting way of moving about. When they are on the ground, they walk on their hind legs with their forelimbs curled upwards. This peculiar method of locomotion is commonly referred to as the “upside-down walk.”
- Defensive and protective curl: When Sunda pangolins feel threatened, they have a unique defense mechanism. They curl up into a tight ball, using their scales as a protective armor. This posture makes it incredibly challenging for predators to attack them effectively.
- Consummate Insectivores: Sunda pangolins have an exceptionally specialised diet. They are insectivores, primarily feeding on ants and termites. Their long, sticky tongues, which can be longer than their body length, allow them to probe deep into termite mounds and anthills to extract their prey.
- Their scales vibrate: Sunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
- They have no teeth: Unlike most #mammals, Sunda pangolins lack teeth. However, they possess a muscular stomach and a unique adaptation known as a gizzard-like structure. They swallow small stones or grit, which aids in grinding up their insect prey within the digestive system.
- They have a slow Metabolism: Sunda pangolins have a relatively slow metabolism, which contributes to their low energy requirements. This metabolic trait allows them to survive on a diet consisting mainly of insects, which provide them with the necessary nutrients and energy.
- Their unusual digestive system: The digestive system of Sunda pangolins is adapted to handle their specialised diet. It features a long and complex intestine to maximize nutrient absorption, enabling them to extract as many nutrients as possible from the insects they consume.
Threats
Sunda Pangolins are heavily threatened and are now critically endangered. Their main threat is from hunting and poaching for local and international use. Their secondary threat is habitat destruction across their range for palm oil, timber and other crops.
- Demand comes from China and Vietnam: this drives the illegal trade in poaching, involving large quantities of live and dead animals, meat, and scales. Sophisticated trade routes exist over land and sea, contributing to the decline of Sunda Pangolin populations.
- Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia: accelerates poaching with increased access to animals from deforestation activities.
- Indonesia is a major source of illegal exports: involving live pangolins and meat, especially since 2000.
- Pangolin meat is consumed as a luxury product: in high-end urban restaurants, and scales are used in traditional medicine.
- Illegal trade is supported by insufficient legal protection in SE Asia.
- Snaring, accidental mortality, and injuries pose risks due to pervasive hunting practices in South East Asia.
Take action to protect the Sunda Pangolin and their habitat and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.
Habitat
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are found across Southeast Asia. Their range includes countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
In terms of habitat, Sunda pangolins prefer forested environments, including primary, secondary, and scrub forests. They can also be found in plantations such as rubber and palm oil plantations. These pangolins have adapted to spend a significant portion of their lives in trees, making use of their prehensile tails for climbing.
Diet
Sunda pangolins primarily feed on ants and termites, making them insectivores. Their diet consists mainly of these small invertebrates. They use their long, sticky tongues to probe into termite mounds and ant hills, collecting the insects as their main source of sustenance. The lack of teeth in pangolins is compensated by their specialised tongues and digestive system, which are well-adapted to consuming large amounts of ants and termites. This diet of ants and termites provides the necessary nutrients and energy for Sunda pangolins to thrive in their natural habitats.
Mating and breeding
Pangolins are fascinating creatures that give birth to one or two offspring annually. Their breeding season takes place in autumn, and females carefully select winter burrows where they give birth. They prefer mature forest tree hollows for added fortification and stability during the birthing and nurturing process.
Parental care lasts for about three months, during which the mother’s range significantly decreases as she travels and forages alongside her young. Only in the weeks before the offspring becomes independent, brief bursts of diurnal activity may be observed. Pangolins are typically solitary and nocturnal, using their ability to roll into protective balls to safeguard their vulnerable underparts when feeling threatened.
They are skilled diggers, creating burrows lined with vegetation near termite mounds and ant nests for insulation. Sunda pangolins are believed to engage in polygynous breeding, with males mating with multiple females.
The gestation period lasts around 130 days, and newborn pangolins have soft scales that harden shortly after birth. Weighing between 100 to 500 grams, the young are nursed by the females for three months, who display strong protective behaviour. During their travels and foraging, the baby pangolins often ride on their mother’s tail, and when danger looms, the mother instinctively curls up into a tight ball, providing a secure haven for her young.
Support Sunda Pangolins by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Challender, D., Willcox, D.H.A., Panjang, E., Lim, N., Nash, H., Heinrich, S. & Chong, J. 2019. Manis javanica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12763A123584856. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12763A123584856.en. Accessed on 02 June 2023.
Sunda Pangolin on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_pangolin
Sunda Pangolin on Animalia.bio – https://animalia.bio/sunda-pangolin
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,528 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #Cambodia #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Laos #Malaysia #Mammal #mammals #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #singapore #Sunda #SundaPangolinManisJavanica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #Thailand #vegan #Vietnam
-
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Extant (resident): Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Singapore; Thailand; Viet Nam
Presence Uncertain: China
Sunda #pangolins, also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolins, possess quirky traits that make them truly intriguing. They are capable swimmers and have a remarkable defense mechanism of curling into a protective ball, walk in an upside-down manner, and communicate through scale vibrations. As consummate insectivores, they rely on their long, sticky tongues to extract ants and termites from mounds. These pangolins have a slow metabolism, lack teeth but have a gizzard-like structure, and feature a specialised digestive system. To protect these unique creatures and their habitat, it’s crucial to take action. Join the movement and raise awareness about their primary threat #poaching and also by boycotting palm oil, which is also contributing towards their demise and putting them at risk of extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket
Sunda #Pangolins have no teeth and their scales vibrate to help them communicate. They’re critically #endangered due to #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🔥🙊🚫 and #poaching in #Indonesia and #Malaysia. Help them when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyFascinating #Sunda #Pangolins curl up like #pokemons 🏀🤯 to evade predators. They’re facing #extinction due to rampant #palmoil #deforestation and #poaching in South East Asia. Fight for them! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkySunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
Appearance & Behaviour
Here are some quirky facts about Sunda Pangolins which demonstrate their reign as one of the most fascinating creatures in the entire animal kingdom:
- Walking on the ceiling: Sunda pangolins have an interesting way of moving about. When they are on the ground, they walk on their hind legs with their forelimbs curled upwards. This peculiar method of locomotion is commonly referred to as the “upside-down walk.”
- Defensive and protective curl: When Sunda pangolins feel threatened, they have a unique defense mechanism. They curl up into a tight ball, using their scales as a protective armor. This posture makes it incredibly challenging for predators to attack them effectively.
- Consummate Insectivores: Sunda pangolins have an exceptionally specialised diet. They are insectivores, primarily feeding on ants and termites. Their long, sticky tongues, which can be longer than their body length, allow them to probe deep into termite mounds and anthills to extract their prey.
- Their scales vibrate: Sunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
- They have no teeth: Unlike most #mammals, Sunda pangolins lack teeth. However, they possess a muscular stomach and a unique adaptation known as a gizzard-like structure. They swallow small stones or grit, which aids in grinding up their insect prey within the digestive system.
- They have a slow Metabolism: Sunda pangolins have a relatively slow metabolism, which contributes to their low energy requirements. This metabolic trait allows them to survive on a diet consisting mainly of insects, which provide them with the necessary nutrients and energy.
- Their unusual digestive system: The digestive system of Sunda pangolins is adapted to handle their specialised diet. It features a long and complex intestine to maximize nutrient absorption, enabling them to extract as many nutrients as possible from the insects they consume.
Threats
Sunda Pangolins are heavily threatened and are now critically endangered. Their main threat is from hunting and poaching for local and international use. Their secondary threat is habitat destruction across their range for palm oil, timber and other crops.
- Demand comes from China and Vietnam: this drives the illegal trade in poaching, involving large quantities of live and dead animals, meat, and scales. Sophisticated trade routes exist over land and sea, contributing to the decline of Sunda Pangolin populations.
- Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia: accelerates poaching with increased access to animals from deforestation activities.
- Indonesia is a major source of illegal exports: involving live pangolins and meat, especially since 2000.
- Pangolin meat is consumed as a luxury product: in high-end urban restaurants, and scales are used in traditional medicine.
- Illegal trade is supported by insufficient legal protection in SE Asia.
- Snaring, accidental mortality, and injuries pose risks due to pervasive hunting practices in South East Asia.
Take action to protect the Sunda Pangolin and their habitat and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.
Habitat
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are found across Southeast Asia. Their range includes countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
In terms of habitat, Sunda pangolins prefer forested environments, including primary, secondary, and scrub forests. They can also be found in plantations such as rubber and palm oil plantations. These pangolins have adapted to spend a significant portion of their lives in trees, making use of their prehensile tails for climbing.
Diet
Sunda pangolins primarily feed on ants and termites, making them insectivores. Their diet consists mainly of these small invertebrates. They use their long, sticky tongues to probe into termite mounds and ant hills, collecting the insects as their main source of sustenance. The lack of teeth in pangolins is compensated by their specialised tongues and digestive system, which are well-adapted to consuming large amounts of ants and termites. This diet of ants and termites provides the necessary nutrients and energy for Sunda pangolins to thrive in their natural habitats.
Mating and breeding
Pangolins are fascinating creatures that give birth to one or two offspring annually. Their breeding season takes place in autumn, and females carefully select winter burrows where they give birth. They prefer mature forest tree hollows for added fortification and stability during the birthing and nurturing process.
Parental care lasts for about three months, during which the mother’s range significantly decreases as she travels and forages alongside her young. Only in the weeks before the offspring becomes independent, brief bursts of diurnal activity may be observed. Pangolins are typically solitary and nocturnal, using their ability to roll into protective balls to safeguard their vulnerable underparts when feeling threatened.
They are skilled diggers, creating burrows lined with vegetation near termite mounds and ant nests for insulation. Sunda pangolins are believed to engage in polygynous breeding, with males mating with multiple females.
The gestation period lasts around 130 days, and newborn pangolins have soft scales that harden shortly after birth. Weighing between 100 to 500 grams, the young are nursed by the females for three months, who display strong protective behaviour. During their travels and foraging, the baby pangolins often ride on their mother’s tail, and when danger looms, the mother instinctively curls up into a tight ball, providing a secure haven for her young.
Support Sunda Pangolins by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Challender, D., Willcox, D.H.A., Panjang, E., Lim, N., Nash, H., Heinrich, S. & Chong, J. 2019. Manis javanica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12763A123584856. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12763A123584856.en. Accessed on 02 June 2023.
Sunda Pangolin on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_pangolin
Sunda Pangolin on Animalia.bio – https://animalia.bio/sunda-pangolin
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,528 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #Cambodia #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Laos #Malaysia #Mammal #mammals #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #singapore #Sunda #SundaPangolinManisJavanica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #Thailand #vegan #Vietnam
-
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica
IUCN Status: Critically Endangered
Extant (resident): Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; Indonesia; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Malaysia; Myanmar; Singapore; Thailand; Viet Nam
Presence Uncertain: China
Sunda #pangolins, also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolins, possess quirky traits that make them truly intriguing. They are capable swimmers and have a remarkable defense mechanism of curling into a protective ball, walk in an upside-down manner, and communicate through scale vibrations. As consummate insectivores, they rely on their long, sticky tongues to extract ants and termites from mounds. These pangolins have a slow metabolism, lack teeth but have a gizzard-like structure, and feature a specialised digestive system. To protect these unique creatures and their habitat, it’s crucial to take action. Join the movement and raise awareness about their primary threat #poaching and also by boycotting palm oil, which is also contributing towards their demise and putting them at risk of extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #Boycottpalmoil and #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket
Sunda #Pangolins have no teeth and their scales vibrate to help them communicate. They’re critically #endangered due to #palmoil #deforestation 🌴🔥🙊🚫 and #poaching in #Indonesia and #Malaysia. Help them when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyFascinating #Sunda #Pangolins curl up like #pokemons 🏀🤯 to evade predators. They’re facing #extinction due to rampant #palmoil #deforestation and #poaching in South East Asia. Fight for them! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🪔🩸💀⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/07/16/tbc-sunda-pangolin-manis-javanica/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkySunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
Appearance & Behaviour
Here are some quirky facts about Sunda Pangolins which demonstrate their reign as one of the most fascinating creatures in the entire animal kingdom:
- Walking on the ceiling: Sunda pangolins have an interesting way of moving about. When they are on the ground, they walk on their hind legs with their forelimbs curled upwards. This peculiar method of locomotion is commonly referred to as the “upside-down walk.”
- Defensive and protective curl: When Sunda pangolins feel threatened, they have a unique defense mechanism. They curl up into a tight ball, using their scales as a protective armor. This posture makes it incredibly challenging for predators to attack them effectively.
- Consummate Insectivores: Sunda pangolins have an exceptionally specialised diet. They are insectivores, primarily feeding on ants and termites. Their long, sticky tongues, which can be longer than their body length, allow them to probe deep into termite mounds and anthills to extract their prey.
- Their scales vibrate: Sunda pangolins use a fascinating behaviour called “scale vibrations” to communicate with each other. By contracting and relaxing their muscles, they create subtle vibrations that can be sensed by other pangolins through their scales. These vibrations likely play a role in social interactions and mate selection.
- They have no teeth: Unlike most #mammals, Sunda pangolins lack teeth. However, they possess a muscular stomach and a unique adaptation known as a gizzard-like structure. They swallow small stones or grit, which aids in grinding up their insect prey within the digestive system.
- They have a slow Metabolism: Sunda pangolins have a relatively slow metabolism, which contributes to their low energy requirements. This metabolic trait allows them to survive on a diet consisting mainly of insects, which provide them with the necessary nutrients and energy.
- Their unusual digestive system: The digestive system of Sunda pangolins is adapted to handle their specialised diet. It features a long and complex intestine to maximize nutrient absorption, enabling them to extract as many nutrients as possible from the insects they consume.
Threats
Sunda Pangolins are heavily threatened and are now critically endangered. Their main threat is from hunting and poaching for local and international use. Their secondary threat is habitat destruction across their range for palm oil, timber and other crops.
- Demand comes from China and Vietnam: this drives the illegal trade in poaching, involving large quantities of live and dead animals, meat, and scales. Sophisticated trade routes exist over land and sea, contributing to the decline of Sunda Pangolin populations.
- Palm oil deforestation in Indonesia and Malaysia: accelerates poaching with increased access to animals from deforestation activities.
- Indonesia is a major source of illegal exports: involving live pangolins and meat, especially since 2000.
- Pangolin meat is consumed as a luxury product: in high-end urban restaurants, and scales are used in traditional medicine.
- Illegal trade is supported by insufficient legal protection in SE Asia.
- Snaring, accidental mortality, and injuries pose risks due to pervasive hunting practices in South East Asia.
Take action to protect the Sunda Pangolin and their habitat and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket.
Habitat
Sunda pangolins (Manis javanica) are found across Southeast Asia. Their range includes countries such as Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, and the Lesser Sunda Islands.
In terms of habitat, Sunda pangolins prefer forested environments, including primary, secondary, and scrub forests. They can also be found in plantations such as rubber and palm oil plantations. These pangolins have adapted to spend a significant portion of their lives in trees, making use of their prehensile tails for climbing.
Diet
Sunda pangolins primarily feed on ants and termites, making them insectivores. Their diet consists mainly of these small invertebrates. They use their long, sticky tongues to probe into termite mounds and ant hills, collecting the insects as their main source of sustenance. The lack of teeth in pangolins is compensated by their specialised tongues and digestive system, which are well-adapted to consuming large amounts of ants and termites. This diet of ants and termites provides the necessary nutrients and energy for Sunda pangolins to thrive in their natural habitats.
Mating and breeding
Pangolins are fascinating creatures that give birth to one or two offspring annually. Their breeding season takes place in autumn, and females carefully select winter burrows where they give birth. They prefer mature forest tree hollows for added fortification and stability during the birthing and nurturing process.
Parental care lasts for about three months, during which the mother’s range significantly decreases as she travels and forages alongside her young. Only in the weeks before the offspring becomes independent, brief bursts of diurnal activity may be observed. Pangolins are typically solitary and nocturnal, using their ability to roll into protective balls to safeguard their vulnerable underparts when feeling threatened.
They are skilled diggers, creating burrows lined with vegetation near termite mounds and ant nests for insulation. Sunda pangolins are believed to engage in polygynous breeding, with males mating with multiple females.
The gestation period lasts around 130 days, and newborn pangolins have soft scales that harden shortly after birth. Weighing between 100 to 500 grams, the young are nursed by the females for three months, who display strong protective behaviour. During their travels and foraging, the baby pangolins often ride on their mother’s tail, and when danger looms, the mother instinctively curls up into a tight ball, providing a secure haven for her young.
Support Sunda Pangolins by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Challender, D., Willcox, D.H.A., Panjang, E., Lim, N., Nash, H., Heinrich, S. & Chong, J. 2019. Manis javanica. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12763A123584856. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12763A123584856.en. Accessed on 02 June 2023.
Sunda Pangolin on Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunda_pangolin
Sunda Pangolin on Animalia.bio – https://animalia.bio/sunda-pangolin
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
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Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Brunei #Cambodia #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #Indonesia #Laos #Malaysia #Mammal #mammals #mining #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #singapore #Sunda #SundaPangolinManisJavanica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #Thailand #vegan #Vietnam
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Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Vulnerable
Extant (resident): Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Central African Republic; Chad; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Possibly Extant (resident): Congo
Possibly Extinct: Eswatini
The Temminck’s pangolin Smutsia temminckii is remarkable mammal. They are the second largest of the pangolin species and are reported to weigh between 12.5kg and 21 kilograms. They’re famous for their armour-like keratinous scales and their unique ability to curl into a protective ball when threatened. These elusive creatures are found in the savannahs and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa and are essential to their ecosystem, controlling insect populations. The word pangolin comes from the Malay word “pengguling” meaning something that rolls up. Owing to their secretive nature and low densities, little is known about the pangolin. The species is killed primarily for Chinese medicine, even though their keratin scales have no medicinal value. All pangolins face a grave threat from trafficking for their meat and scales. Tragically, they are one of the most illegally traded mammals in the world.
Despite their ecological and cultural importance, Temminck’s pangolins are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss from palm oil, cocoa and coffee agricultural expansion and mining further compounds their decline. Protect these unique creatures by boycotting palm oil and supporting strong anti-trafficking initiatives. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The Temminck’s #pangolin is #vulnerable in Tanzania 🇹🇿 #Congo 🇨🇩 #Uganda 🇺🇬 from #poaching for their scales and meat along with #palmoil 🌴🤮 #tobacco 🚬🚭#deforestation. Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🔥⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterRemarkable, secretive and gentle Temminck #Pangolins are living Poké Balls, who curl into a ball when threatened. They’re #vulnerable from the illegal #wildlife trade #palmoil and more. Help them #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🙊🔥☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterSpecies of pangolin are the most trafficked species in the world. Although deforestation is another major threat. The range of the Temminck’s Pangolins are increasingly threatened by shifting agriculture, small-holder farming and agro-industry farming. These farming practices are directly impacting pangolins through habitat loss and alteration, while the increased human presence in these previously undisturbed areas is resulting in increased levels of poaching.
IUCN Red List
Appearance and Behaviour
Temminck’s pangolins are medium-sized mammals with an average weight of 7–12 kg and a total length of approximately 90 cm, including their tail. Their overlapping, golden-brown scales, made of keratin (the same material as human fingernails), are a defining feature. These scales provide formidable protection against predators, allowing pangolins to roll into an impenetrable ball when threatened.
They are primarily nocturnal, foraging at night for ants and termites using their acute sense of smell. Their long, sticky tongues can extend deep into termite mounds, while their sharp claws are used to tear open nests. They exhibit a distinctive bipedal gait, walking on their hind legs while keeping their forelimbs off the ground.
A 2014 study revealed that Temminck’s pangolins exhibit home ranges that vary significantly based on habitat type, with individuals travelling several kilometres in search of food. This makes habitat loss and fragmentation particularly detrimental to their survival.
Threats
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Illegal Wildlife Trade:
Temminck’s pangolins are heavily trafficked for their scales and meat, particularly for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Research indicates that their scales are wrongly believed to have healing properties, fuelling a devastating global black market.
Palm oil, tobacco and mining deforestation:
Agricultural expansion for palm oil, meat, tobacco and other commodities as well as mining destroys the habitats pangolins rely on. The savannahs and woodlands they inhabit are increasingly converted for human use.
Bycatch and Accidental Capture:
The 2014 study on anthropogenic threats found that Temminck’s pangolins are frequently killed accidentally in snares set for other wildlife. This unintended bycatch adds to their declining populations.
Climate Change:
Altered rainfall patterns and rising temperatures due to climate change, disrupt termite and ant populations, leading to reduced food availability for pangolins.
Low Reproductive Rates:
With only one offspring per year, Temminck’s pangolins are particularly vulnerable to population declines, as they cannot replenish their population quickly.
Geographic Range
Temminck’s pangolins inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, with populations found in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia. They thrive in savannahs and woodlands, favouring areas with abundant ant and termite populations.
Studies indicate their preference for regions with sandy soils, which make burrowing easier, and their dependence on undisturbed habitats highlights the critical need for protected areas. However, human activities increasingly encroach on these regions, limiting their available range.
Diet
Temminck’s pangolins are specialised insectivores, feeding almost exclusively on ants and termites. They consume millions of insects annually, making them essential for regulating insect populations and maintaining ecological balance.
Their foraging behaviour is influenced by the availability of prey, with pangolins often targeting specific ant and termite species. The destruction of termite mounds through land clearing and agriculture severely impacts their food sources, leading to nutritional stress.
Reproduction and Mating
Reproductive rates in Temminck’s pangolins are low, with females typically giving birth to a single offspring per year. After a gestation period of approximately 140 days, mothers care for their young by carrying them on their tails or backs. They often use the burrows of other animals including aardvarks and aardwolves.
The young pangolins’ soft scales harden within a few days of birth, providing protection. Maternal care is critical during the early months, as juveniles depend on their mothers for food and safety. Males do not participate in rearing the young, and populations are highly sensitive to poaching due to their slow reproductive cycles.
Human Perceptions of Temminck’s Pangolins
Temminck’s pangolins hold mixed perceptions among humans. A 2014 review of anthropogenic threats highlighted cultural beliefs in southern Africa where pangolins are revered as symbols of luck and rain. In contrast, others view them as commodities, hunted for their scales and meat.
The study also revealed that many rural communities are unaware of pangolins’ ecological importance in controlling insect populations. Conservation efforts are increasingly focused on educating these communities about the role pangolins play in maintaining ecosystem balance, with the goal of fostering coexistence and reducing poaching and exploitation.
Take Action!
Help protect Temminck’s pangolins by supporting organisations working to combat illegal wildlife trade and habitat destruction. Boycott palm oil and raise awareness of their plight. Use your voice to fight for their survival and ensure future generations can marvel at these extraordinary creatures. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Support this beautiful animal
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Further Information
Pangolin Specialist Group. (n.d.). Temminck’s Pangolin. IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R. & Connelly, E. 2019. Smutsia temminckii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12765A123585768. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12765A123585768.en. Downloaded on 06 June 2021.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R., Swart, J., Panaino, W., Kotze, A., Rankin, P., & Nebe, B. (2020). Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). In Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes, 175–193.
Pietersen, D., McKechnie, A. E., & Jansen, R. (2014). A Review of the Anthropogenic Threats Faced by Temminck’s Ground Pangolin, Smutsia temminckii, in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 44(2), 167–178.
Sabashau, K., Utete, B., Madlamoto, D., Ngwenya, N., & Madamombe, H. (2024). Ecology, Status, and Distribution of Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in Hwange National Park. Wildlife Letters, 2(17–22).
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,396 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Africa #Angola #Botswana #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Congo #Ethiopia #Kenya #Mammal #palmoil #pangolin #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #Rwanda #SouthAfrica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #tobacco #Uganda #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #wildlife
-
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Vulnerable
Extant (resident): Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Central African Republic; Chad; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Possibly Extant (resident): Congo
Possibly Extinct: Eswatini
The Temminck’s pangolin Smutsia temminckii is remarkable mammal. They are the second largest of the pangolin species and are reported to weigh between 12.5kg and 21 kilograms. They’re famous for their armour-like keratinous scales and their unique ability to curl into a protective ball when threatened. These elusive creatures are found in the savannahs and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa and are essential to their ecosystem, controlling insect populations. The word pangolin comes from the Malay word “pengguling” meaning something that rolls up. Owing to their secretive nature and low densities, little is known about the pangolin. The species is killed primarily for Chinese medicine, even though their keratin scales have no medicinal value. All pangolins face a grave threat from trafficking for their meat and scales. Tragically, they are one of the most illegally traded mammals in the world.
Despite their ecological and cultural importance, Temminck’s pangolins are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss from palm oil, cocoa and coffee agricultural expansion and mining further compounds their decline. Protect these unique creatures by boycotting palm oil and supporting strong anti-trafficking initiatives. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The Temminck’s #pangolin is #vulnerable in Tanzania 🇹🇿 #Congo 🇨🇩 #Uganda 🇺🇬 from #poaching for their scales and meat along with #palmoil 🌴🤮 #tobacco 🚬🚭#deforestation. Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🔥⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterRemarkable, secretive and gentle Temminck #Pangolins are living Poké Balls, who curl into a ball when threatened. They’re #vulnerable from the illegal #wildlife trade #palmoil and more. Help them #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🙊🔥☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterSpecies of pangolin are the most trafficked species in the world. Although deforestation is another major threat. The range of the Temminck’s Pangolins are increasingly threatened by shifting agriculture, small-holder farming and agro-industry farming. These farming practices are directly impacting pangolins through habitat loss and alteration, while the increased human presence in these previously undisturbed areas is resulting in increased levels of poaching.
IUCN Red List
Appearance and Behaviour
Temminck’s pangolins are medium-sized mammals with an average weight of 7–12 kg and a total length of approximately 90 cm, including their tail. Their overlapping, golden-brown scales, made of keratin (the same material as human fingernails), are a defining feature. These scales provide formidable protection against predators, allowing pangolins to roll into an impenetrable ball when threatened.
They are primarily nocturnal, foraging at night for ants and termites using their acute sense of smell. Their long, sticky tongues can extend deep into termite mounds, while their sharp claws are used to tear open nests. They exhibit a distinctive bipedal gait, walking on their hind legs while keeping their forelimbs off the ground.
A 2014 study revealed that Temminck’s pangolins exhibit home ranges that vary significantly based on habitat type, with individuals travelling several kilometres in search of food. This makes habitat loss and fragmentation particularly detrimental to their survival.
Threats
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Illegal Wildlife Trade:
Temminck’s pangolins are heavily trafficked for their scales and meat, particularly for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Research indicates that their scales are wrongly believed to have healing properties, fuelling a devastating global black market.
Palm oil, tobacco and mining deforestation:
Agricultural expansion for palm oil, meat, tobacco and other commodities as well as mining destroys the habitats pangolins rely on. The savannahs and woodlands they inhabit are increasingly converted for human use.
Bycatch and Accidental Capture:
The 2014 study on anthropogenic threats found that Temminck’s pangolins are frequently killed accidentally in snares set for other wildlife. This unintended bycatch adds to their declining populations.
Climate Change:
Altered rainfall patterns and rising temperatures due to climate change, disrupt termite and ant populations, leading to reduced food availability for pangolins.
Low Reproductive Rates:
With only one offspring per year, Temminck’s pangolins are particularly vulnerable to population declines, as they cannot replenish their population quickly.
Geographic Range
Temminck’s pangolins inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, with populations found in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia. They thrive in savannahs and woodlands, favouring areas with abundant ant and termite populations.
Studies indicate their preference for regions with sandy soils, which make burrowing easier, and their dependence on undisturbed habitats highlights the critical need for protected areas. However, human activities increasingly encroach on these regions, limiting their available range.
Diet
Temminck’s pangolins are specialised insectivores, feeding almost exclusively on ants and termites. They consume millions of insects annually, making them essential for regulating insect populations and maintaining ecological balance.
Their foraging behaviour is influenced by the availability of prey, with pangolins often targeting specific ant and termite species. The destruction of termite mounds through land clearing and agriculture severely impacts their food sources, leading to nutritional stress.
Reproduction and Mating
Reproductive rates in Temminck’s pangolins are low, with females typically giving birth to a single offspring per year. After a gestation period of approximately 140 days, mothers care for their young by carrying them on their tails or backs. They often use the burrows of other animals including aardvarks and aardwolves.
The young pangolins’ soft scales harden within a few days of birth, providing protection. Maternal care is critical during the early months, as juveniles depend on their mothers for food and safety. Males do not participate in rearing the young, and populations are highly sensitive to poaching due to their slow reproductive cycles.
Human Perceptions of Temminck’s Pangolins
Temminck’s pangolins hold mixed perceptions among humans. A 2014 review of anthropogenic threats highlighted cultural beliefs in southern Africa where pangolins are revered as symbols of luck and rain. In contrast, others view them as commodities, hunted for their scales and meat.
The study also revealed that many rural communities are unaware of pangolins’ ecological importance in controlling insect populations. Conservation efforts are increasingly focused on educating these communities about the role pangolins play in maintaining ecosystem balance, with the goal of fostering coexistence and reducing poaching and exploitation.
Take Action!
Help protect Temminck’s pangolins by supporting organisations working to combat illegal wildlife trade and habitat destruction. Boycott palm oil and raise awareness of their plight. Use your voice to fight for their survival and ensure future generations can marvel at these extraordinary creatures. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Support this beautiful animal
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Further Information
Pangolin Specialist Group. (n.d.). Temminck’s Pangolin. IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R. & Connelly, E. 2019. Smutsia temminckii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12765A123585768. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12765A123585768.en. Downloaded on 06 June 2021.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R., Swart, J., Panaino, W., Kotze, A., Rankin, P., & Nebe, B. (2020). Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). In Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes, 175–193.
Pietersen, D., McKechnie, A. E., & Jansen, R. (2014). A Review of the Anthropogenic Threats Faced by Temminck’s Ground Pangolin, Smutsia temminckii, in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 44(2), 167–178.
Sabashau, K., Utete, B., Madlamoto, D., Ngwenya, N., & Madamombe, H. (2024). Ecology, Status, and Distribution of Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in Hwange National Park. Wildlife Letters, 2(17–22).
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,396 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Africa #Angola #Botswana #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #Congo #Ethiopia #Kenya #Mammal #palmoil #pangolin #Pangolins #poaching #pokemon #pokemons #Rwanda #SouthAfrica #TemminckSPangolinSmutsiaTemminckii #tobacco #Uganda #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies #wildlife
-
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
Vulnerable
Extant (resident): Angola; Botswana; Burundi; Central African Republic; Chad; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Rwanda; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Possibly Extant (resident): Congo
Possibly Extinct: Eswatini
The Temminck’s pangolin Smutsia temminckii is remarkable mammal. They are the second largest of the pangolin species and are reported to weigh between 12.5kg and 21 kilograms. They’re famous for their armour-like keratinous scales and their unique ability to curl into a protective ball when threatened. These elusive creatures are found in the savannahs and woodlands of sub-Saharan Africa and are essential to their ecosystem, controlling insect populations. The word pangolin comes from the Malay word “pengguling” meaning something that rolls up. Owing to their secretive nature and low densities, little is known about the pangolin. The species is killed primarily for Chinese medicine, even though their keratin scales have no medicinal value. All pangolins face a grave threat from trafficking for their meat and scales. Tragically, they are one of the most illegally traded mammals in the world.
Despite their ecological and cultural importance, Temminck’s pangolins are increasingly threatened by habitat destruction and illegal wildlife trade. Habitat loss from palm oil, cocoa and coffee agricultural expansion and mining further compounds their decline. Protect these unique creatures by boycotting palm oil and supporting strong anti-trafficking initiatives. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The Temminck’s #pangolin is #vulnerable in Tanzania 🇹🇿 #Congo 🇨🇩 #Uganda 🇺🇬 from #poaching for their scales and meat along with #palmoil 🌴🤮 #tobacco 🚬🚭#deforestation. Help them survive when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🔥⛔️#Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterRemarkable, secretive and gentle Temminck #Pangolins are living Poké Balls, who curl into a ball when threatened. They’re #vulnerable from the illegal #wildlife trade #palmoil and more. Help them #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🙊🔥☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/08/21/temmincks-pangolin-smutsia-temminckii/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterSpecies of pangolin are the most trafficked species in the world. Although deforestation is another major threat. The range of the Temminck’s Pangolins are increasingly threatened by shifting agriculture, small-holder farming and agro-industry farming. These farming practices are directly impacting pangolins through habitat loss and alteration, while the increased human presence in these previously undisturbed areas is resulting in increased levels of poaching.
IUCN Red List
Appearance and Behaviour
Temminck’s pangolins are medium-sized mammals with an average weight of 7–12 kg and a total length of approximately 90 cm, including their tail. Their overlapping, golden-brown scales, made of keratin (the same material as human fingernails), are a defining feature. These scales provide formidable protection against predators, allowing pangolins to roll into an impenetrable ball when threatened.
They are primarily nocturnal, foraging at night for ants and termites using their acute sense of smell. Their long, sticky tongues can extend deep into termite mounds, while their sharp claws are used to tear open nests. They exhibit a distinctive bipedal gait, walking on their hind legs while keeping their forelimbs off the ground.
A 2014 study revealed that Temminck’s pangolins exhibit home ranges that vary significantly based on habitat type, with individuals travelling several kilometres in search of food. This makes habitat loss and fragmentation particularly detrimental to their survival.
Threats
IUCN Status: Vulnerable
Illegal Wildlife Trade:
Temminck’s pangolins are heavily trafficked for their scales and meat, particularly for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Research indicates that their scales are wrongly believed to have healing properties, fuelling a devastating global black market.
Palm oil, tobacco and mining deforestation:
Agricultural expansion for palm oil, meat, tobacco and other commodities as well as mining destroys the habitats pangolins rely on. The savannahs and woodlands they inhabit are increasingly converted for human use.
Bycatch and Accidental Capture:
The 2014 study on anthropogenic threats found that Temminck’s pangolins are frequently killed accidentally in snares set for other wildlife. This unintended bycatch adds to their declining populations.
Climate Change:
Altered rainfall patterns and rising temperatures due to climate change, disrupt termite and ant populations, leading to reduced food availability for pangolins.
Low Reproductive Rates:
With only one offspring per year, Temminck’s pangolins are particularly vulnerable to population declines, as they cannot replenish their population quickly.
Geographic Range
Temminck’s pangolins inhabit sub-Saharan Africa, with populations found in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Zambia. They thrive in savannahs and woodlands, favouring areas with abundant ant and termite populations.
Studies indicate their preference for regions with sandy soils, which make burrowing easier, and their dependence on undisturbed habitats highlights the critical need for protected areas. However, human activities increasingly encroach on these regions, limiting their available range.
Diet
Temminck’s pangolins are specialised insectivores, feeding almost exclusively on ants and termites. They consume millions of insects annually, making them essential for regulating insect populations and maintaining ecological balance.
Their foraging behaviour is influenced by the availability of prey, with pangolins often targeting specific ant and termite species. The destruction of termite mounds through land clearing and agriculture severely impacts their food sources, leading to nutritional stress.
Reproduction and Mating
Reproductive rates in Temminck’s pangolins are low, with females typically giving birth to a single offspring per year. After a gestation period of approximately 140 days, mothers care for their young by carrying them on their tails or backs. They often use the burrows of other animals including aardvarks and aardwolves.
The young pangolins’ soft scales harden within a few days of birth, providing protection. Maternal care is critical during the early months, as juveniles depend on their mothers for food and safety. Males do not participate in rearing the young, and populations are highly sensitive to poaching due to their slow reproductive cycles.
Human Perceptions of Temminck’s Pangolins
Temminck’s pangolins hold mixed perceptions among humans. A 2014 review of anthropogenic threats highlighted cultural beliefs in southern Africa where pangolins are revered as symbols of luck and rain. In contrast, others view them as commodities, hunted for their scales and meat.
The study also revealed that many rural communities are unaware of pangolins’ ecological importance in controlling insect populations. Conservation efforts are increasingly focused on educating these communities about the role pangolins play in maintaining ecosystem balance, with the goal of fostering coexistence and reducing poaching and exploitation.
Take Action!
Help protect Temminck’s pangolins by supporting organisations working to combat illegal wildlife trade and habitat destruction. Boycott palm oil and raise awareness of their plight. Use your voice to fight for their survival and ensure future generations can marvel at these extraordinary creatures. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Support this beautiful animal
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
Further Information
Pangolin Specialist Group. (n.d.). Temminck’s Pangolin. IUCN Pangolin Specialist Group.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R. & Connelly, E. 2019. Smutsia temminckii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T12765A123585768. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T12765A123585768.en. Downloaded on 06 June 2021.
Pietersen, D., Jansen, R., Swart, J., Panaino, W., Kotze, A., Rankin, P., & Nebe, B. (2020). Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii). In Pangolins: Science, Society and Conservation. Biodiversity of the World: Conservation from Genes to Landscapes, 175–193.
Pietersen, D., McKechnie, A. E., & Jansen, R. (2014). A Review of the Anthropogenic Threats Faced by Temminck’s Ground Pangolin, Smutsia temminckii, in Southern Africa. South African Journal of Wildlife Research, 44(2), 167–178.
Sabashau, K., Utete, B., Madlamoto, D., Ngwenya, N., & Madamombe, H. (2024). Ecology, Status, and Distribution of Temminck’s Pangolin (Smutsia temminckii) in Hwange National Park. Wildlife Letters, 2(17–22).
Temminck’s Pangolin Smutsia temminckii
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Why Your Design Portfolio Visibility Requires a Dedicated Website Over Behance and Dribbble
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Algorithmic dependency is the silent killer of creative independence. Many designers mistakenly equate social validation with business viability. They post polished pixels on Dribbble or upload vast project galleries to Behance. They wait for the likes to convert into contracts. This is a flawed strategy. Design portfolio visibility relies on authority, not just aesthetics. When you build your business solely on third-party platforms, you engage in “Algorithmic Sharecropping.” You work the land, but the platform owns the crop.
True professional growth demands a shift in perspective. You must move from being a visual contributor to becoming a destination. This article argues for the “Sovereign Creator Model.” This framework posits that a proprietary website acts as the central nervous system of your business. Conversely, platforms like Behance serve only as sensory inputs. We will explore why owning your narrative through deep case studies creates superior SEO value. Furthermore, we will define why this approach secures your future in an AI-driven search landscape.
Is relying on social platforms killing your long-term creative equity?
Social design platforms offer a seductive but dangerous metric: vanity engagement. You post a shot, get a hundred likes, and you feel successful. However, does this engagement pay the rent? Rarely. This phenomenon is what I call the “Dopamine-Revenue Gap.” It creates a false sense of security. Design portfolio visibility on these platforms is fleeting. It lasts only as long as the feed remains fresh. Once your post scrolls down, it effectively ceases to exist.
The ephemeral nature of the feed
Behance and Dribbble operate on a “recency bias” algorithm. Therefore, your work must be constant to remain relevant. You become a hamster on a wheel. You produce content to feed the machine, rather than producing value to feed your business. Clients looking for serious design partners rarely scroll through endless feeds of uncontextualized UI shots. Instead, they search for solutions to specific business problems.
The “Zero-Context” problem
Dribbble, specifically, encourages the “Zero-Context Scroll.” Users view aesthetic snippets without understanding the constraints. Consequently, the viewer cannot judge the effectiveness of the design. They only judge its style. Serious clients need to know why you made a decision. They do not just care what it looks like. A proprietary website allows you to control the context.
How does the “Trust Architecture Index” define your business value?
We need a new way to measure portfolio effectiveness. I propose the “Trust Architecture Index” (TAI). This metric measures how effectively a portfolio piece builds confidence in a potential buyer. A standalone image on Dribbble has a low TAI. It shows skill but not thought process. Conversely, a dedicated website with written case studies has a high TAI. It demonstrates critical thinking, problem-solving, and results.
Moving from visuals to value
Your website acts as a repository of trust. Here, you articulate the “Problem-Solution-Impact” triad. Design portfolio visibility increases when search engines can read this text. Google cannot “read” a flat image on Dribbble effectively. It can, however, read a 2,000-word case study detailing how you increased conversion rates by 20%.
The SEO advantage of ownership
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) favors depth. A personal website allows you to target long-tail keywords. Phrases like “fintech UX design consultant Berlin” or “sustainable packaging designer for startups” are powerful. You cannot optimize a Behance profile for these specific terms effectively. Therefore, owning your domain is owning your discoverability.
The Montreux Squarespace template by Avelã Creative is available for purchase from Creative Market.Why is a personal website better for AEO and GEO strategies?
We are entering the era of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity do not browse image galleries. They read text to synthesize answers. If someone asks an AI, “Who is the best minimalist branding expert?” the AI looks for authoritative content.
The “Semantic Density” factor
To be cited by AI, your content must have “Semantic Density.” This means your portfolio must contain rich, descriptive text linking your name to specific expertise. A Dribbble shot lacks this data layer. A detailed case study on your site provides the semantic hooks AI needs. Thus, design portfolio visibility in the AI age requires text, not just pixels.
Building a referenceable knowledge base
Treat your website as a publication. Publish articles, insights, and detailed methodologies. This establishes you as a primary source. AI models prioritize primary sources over aggregators. If you write the definitive guide on a niche topic, the AI cites you. It does not cite the gallery where you posted a picture of the guide.
The Pixora WordPress theme for creative agencies & portfolios by AQLOVA is available from ThemeForest.How to use Aggregators as “Discovery Funnel Tops”
Should you delete your Behance account? No. That would be reactionary. Instead, you must reframe its role. Adopt the “Hub-and-Spoke” strategy. Your website is the Hub. Behance, Dribbble, and LinkedIn are the Spokes.
The strategy of canonical redirection
Post a teaser on Behance. Show the final result. Then, explicitly link to the full case study on your website. Use the aggregators to siphon traffic. Do not let the traffic pool there. You want the user to leave the platform and enter your ecosystem. This action signals to search engines that your site is the authoritative source.
Networking vs. Conversion
Use Dribbble to network with other designers. Use your website to convert clients. Distinguish between these audiences. Peers give likes; clients give checks. Your design portfolio visibility strategy must serve the latter if you want to stay in business.
What is the future of design client acquisition?
The future belongs to the “Sovereign Creator.” This is the designer who owns their data, their audience, and their platform. The era of the “Portfolio Grid” is ending. The era of the “Design Narrative” is beginning.
Prediction: The decline of the visual aggregator
I predict that purely visual platforms will lose influence in high-ticket hiring. As AI image generation becomes ubiquitous, “pretty pictures” will lose value. Process, strategy, and human insight will become the premium currency. A website is the only vessel capable of holding this currency.
The “Full-Stack Narrative” approach
Designers must become writers. You must articulate your value. The design portfolio visibility of tomorrow depends on your ability to tell a compelling story. This story explains how you move a business from point A to point B. This is the “Full-Stack Narrative.” It combines visual excellence with strategic communication.
FAQ
Q: Does having a personal website guarantee better clients?
A: No, it does not guarantee them, but it qualifies them. A website filters out low-budget leads who only care about “pretty pictures.” It attracts clients looking for expertise and process.Q: Should I still post on Behance for SEO?
A: Yes, Behance has high domain authority. However, use it as a backlink generator. Always ensure the project description links back to your main website for the full story.Q: How long should a case study be for optimal visibility?
A: Aim for 800 to 1,200 words. This length allows for sufficient keyword density and depth, satisfying both human readers and search engine crawlers.Q: What if I am not a good writer?
A: Visuals are only half the job. You must learn to communicate. Start simple. Explain the problem, the approach, and the result. Over time, your writing will improve, and so will your SEO.Q: Can I use AI to write my case studies?
A: You can use AI for structure, but not for the final voice. Generic AI content harms your “Trust Architecture.” Authenticity is your main differentiator in a synthetic world.Q: Is Dribbble dead for freelancers?
A: It is not dead, but it is saturated. It works for quick, transactional gigs. For long-term consultancy and high-value contracts, a personal website is superior.Q: How does this strategy help with “Design portfolio visibility”?
A: It diversifies your traffic sources. You stop relying on one algorithm. You build organic traffic through search, which is more sustainable and higher intent than social traffic.Check out other web design topics here at WE AND THE COLOR.
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By continuing, you accept the privacy policy#behance #design #Dribbble #portfolio #portfolioWebsite #webDesign #website
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Worms, Spiders, Ghosts—Oh My! CH. 5
The Iron Guardians; Lysandra, Alaric, Eadric, and Gareth, trekked through the forests walking their horses due to the density of the trees in the southeastern region of Elyria, the sun cast slanted beams of light through the towering canopy, dappling their skin in warm golden patterns. The crunch of dry leaves and rustle of bushes filled the air as they made their way deeper into the forest. King Alaric, always alert and watchful, led the way, his keen senses picking up on any small changes in the environment. Lysandra, her lithe figure graceful and agile, moved with an ease and stealth that belied her profession as a shadow walker. Eadric, the scholar and elder mage, trailed behind them, his eyes scanning the undergrowth for any signs of interest. Gareth, with his enchanted armor glistening in the sunlight, brought up the rear, his wary gaze darting left and right as he scanned the area behind them for anything out of place.
They had been traveling through the forest for days now, off the beaten path and fatigue was starting to set in.
Eadric looking at the map, “The map depicts magical constructs guarding the lair,” but they had yet to encounter any sign of it.
The air was thick with anticipation and excitement, seasoned with a hint of nervousness. The trill of a bird in the distance or the huff of a distant wind made them all jump, on edge for the unknown that lay ahead.
“It’s been days going on weeks since we left Grambondll,” Lysandra said, brushing a stray strand of her fiery red hair behind her ear. “How much further to Kaelithorne’s Lair?”
“I’m not sure,” King Alaric replied, his voice low and measured.
“According to the map, we should reach the area of the hidden entrance in a few more days give or take a few,” Eadric stated. He glanced back at Lysandra who nodded in affirmation.
Eadric adjusted his pack, making sure his precious scrolls and vials were secure. “The draconic text speaks of golems protecting the entire area,” he warned.
Gareth grunted. “Eh, construct, monster what’s one more?” he muttered, hefting his enormous sword. ” I’ve faced worse.”
Lysandra couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the warrior’s bluster. Gareth’s bravado was equal parts infuriating and endearing. She quickened her pace, catching up to Alaric. “Do you really think we’re ready for this? Legends are one thing, but a real guardian…”
“I am not one to run head first into battle mind you. There’s a reason they call me a shadow walker you know.” Lysandra states worried.
The king’s jaw clenched. “We watch out for each other, I expect you and Eadric to hang back when we get there and provide cover support.” Alaric States. Besides we don’t have a choice in the matter, Lysandra. With our combined strength and skills nothing short of the King of Dragons himself could stop us. Failure is no option—”
The forest suddenly went silent except for a few birds chirping in the distance as they inched forward.
They quickly stumbled out of the forest abruptly upon a small glade, the ground soft and carpeted with ferns and wildflowers. The towering trees stood like massive arches around them, their branches stretching high into the sky. In the center of the glade was a large mound of dirt and large rock, the azure sky above like a shimmering jewel once out of the canopy of the forest. As they approached the mound to cross it, they noticed something strange about it; it seemed loose, pulsing gently in time with their hearts.
The companions froze, every instinct honed by years of danger screaming at them to seek cover. Their horses started to become uneasy, even the birds fell silent, as if sensing the impending doom. The earth beneath their feet began to shake, the tremors rapidly growing in intensity with each passing heartbeat.
“Run!” Eadric shouted as he took his first step, but it was too late.
From the depths of the earth erupted a gargantuan purple worm, its segmented body tearing through the forest floor like it was parchment. Its massive, tooth-studded maw gaped open, revealing a cavernous pink interior, while rows of bone like teeth lined its body in perfect symmetry.
The air split with an ear-piercing shriek, and the monstrous worm hurling large rocks and debris in every direction. Everyone except Alaric was caught off balance and thrown to the ground by the force of its emergence, completely defenseless against the beast.
Alaric already had drew his enchanted red blade, its fiery glow slicing through a large boulder effortlessly as it fell to the ground split in two behind him. “On your feet!” he bellowed, charging head-first into the maelstrom while drawing his second blade wisdom that is beaming with brilliant white energy.
Alaric now at a full on sprint towards the creature as the group regains their composer. His swords both on his right side the tips dragging on the ground as they start to create a swirl of red and white energy. Meanwhile the Gargantuan purple worm whipped its tail around revealing a massive stinger half the size of an adult human hurling towards Alaric.
The others gained their footing shortly and soon were a tide of steel and magic at their backs. Eadric unleashed a barrage of icy shards that ricocheted off the creature’s hide, while Gareth raised his massive sword into the air creating a swirling of clouds directly above him.
The worms stinger flew with piercing speed as Alaric, screaming, whipped his swords in an upward arch in front of him and over his head creating an energy burst as he dug his boots into the ground to an abrupt stop. The swirling red and white energy flew into the beast like a large blade slicing into it, disrupting its attack and causing its stinger to miss Alaric completely.
The clouds above Gareth shot an insanely massive lighting bolt down striking Gareth’s sword as he held it high. As the blade started crackling and sparking wildly before pointing towards the purple worm and releasing a sharp lighting bolt from the tip of it.
The beast’s tail whipped back at the group, flying right at Gareth. Lysandra’s reflexes kicked in, and she grabbed the back of his armor’s collar, phasing them both backward to safety at the edge of the tree-line, just as towering pines toppled backward like matchsticks.
Gareth gasped, wincing as his thick skull collided with a low-hanging branch.
Lysandra grinned. “you’re welcome, dimwit.” She quipped before disappearing back into the fight.
Eadric’s ice magic slowed the creature’s movements, but it was far from finished. The purple worm thrashed and coiled, striking out with unnerving speed. Alaric and Gareth’s blades chipped away at its armored hide while Lysandra’s enchanted throwing daggers found exposed flesh, eliciting high-pitched ear shattering shrieks from the creature. The clearing soon ran with the creature’s acidic blood.
A low growl rumbled in the beast’s gullet, and its serpentine neck shot forward, jaws gaping wide. Eadric’s ice shield shattered as the worm engulfed him whole, filling his senses with the putrid stench of decay and the rank stench of death.
“Eadric!” Lysandra screamed, eyes blazing.
Gareth dove for the worm’s maw, sword raised. Alaric joined him, their blades moving in a lethal ballet as they carved their way through its scaly side.
Inside the worm’s darkened cavern of a stomach, Eadric choked on noxious fumes, his heart pounding in his chest. He threw a handful of his freezing dust which mixed with the toxic gas. Barely able to put up a magic barrier as the ensuing explosion propelled him through the beast’s gaping maw, along with a torrent of stomach acid and half-digested prey. He landed in a gasping, retching heap on the glade.
The worm howled, flailing in its death throes , before it collapsed lifeless and bloody to the ground.
“Eadric!” Lysandra dove toward him, her face a mask of relief.
He spat out foul bile, gulping fresh air. “Thanks for the rescue,” Eadric croaked out, smiling weakly.
Gareth nudged Alaric. “That,” he grinned, “was the most epic escape I’ve ever seen!” as excitement breathed into Gareth for the first time on their quest.
Alaric grinned. “I guess Eadric didn’t settle well with the beast,” looking at Gareth while chuckling lightly.
Exhausted but triumphant, the Iron Guardians stood over their defeated foe. Sweat and blood mingled on their skin, their hearts racing from the adrenaline-fueled battle. They could hear the distant rumble of thunder in the distance, warning of an approaching storm. Gareth gestured towards a large rocky outcropping nearby, and they made their way towards it for shelter. As they huddled underneath, the wind picked up, howling through the trees and sending leaves and debris flying through the air. The sky grew darker by the moment as bolts of lightning flashed across the sky.
“we need to find better shelter from this storm coming in.” Alaric suggested to Eadric. “Is there anything close by on the map?” he suggests.
“Maybe, let me take a look. Just remember, everything on here is pretty old and might not even exist anymore.” As Eadric pulled out the map, he began scanning every detail of their current area. “There looks to be a small village nearby in the forest here, I have no idea if it is still there. I do not recall ever having heard of it.”
“Does it have a name?” Lysandra asked sarcastically.
“The Arcane City of Häwold is what it says here on the map.” Eadric replied.
“What are we waiting for?” Alaric paused looking at his companions. “Let’s go, we don’t have time to sit here and decide or Gareth and I’s armor will turn to rust.” Alaric stated as the storm gained momentum.
They quickly headed back into the forest from the glade, a light drizzle began to fall. Leafy canopies above did little to muffle the noise as the storm intensified with a loud thunderous crash that was so loud the sound wave could be felt as it rang out, for what seemed like minutes.
“We need to move faster, the storm is gaining momentum.” Gareth panted, a Sheen of Sweat on his brow. “my armor is not conducive but conductive to lighting! I don’t want to end up like burnt hog meat on a skewer.”
“Look!” Lysandra pointed ahead to a town, “I think we made it. Just in time too,” She commented.
As they approached, the town came into view. It was a ghost town, abandoned, dilapidated and overgrown as the forest is slowly reclaiming the land. The once-bustling streets were now covered with vines and moss, the buildings crumbling and collapsing in on themselves with some held up by the foliage that is growing around it. The air was thick with a sense of panic, as if the very earth whispered dark secrets to them. Lysandra shivered involuntarily, her hand moving instinctively to the hilt of one of her daggers. She glanced at her companions, who were equally wary of their surroundings.
The rain picked up as they hurried down the cobblestone streets. The only sounds were the pattering rain and the pounding of their hearts. They navigated the overgrown paths, noticing remnants of a past life – a broken-down well, a few collapsed cottages, and a once-grand hall missing 2 of its walls. The hair on the back of Eadric’s neck stood on end as he felt an unseen presence watching them from the shadows. A prickle of dread danced down his spine.
Finally, they reached an old inn that was barely held together, its sign swinging dangerously in the wind.
Eadric stopped to look at the weathered sign as if he had seen a ghost. “Barden’s Cove? This place is supposed to be cursed, I’ve read about this place in the old lore books back at the great library. So that would mean this town is over 900 years old according to the lore,” he remarked softly. “I’m not sure if this is a good choice. It said the travelers of this inn were brutally murdered at random. Oddly enough, the town was never spoke of.”
“We don’t have a choice,” Alaric said, kicking open the rickety door. The doors rusty hinges squealed as it flung open, revealing an dilapidated lobby covered in dust and cobwebs. “We will look for something else after the storm passes. Maybe whatever was killing them died with the town?” Alaric replied questioningly as he walked inside.
Gareth frowned, his sword at the ready. “This place gives me the creeps.”
Inside, mildewed tapestries hung in tatters, and rainwater pooled on the warped floorboards. Alaric struck a tinder-box flame he found next to the candelabra, illuminating their grim surroundings.
“We’ll take watches,” he said, voice laced with weariness, ” Gareth, your on first watch, I’ll take second watch. Lysandra you can take third watch with Eadric.”
As the others bedded down on mildewed couches, Gareth took up position at the far end of the room by the window, his gaze scanning the rain-soaked streets. The storm not showing any signs of letting up.
An hour later, he was joined by Lysandra. “I Can’t sleep.”
“Aren’t you exhausted?” he replied, questioningly.
“A bit…,” she admitted, perching beside him looking out the window. “Nice view,” she teased, gesturing at the downpour.
“hmm,” he muttered, but couldn’t hide his crooked grin.
They sat in silence together, watching as the storm raged outside. Thunder shook the Inn’s foundations, and the air thickened with tension.
“Gareth?” she said, her voice a whisper.
“yeah?” Gareth replied.
“Why does it feel like we’re being watched?”
Gareth’s blood ran cold as he met her worried gaze. “I… I can’t say for sure,” he lied, his hand drifting to the hilt of his sword on his back.
Suddenly, the rickety door slammed shut with a deafening bang, shattering the quietude and plunging the room into complete darkness. Gareth’s heart raced as he fumbled for a candle, but it was no use; something or someone was toying with them. The hairs on their nape stood at attention as an icy draft caressed their skin, the distinct feeling of unseen eyes upon them.
“A-Alaric?” Lysandra whimpered, clutching Gareth’s arm.
“I’m here,” came a strained reply from across the room. “Eadric? Gareth?”
“Here,” they chorused, their voices barely audible above the howling wind and pounding rain.
“We’re not alone,” Alaric said, his voice quivering with fear. “And I think our watcher just made themselves known.”
In that moment, a ghostly glow illuminated the room, revealing a sight straight out of their darkest nightmares. A translucent figure in tattered robes floated before them, its hollowed-eyes brimming with malevolence. Lysandra let out a sharp scream as the apparition raised its spectral hand, its bony fingers stretched towards them.
“Run!” Gareth bellowed.
They bolted for the door, but it had been sealed shut, trapping them with their supernatural assailant. The ghost cackled, its voice sending shivers down their spine, and advanced on them, its ethereal form passing through solid objects with ease.
“We fight!” Eadric commanded, raising his cane towards the apparition.
Gareth’s mind raced,”I-I’ve got an idea,” he blurted, remembering a passage about the repelling power of iron. “Form a circle! Stay close!”
Trembling, they did as he said, linking hands as Gareth brandished his sword before them. Quickly pouring holy water he kept in a water bladder over the blade. The ghost hesitated, its glowing orbs narrowing in fury.
“Whatever you are, leave this place at once!” Gareth bellowed, his voice deep with righteous fury. “You have no business here!”
The apparition hissed, its form shuddering as if repelled by their combined wills and the Holy water. With one last menacing glare, it lunged towards them, as Gareth commanded, Divine light shot out of Gareth’s blade in all directions. Unable to get away the apparition screamed seeping through the cracks in the walls and vanishing into the stormy night.
The rain continued to lash against the shutters, as they watched.
“What in the nine hells was that?” Lysandra gasped, her face as pale as the ghost that had just menaced them.
Alaric shook his head, his eyes wide with terror. “I don’t want to know. “Let’s just find a dry spot and wait out the storm.”
“Let’s clear this place so we can sleep soundly,” Gareth suggested. “Follow me.” He commanded as he headed into the inn and down the hallway.
Something quickly scuttled across the floorboards. The group tensed, weapons drawn. Was it just the storm or something more? They crept carefully down the stairs, peering into the darkness of the main room. A chill ran down Lysandra’s spine as she saw wisps of mist curling around their feet. The air felt thick and humid from the storm.
“There better not be anymore ghosts or I’ll take my chances with the storm outside.” Lysandra stated timidly.
Up ahead, a door creaked open ever so slightly, revealing a small room filled with cobwebs and dust. Something moved within, casting long shadows on the walls. With a collective gulp, they rushed forward, swords at the ready. But instead of bandits or monsters, they found an old desk littered with parchments and scrolls. Eadric slammed the door shut quickly, not wanting to invite whatever was out there inside.
“Looks like we found a potential treasure trove,” Alaric mused, examining one of the documents. “We should search the place for anything useful. Who knows what might be here.”
King Alaric’s sword Wisdom suddenly shone bright as he spoke, as if sensing the danger close by. The others nodded in agreement, spreading out to comb through the abandoned building. Lysandra felt her heart racing as she descended into the cellar, searching for anything that might provide shelter from the storm. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and she froze. There was something else down here…
As she turned around, she saw it. A dozen pairs of beady eyes stared back at her, surrounded by furry black bodies and hairy legs. Giant wolf spiders, their fangs dripping venom, crawling out of the holes in the corner. Her breath hitched in fear, and she fought the urge to scream. No one must ever know about her irrational fear.
The group just behind her gasped, seeing this new threat. But she couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Would they come to her rescue? Or would they think she’d take care of them by herself, as she stared trapped and defeated?
Gareth charged forward, sword drawn while Eadric started chanting under his breath. Soon the room filled with a soothing green glow as Alaric finished casting. Then a mighty gust of wind pushed the spiders back and slammed them against the back wall. some splattered against the wall while the rest quickly regrouped, but didn’t stop coming. Their menacing clicks and clacks echoing in the dank cellar. But it was too late. A spider crawled up her leg, fangs sinking into her skin before she could react.
“Lyss!” Gareth called out, rushing to her side. “Hold on, stay with me! We’ll get you out of here.”
She screamed, more out of pain than fear. Gareth wrestled the spider off her leg with his free hand, crushing its body with his boot and stabbing the head with his sword. She felt the venom course through her veins, burning like acid. Gareth grabbed her with his free hand, lifting her over his shoulders as Alaric and Eadric continued to fend off the spiders with their magic. Alaric stayed back to assist Eadric as the group escaped the cellar, running out into the torrential downpour that pummeled them both. Soon after Eadric and Alaric came sprinting out like their souls had escaped.
Gareth carried Lysandra, struggling to keep his footing on the muddy road while the storm raged around them. Thunder shaking the very ground beneath them. Just then lightning struck a tree close by catching it on fire in the rain, bathing them in blinding light. He could hear her shallow breaths while he could smell her sweat mixed with the rain. Her soft curves pressed against him, her body limp in his arms. He clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to comfort her as they tread through the treacherous overgrown street. The rain was relentless, pounding on his armor, soaking him to the bone. A cold shiver raced through his body as he spotted a clearing up ahead. He couldn’t lose her now Gareth thought anxiously.
Eadric created an invisible energy shield around them, protecting them from the storm. They huddled together, protected from the elements yet still drenched to the bone. The paladin’s focused gaze as he laid her down gently onto the wet earth. Then laying his sword over her, he holds his hands upward over her closing his eyes calmly while chanting.
“Amidst the hall of death I stand,
Yet despair shall not consume me,
Even when faced with wickedness and despair,
Be it foe or treachery.
Though death’s touch lingers on me,
My blessed sword shines bright,
For it shall guide me to the halls of light,
And stand as sentinel for all God’s children.
Until the hour of my dying breath,
I shall go fearless,
into the serpent’s den,
Wielding my blade for heaven.”
Gareth’s voice rises, fervent and passionate as he holds his hands tenderly over Lysandra’s body, as the venom starts slowly pulling out of Lysandra, into the air. Eadric quickly pulls a vile from his pocket and fills it with some of the venom. Swiftly, the rest of the venom starts to evaporate.
“I think I removed all of the poison! Let’s get the hell off this street and out of the storm!” Gareth shouting over the intensity of the storm.
Gareth, quickly but carefully picking up Lysandra who is still unconscious. The group made their way down the street quickly, the rain beating down on rotten wooden structures and abandoned shacks like tiny knifes hitting an impenetrable wall. The wind was howling like a hungry beast. As they continued down the street the rain kept coming down so fast the streets started to flood and become a muddy mess under them. It was as if nature itself was against them, try as it might to drive them back and off course.
Finally, they found an old stone library barely standing. Its interior was dry and safe from the storm, providing some respite. King Alaric dropped to the floor just inside, leaning against a table. “We’ve come so far,” he said, panting heavily. “But we’re not done yet.”
Eadric nodded in agreement sitting next to him. “This storm won’t let up anytime soon; we need to recover our strength.” He closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought.
Gareth placed Lysandra gently on the floor then quickly pulling out and wrapping her in a fur blanket to keep her warm. Shortly Gareth joined King Alaric and Eadric against the table. Alaric pulled out a flask from his belt and took a long swig before handing it to him. He accepted gratefully, taking small sips as he tried to ignore the burning sensation in his throat. Gareth doesn’t ever drink as he is usually always training. “What now?” he asked between gulps trying not to cough.
Eadric opened his eyes again, his brow furrowed. “I’ve studied these Golems for years. They’re not your typical sentinels,” he said slowly. “They are assembled using old world magic. Something much stronger and far more dangerous than what you would find today. We’ll have to use our wits if we wish to pass them.”
“Wits and brute force,” Gareth added with a grunt.
Eadric laughs at Gareth’s remark. “These Golems were designed to guard the Dragon King’s lair. Each one was built then imbued with magic. This magic is the life force of these Golems. If you understand how they work, they become simple traps to dismantle. These days spell casters use more humanitarian methods for protecting areas. Ones that are also much more difficult to defend against.”
Alaric turning to Gareth, “the lore told tales of their savage nature; even a scratch from one could prove fatal if you don’t nullify their magic.” They couldn’t afford any more injuries Alaric thought. “We will stay back and let Eadric take care of these guardians.”
“I’m starting a fire, the temperature keeps dropping and we need to stay warm.” Eadric announced before pointing his cane, casting a fire spell on the stone floor in front of them.
“I’ll watch the entrance, but be mindful of the inner door as well. We have no idea what’s in this place.” Gareth says as he sits in a chair facing the window over by Lysandra.
Shortly they had a small fire that was somehow warming the entire room.
After a few minutes Lysandra slowly came to, Gareth caught her sloth like movements out of the corner of his eye.
“Are you alright?” Gareth asked, concern etched on his face.
She nodded, trying to catch her breath. “I’ll live.” Her voice was hoarse from dehydration and pain. “Did I ever say I hate spiders.” she said forcing a smirk with what little energy she had.
“Just rest. The danger has past.” Gareth replied concerned. “Here, drink this it will help.” He said as he hands her a bladder of water, but Lysandra had already passed out, still completely exhausted. Gareth places the bladder next to her for when she wakes again.
Eadric walked over to lysandra and started to murmur incantations under his breath as he waved his hand above her. Soon and just for an instant Lysandra’s skin was glowing orange.
“That should help speed her recovery,” Eadric stated as he looked over to Gareth, “She is worn from today’s events. the poison had worked its way pretty deep before you removed it. Let her rest, she will be fine in time.” He declares before sitting back down over by Alaric.
The storm raged on outside, thunder shaking the walls and rain pounding against the windows all while the temperature kept dropping. Gareth’s gaze never left the window facing down the street towards the inn they narrowly escaped. The howling wind and endless rain created an eerie symphony, like the world was crying. He couldn’t help but think about home, about his mother’s warm cooking and sister’s laughter. But here he was, far from home, fighting for a cause he barely understood. With people he found himself starting to care for like a family.
Soon enough, everyone was asleep, except for Gareth who found himself watching Lysandra as she slept next to him – her chest rising and falling rhythmically under her stretchy black wraps she wore on her torso like a long shirt and legs like tights. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more to her than met the eye. She seemed so vulnerable in her sleep, and yet he knew she could handle herself just as well as he could.
Gareth sat up straighter, his swords shaft resting against his inner thigh and shoulder. His eyes darted to the door every time there was a loud crash of thunder or gust of wind. He knew they were safe in their temporary shelter, but the tension remained.
King Alaric paced the room during his watch, a solemn expression on his face. He trusted Eadric’s knowledge but still couldn’t shake the feeling that they were walking into a trap. He began to strategize how to avoid the dangers as much as possible.
The night passed slowly, with each hour marked by another round of thunder and lightning. Eadric murmured incantations under his breath during his watch, casting spells and wards to keep them safe while they slept.
The rain slowly turned to sleet then quickly to snow. in the early hours of the morning Eadric casting warmth spells and making sure the group stayed comfortable. Eventually sleep took its hold over Gareth as he slowly nodded off not moving an inch as if made of stone while his massive sword stayed rested against him.
Finally, dawn broke. The storm had passed, leaving only a few inches of snow on the ground. Gareth felt exhausted, but he didn’t sleep well. His mind was consumed with thoughts of Lysandra and how she is feeling. He rose to his feet as Alaric grunted awake.
“Any sign of trouble?” Alaric asked slowly gaining composure rubbing his eyes.
“Not last night, but look,” Gareth pointed outside. The spiders from yesterday were crawling over the building they’d left down the street, their many legs making sinister patterns on the walls. “They’re back.”
Gareth put on a heavy pelt tunic over his armor than swung his sword over his broad shoulder letting it come to rest on his shoulder, “I’ve had enough of these damn spiders. Wait here, I’ll take care of this. Eadric, select whats for breakfast, I’m starving,” Gareth declared. as he ducked under and passed through the doorway leading outside. his footsteps crunching on the freshly fallen snow. The air was colder now and crisp as he took in a deep breath.
“Let’s do this,” Gareth mumbled, psyching himself up as he walked down the road towards the cursed Inn.
The spiders were relentless, their fangs dripping venom as they spotted him approaching.
“I’m gonna make short work of you pests. Hurt my friends, you’ll taste this blade.” he said walking up as if talking to the spiders.
Gareth stretched his sword out to his side, with the blade parallel to the ground, then quickly twisting his wrist forward turning the blade at the spiders general direction. he started whipping his arm around and immediately shooting out a blinding light, it seemed to be brighter than the sun driving most of the spiders back into the Inn. The remaining half dozen or so were hacked through with his massive blade, his sword humming through the air casually and with a deadly efficiency, like he’s chopping blades of grass.
The group watched as Gareth aggressively controlled the entire fight like a divine entity. Alaric was getting dressed as fast as he could while Eadric was sitting calmly going over the choices for breakfast.
“Relax Alaric. The boy can take care of a few spiders,” Eadric said as he stood, walked over to Alaric while holding food in both hands.
“Now for the important question Alaric, eggs with Hash?” Eadric says raising his right hand that’s holding a plate. “Or, leftover mushroom mash with garlic on rye toast?”
“Toas…,” Alaric begrudgingly starts to reply as Eadric stuffs the toast into his mouth. Alaric eyeing Eadric as he smirks leaving the eggs and hash, then walking over to Lysandra.
Gareth cast the rest of the giant spiders back into the Inn with one more shot of blinding light from his blade. Just then He stabbed his sword into the ground next to him, his hands started weaving through the air as if he were conducting an orchestra. The spiders started to crawl and over take the building consuming it. Shortly after casting a large celestial appeared in the air above the Inn casting a massive beam of fire directly down onto the cursed Inn smashing the old glass out and destroying the building and everything within.
“Gareth one, Spiders zero.” Gareth chuckles to himself.
His efforts paid off, and soon the fight was over. The spiders lay singed and lifeless as the inn was now in rubble and on fire.Gareth started to walk back to the Library carrying his sword over his shoulder, while snow started to fall again softly to the ground. The group breathed a collective sigh of relief, but they kept their wits about them as they were only getting started.
“Lysandra,” Eadric says softly as he gently presses against her shoulder crouched over her holding the eggs and hash plate.”
Lysandra slowly came to and as she sat up, Eadric comically dropped the plate in her lap. causing her to wince as she caught it.
“Eat up, we need you strong.” Eadric says walking back over to the fire.
“Thanks,” Lysandra said half heartedly.
As Gareth comes back through the entrance into the room placing his sword now by the door.
“Lysandra, I see you’ve returned to the living.” Gareth smirks looking over at her as he stands next to Eadric who has a plate of eggs and hash stretched out at him as an offer.
“Don’t let him fool you Lysandra, the boy was worried to death about you last night.” Eadric remarks smirking at Gareth.
“Funny,” Gareth replies.
“I would joke but I’m too exhausted.” Lysandra replies choking down the food before lying back down.
The storm was back as a full on blizzard now, while early winter was now under way the group needed to head further into the old dilapidated Library.
“Gareth, Eadric, we need to search this library and find a more suitable stay until this weather passes. Lysandra you need to stay here and rest until your strength is back.” Alaric declares. “The rest, grab your gear and let’s go sweep the library. Let’s try to be more careful this time. We don’t need anymore injuries.”
Alaric slowly unsheathed wisdom as he opened the large nailed wooden door into the hallway leading to the main hall of the library. The tension was palpable as the adventurers cautiously entered the dusty library, guided by the dim light filtering through the stained-glass windows. The air reeked of mold and decay, and the silence was heavy enough to suffocate. Gareth’s heart pounded in his chest as he carefully approached the pedestal, his eyes transfixed on the ancient tome. His hand reached out confidently to pick it up.
“Wait!” Eadric hissed, his voice barely above a whisper. “There might be traps.”
Gareth froze, his hand mere inches from the book. Eadric cautiously circled the pedestal, searching for any signs of booby traps or magical wards. Satisfied that the book was clear, Eadric nodded.
“I think it’s safe,” he said, his voice still hushed.
Gareth exhaled in relief and gently picked up the tome. A thin layer of dust rose into the air as he opened the cover, sending chills down their spines. he began to leaf through the yellowed pages, his eyes darting over the archaic script.
“It’s the arch mage’s journal. Or it seems to be that of a senior member.” Gareth states handing the book over to Eadric. “what do you think?”
Gareth looked at the name on the book and a look of dread immediately, spread across his face. “we should leave while we can,” there is very strong magic in this place and we don’t want to disturb it.”
“We don’t need anymore problems than we already have, let’s get out of here.” Alaric whispers.
As they backed away from the pedestal, a sinister creaking echoed through the library. The air seemed to thicken, and the stench of death became stronger. The adventurers turned as one, their senses on high alert. From the shadows, a chilling hiss filled the room, and a legion of undead creatures shambled into the dim light from nowhere. Bones clacking and foul-smelling, they advanced, their hollowed-out eyes fixated on the interlopers.
“Great, what are we waiting for?” Gareth grumbled sarcastically, “Let’s get this over with.”
Gareth drew his sword from its sheath, hands tightening on the hilt as he became more serious. “Looks like we’ll have to fight our way out. You hold them off while I work my magic – pun intended,” he said with a smirk.
As the undead horde closed in, Eadric and Alaric Stood in front of Gareth while he started to chant, ready to face the evil undead horde in front of them.
From the depths of the shadows, a sinister voice laughed, mocking their determination. “You fools,” it cackled. “You’ve played right into my hands.”
The chilling laughter reverberated off the walls, raising goosebumps on their arms. Suddenly, the undead creatures stopped their advance, turning as one to face the source of the voice. Emerging from the darkness, a cloaked figure glided into the flickering light.
“My, my, what have we here?” the figure purred, his emerald eyes glinting with malice. “If it isn’t our intrepid heroes, come to end my reign of terror.”
“You know nothing of us or our intentions,” Gareth growled, stepping in front of the others. “Don’t listen to his lies,” he exclaims looking at the group. “Show yourself, coward!”
With a flourish, the figure tossed back his hood, revealing the face of none other than the High Mage, who’s journal they grabbed. Gasps of disbelief escaped Eadric’s lips, while Alaric’s grip tightened on his sword.
“It’s the High Mage from the journal!” Eadric uttered.
I’ve been waiting for you,” the High Mage cackled, “The power in this place has kept me strong, thanks to you it’s time to finish my transformation.” With a grand gesture, the floor began to fracture beneath them. “I will use your life force to complete my ritual, Die you fools!”
The companions had no choice but to leap for their lives as the chamber bucked and heaved, the undead horde tumbling into the new-formed crevices. Alaric grabbed the back of Gareth’s chest plate as Gareth almost slipped into one of the gaping crevices.
“Hold on,” Eadric yelled as he cast a magic bubble separating them from the arch mages attack just as the ground beneath gave way. Eadric then swiftly levitated them over the chasm to a stable area of the room before the bubble dissipated, the High Mage cackling with malignant glee.
“Foolish children,” he sneered. “You cannot stop the inevitable!” With a flick of his wrist, the undead throng began to climb out of the crevasses, their rotting limbs flailing towards them as lightning crackled from the mages aura.
“We end this now,” Alaric shouted, determination in his eyes. He shot a couple bolts from his wrist at the High Mage, but they disintegrated before reaching him.
The High Mage sneered and declared, “Your toys will not protect you. Soon, you will join my army of undead!” He lifted his hand towards Alaric, releasing a bolt of electricity in his direction. However, Alaric’s armor dispelled the magic as he took the hit head on.
Gareth’s face twisted into a look of pure rage as he lifted his sword and bellowed, “Shut your mouth, fool! You don’t even know you’re already dead!”
Gareth’s voice echoes through the chamber, his chant growing louder and more fervent as he holds his gleaming blade aloft. “I banish you! I banish you from the light!” he cries, his eyes blazing with determination. The undead, their rotting bodies encircling Gareth and his companions, seem to cower at his words.
With a sudden burst of energy, a brilliant, radiant light shoots through the stained glass windows and into the dark chamber. It bathes the room in a warm glow, illuminating every corner and casting shadows on the faces of the undead. They screech and writhe as they are consumed by the holy light, their silhouettes etched into the ground beneath them like dark stains.
But amidst the chaos, the High Mage remains unfazed. His expression is twisted into a scowl as he floats menacingly above them, his power still pulsing through the air. Gareth stands tall, his sword still held high as he stares defiantly at his enemy. Victory may be within reach, but their battle is far from over.
As the tension mounted, Eadric brandished his glowing cane with ferocity. Alaric gripped his sword tightly, knowing he couldn’t reach the elusive spirit. But then, Eadric summoned a powerful column of ice, creating a bridge from them to their target. Suddenly, a crackling black light surged through the air like electrifying lightning from Eadric’s cane, striking the arch mage with deadly precision. The mage let out a gut-wrenching shriek as the dark energy consumed the entire room in its chaotic grasp.
Amidst the dimming light, every eye was drawn to Alaric as he launched from the edge of the ice bridge, his sword of wisdom blazing like a beacon. With a fierce thrust, it impaled the High Mage’s chest, unleashing a surge of electric and magical energy that reverberated through the room. Alaric was sent flying back against the wall, his armor charred and singed from the intense impact.
“Alaric!” Lysandra’s voice pierced the tense air, her footsteps echoing through the dimly lit chamber as she hurried back to him. King Alaric lay still against the rough stone wall, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm, a faint furrow on his brow hinting at his temporary state of unconsciousness. The flickering torchlight cast gentle shadows on his features, emphasizing the peaceful expression that graced his face, reassuring all that he was merely resting.
Eadric frowned, tapping his cane on the missing floorboards. “This won’t do at all,” he muttered. With a flick of his wrist and a sharp focus of his mind, the room began to restore itself – floor and windows included. Eadric’s intense concentration was evident as he worked his magic.
“that’s a neat trick.” Gareth remarks watching everything slowly going back together.
With a sigh, Lysandra offers her hand to Alaric and helps him up. “I suppose we should search the rest of the building,” she says. “Although, I highly doubt we’ll find anything after all that noise.” Alaric brushes off his clothes as he stands.
As night fell, they made camp in the grand hall of the ancient castle. Eadric, ever vigilant, took first and last watch while Lysandra rested, her injuries still not fully healed. His keen eyes scanned the darkness for any sign of movement, his hand firmly clutching his sword. Alaric found a bench to settle on, exhaustion tugging at his bones. He closed his eyes and let himself drift off, dreaming of S’vyrra’s warm embrace, a cold ale in hand, and a hearty meal waiting for him. Gareth took second watch, sitting by the dwindling fire. The embers crackled and sparked, casting an orange glow over his features. But even as the fire died down, there was another flame that burned bright in his mind – the alluring figure of Lysandra. Her intoxicating aroma lingered in his memory, drawing him back to thoughts of her soft touch and captivating presence. Despite the darkness surrounding them, her light shone through and left Gareth entranced.
As the weight of exhaustion finally pulled his eyelids shut, Gareth was greeted by the familiar sight of Lysandra’s face. Her delicate features were illuminated by a small, mischievous smile that both unsettled and excited him in his dreams. The image lingered in his mind, taunting him with its alluring yet elusive nature. He could almost feel her breath on his skin and the warmth of her touch, making it difficult for him to fully surrender to sleep. But as he drifted off, he couldn’t help but wonder if this vision was a mere figment of his imagination or a manifestation of his deepest desires.
In the morning, they awoke to a world covered in white; the snow blanketing everything outside. The storm had passed, leaving behind a sense of calm. They gathered by the window, peering out at the landscape transformed by the snowstorm. A fresh layer of powdery snow covered the ground, making their surroundings look almost ethereal.
“Well, that was quite the storm,” Lysandra said, rubbing her eyes. “It’s like nature itself was trying to keep us away from whatever lies ahead.”
“Aye,” Alaric agreed, looking out at the snow-covered trees. “We’ve come this far, we might as well see it through.”
The group broke their fast with the food they had, their stomachs growling in appreciation of the warm meal. They set out again, trudging through the snow. The world seemed to be endlessly white, and it was easy to lose track of time.
As they journeyed deeper into the forest, they noticed the trees growing thicker and more twisted, as if they were alive with malice. The air became colder, and the snow deeper. The wind picked up again, but this time it was less fierce than before. The group huddled together against the bitter chill.
“We need shelter,” King Alaric said, leading them to a low overhang carved into the large rock face ahead. It was just big enough for all of them, so it would have to do. They huddled close to stay warm, the fire crackling merrily between them. “We’ll rest here for the night.” he assured them.
“At least the ground is untouched under it.” Eadric says as he started cooking a meal, using dried meats and vegetables from their packs. The smell of sizzling venison filled the air, making their mouths water.
Lysandra settled down next to Gareth, pulling her cloak tight around her. He put an arm around her shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze.
She leaned into him; her warm breath caressed his cheek as she whispered, “I never thanked you for rescuing me, Gareth.”
“Don’t,” he replied. “We’re in this together. I would expect the same from any of you.” Despite his own fears, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of camaraderie with her.
Lysandra rolled her eyes. “You get a pass today, but tomorrow I go back to teasing you when you say stupid things like that.” She smirked as they sat there, trying to stay warm, huddled together.
“Ok, Food’s ready. Eadric past the food down as they all sat huddle together, Eadric, Alaric, Lysandra, and Gareth at the end.
Eadric kicked the fire into the snow then cast a barrier spell in a 15 meter radius all around them, keeping the elements out. He then cleared off the snow in a small area in front of them using a wind spell.
“this was always your father’s favorite part on our journeys Alaric,” Eadric stated before rubbing his hands together ferociously back-and-forth.
It was as if he was trying to start a fire with them like you would kindling. after a short while everything became warm and the snow in the barrier started to melt.
Then he summoned a large tent for them.
“That’s insane!” Lysandra states excitedly as she jumps up and heads into the tent.
“Thanks,” Gareth says as he also heads in the tent following Lysandra like a stray puppy.
“Where the hell has this been?” Alaric remarks, looking at Eadric while out stretching his arms and gesturing at the tent.
“It’s too cold to stay out under the stars. Eadric replies. The barrier spell will only last a couple of hours. Oh, and the tent has been in your bag of holding. I just summoned it out.” He states smirking as he enters the tent, Alaric smirking, following directly behind.
Back at the Palace Winter was underway, the snow covered gardens looked like molded white marble. S’vyrra, the fierce Queen of the kingdom, was in deep discussion with her council about the brewing trouble on the eastern shores. Meanwhile, Rivlet, her trusted Chief Commander, was sending updates on the current situation with the kingdom via their Little magic box Eadric had crafted.
“As Chief Commander I recommend we send a full regiment out to the edge of the eastern mountains to help keep an eye on this trouble and find out what exactly is going on. Make sure to send a full team of experienced mages to lead, I don’t want any rookies on this mission. Rivlet stated to the Council members.”
The long, drawn-out debate among the council members festered an air of unease in the room. Eyes darted back and forth, voices rising and falling in intensity as each member voiced their concerns and proposed solutions to the growing threat on the eastern shores. Queen S’vyrra’s patience wore thin, and she slammed her fist on the table, silencing the bickering crowd.
Queen S’vyrra chimed in, “That is an excellent suggestion, Chief Commander.” She pauses, scanning the room with her eyes. “I won’t tolerate any further disagreements,” she declares firmly. “We must act quickly and take control of the situation before this threat spreads to the entire eastern shore and potentially beyond.” She states confidently.
The council fell in line with S’vyrra’s orders, letting Rivlet send his Regiment.
“I’ll get started right away.” I assume you will be apart of this won’t you Rivlet?” S’vyrra smirks.
“You know me to well Queen.” Rivlet smirks.
“Very well take only your best fighters, Ithic Make sure to assist Rivlet and send your best platoons of mages. Some are the most advanced I have ever seen. They will be of great assistance I am sure.” S’vyrra states.
Rivlet nodded. “Of course. Ithic and I will pull the troops together shortly. Now if you will please excuse us.” The council dismissed Rivlet and Ithic, who quickly departed to assemble the Regiment.
#ActionAndAdventure #adventure #book #books #chapter5 #Elyria #fantasy #fiction #fictionSeries #fictionalStories #landOfElyria #MysticalLandOfElyria #novel #shortStory #storiesByDbw #writing
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Almost 90% of the world’s animal species will lose some habitat to agriculture by 2050
Scientists know that #biodiversity is declining across much of the world although less universally and dramatically than we feared. We also know that things are likely to get worse in the future, with a combination of #deforestation, #climatechange and overexploitation set to drive species and habitats ever closer to #extinction. Help them every time you shop and be #vegan #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
The biggest threat to #biodiversity 🐘🌿🦒 is from #deforestation for food #agriculture. Protect #rainforest and ocean animals with a #plantbased #vegan diet, use your wallet as a weapon and #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🙊⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2022/03/20/almost-90-of-the-worlds-animal-species-will-lose-some-habitat-to-agriculture-by-2050/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterWhat we don’t know, is what to do about this. Partly this is because conservation is woefully underfunded. But it’s also because the underlying causes of biodiversity declines are getting stronger and stronger every year. Climate change rightly gets a huge amount of coverage, but for biodiversity, the biggest threat actually comes from the destruction of natural habitats to make way for agriculture. And as global populations grow, and people become wealthier and consume more, that need for new agricultural land is just going to increase, resulting in at least 2 million sq km of new farmland by 2050, and maybe as much as 10 million.
Ensuring that this coming wave of agricultural expansion doesn’t lead to widespread biodiversity losses is going to require a big increase in “conventional” conservation approaches (protected areas and the like), but it is probably going to require something more too. These existing approaches are similar to performing heart surgery: very effective for the targeted species and habitats, but also not feasible for every species.
Sumatran Tiger Panthera tigris sondaica
The Sumatran tiger Panthera tigris sondaica is a critically endangered big cat, with less than 600 of their species alive in the wild today. Once living in…
Glaucous Macaw Anodorhynchus glaucus
The Glaucous #Macaw stands out not only for their vibrant coloration but also for their vocalisations, which led to its Guaraní name “guaa-obi.” As part of a…
Attenborough’s Long-Beaked Echidna Zaglossus attenboroughi
Attenborough’s long-beaked echidna (Zaglossus attenboroughi), known locally as “Payangko,” is one of the most evolutionarily distinct mammals and is native to the Cyclops Mountains in Papua, Indonesia.…
Encountering the World’s Most Endangered Kangaroo: The Wondiwoi Tree Kangaroo
Encountering the Wondiwoi tree kangaroo, the world’s most endangered kangaroo, in West Papua’s lush forests is a bittersweet tale. Rediscovered in 2018 by British botanist Michael Smith,…
Alta Floresta titi monkey Plecturocebus grovesi
The enchanting Groves Titi Monkey, also referred to as the Alta Floresta titi #monkey or Mato Grosso titi monkey went from being completely unknown to being one…
Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus
The Jerdon’s Courser is a rare and captivating nocturnal #songbird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae. These #birds are endemic to #India in the Eastern…
Sulu Hornbill Anthracoceros montani
The Sulu Hornbill is one of the rarest birds in the world. They are large and almost entirely black except for a white tail, with a thick…
Northern Muriqui Brachyteles hypoxanthus
Northern Muriquis (AKA Woolly Spider Monkeys) have a striking light brown and golden fur and are known for their rattling vocalisations. They live in large communities and…
Sunda #pangolins, also known as the Malayan or Javan pangolins, possess quirky traits that make them truly intriguing. They are capable swimmers and have a remarkable defense…
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Instead, we need to tackle the underlying causes, or conservation is not going to be able to cope. What we set out to do in a study just published in Nature Sustainability is to work out exactly which landscapes and species are likely to be the most threatened by agriculture in the future, and which specific changes to the food system give us the best chance of safeguarding wild biodiversity in different parts of the world.
Biodiversity under business-as-usual
Madagascar is a hotspot for biodiversity – and deforestation. Dudarev Mikhail / shutterstockTo do this, we developed a method to forecast where agricultural land is likely to expand at very fine spatial scales (1.5km x 1.5km). We then overlaid these forecasts with habitat maps for almost 20,000 species of amphibians, birds and mammals, and observations of whether each species can exist in agricultural land. This allowed us to calculate the proportion of habitat each species would lose from 2010 to 2050.
Projected changes in total habitat (mean habitat loss in a cell multiplied by the number of species present) caused by agriculture expansion by 2050. Note the concentrations in East and West Africa. Williams & Clark et al 2020Overall, we projected that almost 88% of species will lose habitat, with 1,280 losing over a quarter of their remaining habitat.
By looking at the impact on individual species in this way, and at such a fine spatial scale, we were able to identify specific regions, and even species, that are likely to be in serious need of conservation support in the coming decades.
Losses are likely to be particularly bad in Sub-saharan Africa, especially in the Rift Valley and equatorial West Africa, but there will also be serious declines in Latin America – particularly in the Atlantic Rainforest – and South-East Asia.
The fingernail-sized pumpkin toadlet is only found in Brazil’s Atlantic rainforest, and could lose almost all its remaining habitat to agricultural expansion. Pedro Bernardo/ShutterstockImportantly, many of the species projected to lose a lot of habitat are not currently threatened, and so conservationists may not be concerned about them. We think this kind of species and location-specific forecasting is going to be increasingly important if we are to proactively work to prevent biodiversity losses.
Proactive changes to help save biodiversity
OK, so far so bleak. Fortunately, there are some things we could do to alleviate this habitat loss, including: raise yields, eat healthier plant based diets, reduce food waste, or even a take a global approach to land-use planning, which could direct food production away from the most at-risk regions. In our study, we found that a combination of all four actions could avoid the vast majority of habitat loss seen under business-as-usual. Doing so, however, will require concerted efforts from governments, companies, NGOs, and individual people.
Our approach allowed us to tease apart which approaches are likely to have the biggest impacts in different parts of the world. In Sub-Saharan Africa, for example, our results suggest increasing yields is one of the biggest single things you can do to save biodiversity. It means you can produce the food you need from much smaller areas, and so massively reduce habitat clearance.
Palm oil creates ecological wastelands and species extinction
In contrast, yield increases will do very little in North America, where yields are already close to their maximum. Shifting to healthier diets, however, could have a massive impact in North America, reducing demand for animal products, and therefore demand for new agricultural land. Again, this contrasts with Sub-Saharan Africa, where healthier diets may actually involve increased consumption of both calories and animal products, and therefore will not bring great biodiversity benefits.
Saving biodiversity while feeding 10 billion
Importantly, we only looked at the impact of agricultural expansion on biodiversity. Other threats facing wild nature include climate change, pollution, habitat destruction for other reasons, or overharvesting resources like fish or valuable tropical hardwoods. Still, biodiversity is likely to decline massively, and conventional conservation is unlikely to be able to cope.
Nonetheless, our research at least provides some hope. With swift, ambitious and coordinated action, we can indeed provide a healthy and secure diet for the world’s population without further major loss of habitats. Many of these actions should be priorities anyway, at every level from individual actions to international policy. Healthier diets to combat perhaps the greatest public health crisis in the world; wasting less food; increasing agricultural yields to improve food security; these are all hugely important goals in their own right.
David Williams, Lecturer in Sustainability and the Environment, University of Leeds and Michael Clark, Postdoctoral Researcher, Oxford Martin Programme on the Future of Food, University of Oxford
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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Frantic Friday Reads: More Fresh Hells
“What is wrong with you people?” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I can’t decide which is worse. The distractions created to avoid the constant bad news or the events themselves. What I really can’t believe is the number of news outlets that can’t manage to stay on the real headlines. They’ve been bad this week. ICE continues to be the jackbooted thugs: omnipresent and well-funded, as with all fascist-loving monsters. Deportations continue to rock families and communities. The number of deaths from floods and tropical storms is rising while Homeland Security has managed to make Heckuva Job Brownie official. No one has seen the head of FEMA in days now. The only thing we see of Kristi Noem is more trashy outfits. Drunk Pete Hegseth has gone rogue. The attack on the Federal Reserve continues as Yam Tits puts illegal tariffs on Brazil. Evidently, tariff policy is based on the relationship between a country and our dotard FARTUS. Oh, and if your local groups of White Evangelical Christians weren’t annoying enough, they are now allowed by the IRS to fully promote candidates. I can assure that was something they’ve been doing since the 1980s with pulpit talk, egging folks to harass their neighbors. I can’t even imagine the grief local candidates will get with this move.
So, since I’ve been the victim of politicized White Christian Nationalists, I’ll just start with that story. Salon‘s Amanda Marcotte has this analysis. “Trump’s IRS payola for churches will backfire on evangelicals. Millions have already left right-wing Christianity because of politics.” It’s nice to know some are fleeing the alternative facts universe for churches that take all of Jesus’ teachings to heart. I see this battle daily in a lot of Christian friends on Facebook besieged by the ones that I could throw any number of gospel admonitions at that they never seem to hear or read about. They must never cover anything in Matthew or James. Jimmy Swaggert just died, but his dreadful influence lives on.
For liberals living outside the world of the Christian right, it may not seem like a major change. On Monday, the IRS revoked a long-standing rule that stripped tax-exempt status from churches that endorse political candidates. From a horse-race view of elections, this may not make a difference. While conservative pastors may have technically avoided the words “vote for Donald Trump” or “vote for Republicans” in the past, the expectation was transmitted to followers in ways that weren’t exactly subtle: Calling for the reinstatement of prayer in public schools, for “a time of national repentance” in America and even for Supreme Court vacancies to allow for the appointment of “righteous” judges.
Nor was it just that right-wing ministers were expressing Republican-shaped views about everything from LGBTQ rights to tax laws from the pulpit. Outside church walls, the massive ecosphere of Christian media hammered the message day in and day out: Democrats are demonic, and voting for them will send you to hell.
Predictably, many on the Christian right rejoiced over the decision. Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor who claimed the IRS investigated him for supporting Donald Trump, told ABC News, “The IRS has no business dictating what can be said from the pulpit.” Craig DeRoche of the Christian Post argued, falsely, that the rule existed “not to protect democracy, but to silence opposition.”
It’s not a surprise that right-wing ministers are salivating at the chance to cater to powerful politicians while simultaneously keeping more money in their pockets. But this decision is shortsighted, particularly if they want to stymie the already significant losses in membership rolls that Christian churches have seen in the past couple of decades. They may come to rue the day they took what amounts to payola to champion Trump ahead of Jesus Christ.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that Trump will benefit from this politically, even if he, as he clearly hopes, gets the go-ahead from the Supreme Court for an illegal campaign for a third term. He has already captured the white evangelical vote to the tune of 80 percent in 2024, and although his approval numbers have slipped with most other demographics, these supporters have remained steadfast. Even if ministers had been allowed to endorse in the last presidential election cycle, it’s unlikely Trump would have done better among white evangelicals.
But Trump has an insatiable need for praise, and he has long been fixated on repealing the Johnson Amendment, which is the rule that prevented ministers from open endorsement. For Republicans in state and local races, this is a big deal. Campaign finance spending will go much further if directed to churches, where donors get a tax deduction, instead of to political parties and action groups, which cannot offer that benefit.
If they want the benefit of overt political action, then the IRS should drop their tax exemptions. As a long-time member of both Presbyterian and Methodist denominations at one time, I’ve participated eagerly in Social Justice Actions. These benefit a particular group of people and not one politician or party, and allow you to work for a principal. It’s a big difference. There’s no reason they can’t do their traditional callings without being servile to the likes of Yam Tits. But, then this has become a whole ‘nother country. The lessening of support for ICE Actions against legal immigrants and people in the process of becoming legal has turned the page on the popularity of Trump’s actions. I heard the Good Samaritan parable a lot, and when I was a Sunday School teacher, it was still central to Methodist theology. Perhaps, the lessons stuck with many.
Here’s how it’s going on the frontline. This is from NBC News. “ICE handcuffs 71-year-old grandmother, a U.S. citizen, at San Diego immigration court. Barbara Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for hours, according to her family; she was accused of pushing an ICE officer, which she denies.
A grandmother planning to document Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at the San Diego courthouse instead became herself the story on Tuesday, after video of her arrest began circulating online.
The 71-year-old woman, U.S. citizen Barbara Stone, was accused of pushing an ICE agent and was placed in custody for several hours. Stone denied the allegation to NBC 7 on Wednesday.
Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for eight hours, according to her family.
“I have a large bruise there,” Stone said on Wednesday. “I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”
A video of the incident shared with NBC 7 shows the moment tensions started to boil over.
NBC 7 made several attempts to contact ICE about the incident but was referred to the Federal Protective Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. FPS has not responded to a request for comment.
It takes some real men to be threated by a 71 year-old grandmother with a clipboard and pen. Gallup Poll reports that the “Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated.” This is reported by Lydia Saad.
Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.
These shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021 and reflect changes among all major party groups.
With illegal border crossings down sharply this year, fewer Americans than in June 2024 back hard-line border enforcement measures, while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
These findings are based on a June 2-26 Gallup poll of 1,402 U.S. adults, including oversamples of Hispanic and Black Americans, weighted to match national demographics.
The same poll finds many more Americans disapproving than approving of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration. Trump’s 21% approval rating on the issue among Hispanic adults is below his 35% rating nationally, with the deficit likely reflecting that group’s low support for some of the administration’s signature immigration policies.
After climbing to 55% in 2024, the percentage of Americans who say immigration should be reduced has dropped by nearly half to 30%. Sentiment is thus back to the level measured in 2021, before the desire for less immigration started to mount. Meanwhile, 38% now want immigration kept at its current level, and 26% say it should be increased.
I guess they finally got the message that their food and many items will be hard to find and expensive to buy if this continues. Just a little of me wants to say it because their mamas taught them a few things about loving their neighbors. Fortunately, and with the help of Congressman Steve Scalise, hundreds of letters written by neighbors brought Mandonna Kashanian back to her home in the Lake Front area of New Orleans and to her American husband of 35 years and daughter. This is from local TV station WDSU. I can’t tell you the ugly, nasty letters filled with misinformation that accompanied news about Mrs. Kashanian. It seems people feel the need to be downright hateful these days.
The worst headline I’ve seen on how we treat folks trying to immigrate here is the ones about spiriting them off to hellholes from which they will not return. Many of them are abroad. “‘We find another country’: Homan says Trump administration looking to make deals with several countries to accept deportees.The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody. The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.” The so-called border czar is the gatekeeper to hell. This headline is from Politico as reported by Myah Ward and Kyle Cheney.
Border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration hopes to forge deals with “many countries” to accept deported migrants from the United States — when their home countries can’t, or won’t, take them back.
Homan spoke with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for The Conversation in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for eight men to be deported to South Sudan, a nation that the State Department has warned Americans is too dangerous for all but essential personnel.
Homan said he was unsure of the status of the eight men — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.
“They’re living in Sudan. And will they stay in Sudan? I don’t know,” he said. “When we sign these agreements with all these countries, we make arrangements to make sure these countries are receiving these people and there’s opportunities for these people. But I can’t tell if we remove somebody to Sudan — they can stay there a week and leave. I don’t know.”
The deportations to places like South Sudan and El Salvador where migrants have no connections have raised concerns among lawyers and immigrant advocates who fear for the men’s safety in countries with a history of human rights violations.
Past administrations have also deported foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties, but Trump’s deals have drawn more scrutiny — both with South Sudan, one of the most dangerous and war-torn nations on earth, and El Salvador, where migrants were sent to the country’s notorious mega-prison.
We all know now that we too are home to a hellhole not suprisingly placed in Florida. There are cages for everyone there. So-called Alligator Alcatraz has not allowed detainees to see their lawyers, nor will it allow Florida Congress members to see the facility, calling it “unsafe.” Local ABC News affiiate, Channel 7, has this headline. “DHS disputes dire conditions at Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is denying reports of improper living conditions for detainees at Alligator Alcatraz after reports of a hospitalization surfaced.
Reports this week have claimed that the detainees at the detention facility in the Florida Everglades are surrounded by toilets that don’t flush, temperatures ranging from freezing to sweltering, little to no access to showers, less confidential calls with an attorney, and even a hospitalization, according to the Miami Herald.
However, DHS took to X to debunk those claims, stating that the detainees are properly cared for.
Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said on X that no detainees at Alligator Alcatraz have been hospitalized. She continued to state that one was transported but was returned to the detention center in an hour and a half.
According to our news partners at CBS News Miami, one of the detainees living in poor conditions at the detention center is Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, who was arrested in Miami-Dade County for assault. He claims there’s no water to shower, the lights stay on all day, and the food is limited and sometimes spoiled.
In a phone call to CBS News Miami, La Figura described the conditions he and the other detainees are facing.
“I am Leamsy La Figura. We’ve been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There’s over 400 people here. There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath,” he said.
The facility is run by the state of Florida. CBS News Miami has reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) for comment on the alleged conditions.
Additionally, CBS News Miami said that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade is asking for access to the detention facility due to concerns over reported deaths and dangerous conditions at immigration centers across the state.
Mayor Levine Cava has said that a total of five people have died while in immigration custody in Florida so far.
As more information about Trump, Epstein, and underage girls comes to light. I’m sure we’re going to get more distractions as well as more bumbling of floods and their victims. Wired has this up today about Epstein’s death. Rumors are flying about like the flies and mosquitoes around Alligator Alcatraz. “Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified. There is no evidence the footage was deceptively manipulated, but ambiguities around how the video was processed may further fuel conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death.” I’m sure MAGA will be excited about this.
The United States Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell the night before he was found dead. The release was intended to address conspiracy theories about Epstein’s apparent suicide in federal custody. But instead of putting those suspicions to rest, it may fuel them further.
Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by WIRED and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro. The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as “raw” footage.
Experts caution that it’s unclear what exactly was changed, and that the metadata does not prove deceptive manipulation. The video may have simply been processed for public release using available software, with no modifications beyond stitching together two clips. But the absence of a clear explanation for the processing of the file using professional editing software complicates the Justice Department’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the ambiguity surrounding how the file was processed is likely to provide fresh fodder for conspiracy theories.
Remember all this happened, under Trump’s first administration, albeit it was more competent than this one. There is a scoop at Axios that might light a fire under the entire Epstein affairs. This is reported by Marc Caputo. It feels like a mic drop. “Scoop: FBI’s Dan Bongino clashes with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files.” We could have a new Agatha Christie adventure called Death by Rumor. Remind me, this is a Friday right? The traditional slow news day?
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.
Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn’t have a celebrity “client list,” and that he wasn’t murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.
- Bongino didn’t come to work Friday, leading some insiders to believe he had quit. But administration officials say he’s still on the job, even as the internal tension over the Epstein case continues.
- A source close to Bongino, though, said “he ain’t coming back.”
Zoom in: At the center of the argument: a surveillance video from outside Epstein’s cell that the administration released, saying it was proof no one had entered the room before he killed himself.
- The 10-hour video had what has widely been called a “missing minute,” fueling conspiracy theories in MAGA’s online world about a cover-up involving Epstein’s death.
- The “missing minute,” authorities say, stemmed from an old surveillance recording system that goes down each day at midnight to reset and record anew. It takes a minute for that process to occur, which effectively means that 60 seconds of every day aren’t recorded.
- Bongino — who had pushed Epstein conspiracy theories as a MAGA-friendly podcast host before President Trump appointed him to help lead the FBI — had found the video and touted it publicly and privately as proof that Epstein hadn’t been murdered.
That conclusion — shared by FBI Director Kash Patel, another conspiracy theorist-turned-insider — angered many in Trump’s MAGA base, criticism that increased after Axios first reported the release of the video and a related memo.
- After the video’s “missing minute” was discovered, Bongino was blamed internally for the oversight, according to three sources.
- Two sources familiar with Bongino’s position say he was increasingly displeased with Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case because she had publicly overpromised and underdelivered disclosures about an Epstein “client list” that apparently never existed.
The intrigue: MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, a Bondi critic, first reported Friday on X that Bongino left work and that he and Patel were “furious” with the way Bondi had handled the case.
- Some Trump advisers have criticized Bondi, but Trump “loves Pam and thinks she’s great,” a senior White House official said.
- Those witnessing the Wednesday clash between Bondi and Bongino in the White House were Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich.
Inside the room: During the meeting, Bongino was confronted about a NewsNation article that said he and Patel wanted more information released about Epstein earlier, but were held back. Bongino denied leaking that idea.
- “Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms,” said one person briefed on the heated discussion. Bongino left angry, the source said.
I’m only going to show the headline for this one from the WSJ. It just shows how much institutions are caving to presidential interference. “Harvard Explores New Center for Conservative Scholarship Amid Trump Attacks. The Ivy League school has discussed an effort to ‘support viewpoint diversity’ with potential donors, says it ‘will not be partisan’.” I suppose the devil is in the details here. Traditional American Conservatism is not what we generally see today.
Harvard leaders have discussed creating a program that people briefed on the talks described as a center for conservative scholarship, possibly modeled on Stanford’s Hoover Institution, as the school fights the Trump administration’s accusations that it is too liberal.
The idea has circulated at the university for several years but gained steam after pro-Palestinian protests began disrupting campus in late 2023. Harvard has discussed the effort with potential donors, people familiar with the matter said. The cost of creating such a center could run somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion, a person familiar with Harvard’s thinking estimated.
A spokesman for Harvard said an initiative under discussion “will ensure exposure to the broadest ranges of perspectives on issues, and will not be partisan, but rather will model the use of evidence-based, rigorous logic and a willingness to engage with opposing views.” He added that the school has been accelerating efforts to set up the initiative, which would “promote and support viewpoint diversity.”
A 2024 survey by Harvard found that only one-third of the college’s graduating class felt comfortable discussing controversial topics, and a 2023 survey by the student newspaper found that just 3% of faculty at Harvard College identified as politically conservative.
Harvard President Alan Garber helped promote an “intellectual vitality” program to reinvigorate debate on campus and ensure students engage in discussions free of self-censorship.
Okay, one last topic. It’s a big one. Trump is basically giving tariff exemptions to countries he likes. He’s throwing random tariffs at countries that do not please him. There’s a lot on this today, including some major analysis by Paul Krugman. Let me just list these reads so you my check them out. I’m glad to answer any questions regarding the application of tariffs in the comments. I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll leave the legal analysis to those who are.
Rebecca Ratcliffe / The Guardian: Shunned Myanmar leader thrilled at US contact after Trump tariff letter
Myanmar’s military leader has praised Donald Trump and asked him to lift sanctions, as the junta sought to capitalise on a tariff letter from the US president believed to be Washington’s first public recognition of its rule.
Min Aung Hlaing, who has been in power since a 2021 coup, expressed his “sincere appreciation” for Trump’s letter, which threatened a tariff of 40% on its goods, and commended the US president or his “strong leadership” and for guiding the US “toward national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot”.
US diplomats do not officially engage with Min Aung Hlaing or the ruling junta, which seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It was among a tranche of almost identical letters sent by Trump to world leaders on Monday.
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice: An embarrassing exercise in economic and diplomatic futility
Donald Trump just escalated his mindlessly self-destructive trade war against our (former) economic allies — again.
On Monday, Trump sent rambling letters informing 14 nations, including major trading partners Japan and South Korea, that the US government was slapping them with significantly higher tariffs as of August 1. These tariffs are separate from his previously announced sectoral tariffs on automobiles, steel, and aluminum. (This week, he also announced a 50 percent tariff on copper imports for August 1.) Trump sent more letters sporadically through the week, with an especially bonkers one to Brazil threatening a 50 percent tariff if the government proceeds with its prosecution of Trump’s partner in coups, Jair Bolsonaro.
Then, as this newsletter was being finalized yesterday, Trump announced a new 35 percent tariff on Canada, citing debunked claims about the country turning a blind eye to fentanyl flowing into the United States.
Trump’s new August 1 deadline is completely arbitrary, and his tariff numbers aren’t grounded in any rational economic policy. As everyone seems to understand but the president and his sycophants, these new tariffs will result in increased prices on goods Americans need and can’t magically produce ourselves. Other nations won’t shoulder the costs from tariffs. We will.
And hereis the link to Paul Krugman’s latest. “Trump’s Brazil Tariff Is Blatantly Illegal. Shouldn’t someone be suing?” And here I am still laughing over him writing to the Japanese PM Ishba as Mister Japan. Krugman writes at his SubStack.
I wrote the other day about Trump’s Brazil tariff, which is, as I said, evil and megalomaniacal. But I forgot to point out that it’s blatantly illegal. Maybe — probably — the Supreme Court is so corrupt at this point that it will ratify anything Trump does. But can’t we at least put them on the spot? Can’t we force Scott Bessent to explain why he supports such a grotesque abuse of presidential power?
Let’s be clear: U.S. law does give the executive branch a lot of discretion to impose tariffs without additional legislation. It does this for a reason: Temporary tariffs were intended to serve as a political pressure-release valve that would make low tariffs emerging from international agreements sustainable. This worked well as long as we had responsible presidents; it has been a disaster under Trump. Still, he does have a lot of legal authority to set tariffs.
But that authority is by no means open-ended. Tariffs can be imposed only for specific reasons:
Section 201: Market disruption Basically, if a sudden import surge puts a U.S. industry in danger, temporary tariffs can be imposed to give the industry time to adapt
Section 232: National security Tariffs can be used to sustain industries we might need during international confrontations
Section 301: Unfair practices Tariffs can be used to offset, say, foreign export subsidies
Anti-dumping duties Tariffs can be imposed when foreign companies are selling below cost
International Economic Emergency The president has broad tariff-setting powers during an economic crisis
Trump has hugely abused all these justifications, especially the last. There is no economic emergency. According to Trump himself, things are great …
And, remember it’s just a litttle rain and the average price of gas in New Orleans isn’t $2.76. It’s $1.98.
Okay, one more and I may hit a record of 5000 words in one post. The deal is that there is so much shit going on I’d need a magazine to publish just the excerpts. What Fresh Hell is this? This is from Sidney Blumenthal writing at The Guardian. “Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is the ultimate betrayal of his base. The measure exposes the most elaborate charade in recent US political history. But betrayal is Trump’s operating principle.”
Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill”, which will eviscerate the living standards, healthcare and aspirations of his white, working-class base, conclusively draws the curtain down on his Maga populist conceit, the most elaborate charade in recent American political history.
The price will be staggering: $1tn in cuts to Medicaid; throwing 17 million people off health coverage closing rural hospitals and women’s health clinics; battering food assistance for families, children and veterans; the virtual destruction of US solar and wind energy manufacturing; limiting access to financial aid for college; and, according to the Yale Budget Lab, adding $3tn to the national debt over the next decade, inexorably leading to raised interest rates, which will depress the housing market. These are the harsh, brutal and undeniable realities of Trumpism in the glare of day as opposed to his carnival act about how he will never touch such benefits.
The president’s Maga populism has been a collection of oddities reminiscent of PT Barnum’s museum on lower Broadway before the civil war that exhibited a 10ft tall fake petrified man, the original bearded lady and the Fiji mermaid, the tail of a large fish sewn on to a bewigged mannequin. Trump attached plutocracy to populism to construct the Maga beast. But after the passage of the bill, the Fiji mermaid that is Maga has come apart at the seams, the head separated from the tail.
“I just want you to know,” Trump said as he signed the bill, “if you see anything negative put out by Democrats, it’s all a con job.” He claimed the law was the “single most popular bill ever signed”. It is, in fact, the most unpopular piece of legislation since George W Bush proposed partial privatization of social security, which he abandoned without a single congressional vote. A Quinnipiac poll showed 53% opposing Trump’s bill, with only 27% support – 26 points underwater.
At a meeting where Trump lobbied Republican House members to vote for his bill, he told them it would not cut Medicaid because that would damage their electoral prospects. “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill,” one Republican member complained to the publication Notus. In response to the obvious contradiction, a White House spokesperson issued a statement that the bill would “protect Medicaid”. Problem solved.
Even if Trump didn’t actually know what was in his bill, too bored to pay attention to minute details or even if he was pulling a con, he coerced the Republicans into walking the plank. If he didn’t know, they certainly knew what was in the bill and they hated it. But they feared his retribution if they did not vote for it, even though it would severely harm their base and trample their own principles. The Freedom Caucus of far-right House members who boldly declared that the debt was the hill they would die on simply folded.
Hopefully, it will soon be the Winter of Discontent because this is the summer of rebranding Fresh Hells.
Well, not quite 5000 words, but very close. 4866
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
I want an overkill button.
Here’s to Ozzy’s last concert. He made my first year of university in the land of Nebraska more meaningful. He’s struggling with Parkinson’s disease.
#TrumpCult #WeAreSoFucked #AlligatorAlcatraz #DanBongino #HarvardCaves #Hellraiser #IRSOksPulpitPolitics #KristiNoemSociopathAndCunt #LongLiveOzzy #lordOfTheLivingDead #PamBondiWeirdo #TariffsAreStillHigh #TomHomanDemonBringer #WhiteChristianNationalists
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Frantic Friday Reads: More Fresh Hells
“What is wrong with you people?” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I can’t decide which is worse. The distractions created to avoid the constant bad news or the events themselves. What I really can’t believe is the number of news outlets that can’t manage to stay on the real headlines. They’ve been bad this week. ICE continues to be the jackbooted thugs: omnipresent and well-funded, as with all fascist-loving monsters. Deportations continue to rock families and communities. The number of deaths from floods and tropical storms is rising while Homeland Security has managed to make Heckuva Job Brownie official. No one has seen the head of FEMA in days now. The only thing we see of Kristi Noem is more trashy outfits. Drunk Pete Hegseth has gone rogue. The attack on the Federal Reserve continues as Yam Tits puts illegal tariffs on Brazil. Evidently, tariff policy is based on the relationship between a country and our dotard FARTUS. Oh, and if your local groups of White Evangelical Christians weren’t annoying enough, they are now allowed by the IRS to fully promote candidates. I can assure that was something they’ve been doing since the 1980s with pulpit talk, egging folks to harass their neighbors. I can’t even imagine the grief local candidates will get with this move.
So, since I’ve been the victim of politicized White Christian Nationalists, I’ll just start with that story. Salon‘s Amanda Marcotte has this analysis. “Trump’s IRS payola for churches will backfire on evangelicals. Millions have already left right-wing Christianity because of politics.” It’s nice to know some are fleeing the alternative facts universe for churches that take all of Jesus’ teachings to heart. I see this battle daily in a lot of Christian friends on Facebook besieged by the ones that I could throw any number of gospel admonitions at that they never seem to hear or read about. They must never cover anything in Matthew or James. Jimmy Swaggert just died, but his dreadful influence lives on.
For liberals living outside the world of the Christian right, it may not seem like a major change. On Monday, the IRS revoked a long-standing rule that stripped tax-exempt status from churches that endorse political candidates. From a horse-race view of elections, this may not make a difference. While conservative pastors may have technically avoided the words “vote for Donald Trump” or “vote for Republicans” in the past, the expectation was transmitted to followers in ways that weren’t exactly subtle: Calling for the reinstatement of prayer in public schools, for “a time of national repentance” in America and even for Supreme Court vacancies to allow for the appointment of “righteous” judges.
Nor was it just that right-wing ministers were expressing Republican-shaped views about everything from LGBTQ rights to tax laws from the pulpit. Outside church walls, the massive ecosphere of Christian media hammered the message day in and day out: Democrats are demonic, and voting for them will send you to hell.
Predictably, many on the Christian right rejoiced over the decision. Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor who claimed the IRS investigated him for supporting Donald Trump, told ABC News, “The IRS has no business dictating what can be said from the pulpit.” Craig DeRoche of the Christian Post argued, falsely, that the rule existed “not to protect democracy, but to silence opposition.”
It’s not a surprise that right-wing ministers are salivating at the chance to cater to powerful politicians while simultaneously keeping more money in their pockets. But this decision is shortsighted, particularly if they want to stymie the already significant losses in membership rolls that Christian churches have seen in the past couple of decades. They may come to rue the day they took what amounts to payola to champion Trump ahead of Jesus Christ.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that Trump will benefit from this politically, even if he, as he clearly hopes, gets the go-ahead from the Supreme Court for an illegal campaign for a third term. He has already captured the white evangelical vote to the tune of 80 percent in 2024, and although his approval numbers have slipped with most other demographics, these supporters have remained steadfast. Even if ministers had been allowed to endorse in the last presidential election cycle, it’s unlikely Trump would have done better among white evangelicals.
But Trump has an insatiable need for praise, and he has long been fixated on repealing the Johnson Amendment, which is the rule that prevented ministers from open endorsement. For Republicans in state and local races, this is a big deal. Campaign finance spending will go much further if directed to churches, where donors get a tax deduction, instead of to political parties and action groups, which cannot offer that benefit.
If they want the benefit of overt political action, then the IRS should drop their tax exemptions. As a long-time member of both Presbyterian and Methodist denominations at one time, I’ve participated eagerly in Social Justice Actions. These benefit a particular group of people and not one politician or party, and allow you to work for a principal. It’s a big difference. There’s no reason they can’t do their traditional callings without being servile to the likes of Yam Tits. But, then this has become a whole ‘nother country. The lessening of support for ICE Actions against legal immigrants and people in the process of becoming legal has turned the page on the popularity of Trump’s actions. I heard the Good Samaritan parable a lot, and when I was a Sunday School teacher, it was still central to Methodist theology. Perhaps, the lessons stuck with many.
Here’s how it’s going on the frontline. This is from NBC News. “ICE handcuffs 71-year-old grandmother, a U.S. citizen, at San Diego immigration court. Barbara Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for hours, according to her family; she was accused of pushing an ICE officer, which she denies.
A grandmother planning to document Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at the San Diego courthouse instead became herself the story on Tuesday, after video of her arrest began circulating online.
The 71-year-old woman, U.S. citizen Barbara Stone, was accused of pushing an ICE agent and was placed in custody for several hours. Stone denied the allegation to NBC 7 on Wednesday.
Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for eight hours, according to her family.
“I have a large bruise there,” Stone said on Wednesday. “I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”
A video of the incident shared with NBC 7 shows the moment tensions started to boil over.
NBC 7 made several attempts to contact ICE about the incident but was referred to the Federal Protective Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. FPS has not responded to a request for comment.
It takes some real men to be threated by a 71 year-old grandmother with a clipboard and pen. Gallup Poll reports that the “Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated.” This is reported by Lydia Saad.
Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.
These shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021 and reflect changes among all major party groups.
With illegal border crossings down sharply this year, fewer Americans than in June 2024 back hard-line border enforcement measures, while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
These findings are based on a June 2-26 Gallup poll of 1,402 U.S. adults, including oversamples of Hispanic and Black Americans, weighted to match national demographics.
The same poll finds many more Americans disapproving than approving of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration. Trump’s 21% approval rating on the issue among Hispanic adults is below his 35% rating nationally, with the deficit likely reflecting that group’s low support for some of the administration’s signature immigration policies.
After climbing to 55% in 2024, the percentage of Americans who say immigration should be reduced has dropped by nearly half to 30%. Sentiment is thus back to the level measured in 2021, before the desire for less immigration started to mount. Meanwhile, 38% now want immigration kept at its current level, and 26% say it should be increased.
I guess they finally got the message that their food and many items will be hard to find and expensive to buy if this continues. Just a little of me wants to say it because their mamas taught them a few things about loving their neighbors. Fortunately, and with the help of Congressman Steve Scalise, hundreds of letters written by neighbors brought Mandonna Kashanian back to her home in the Lake Front area of New Orleans and to her American husband of 35 years and daughter. This is from local TV station WDSU. I can’t tell you the ugly, nasty letters filled with misinformation that accompanied news about Mrs. Kashanian. It seems people feel the need to be downright hateful these days.
The worst headline I’ve seen on how we treat folks trying to immigrate here is the ones about spiriting them off to hellholes from which they will not return. Many of them are abroad. “‘We find another country’: Homan says Trump administration looking to make deals with several countries to accept deportees.The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody. The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.” The so-called border czar is the gatekeeper to hell. This headline is from Politico as reported by Myah Ward and Kyle Cheney.
Border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration hopes to forge deals with “many countries” to accept deported migrants from the United States — when their home countries can’t, or won’t, take them back.
Homan spoke with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for The Conversation in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for eight men to be deported to South Sudan, a nation that the State Department has warned Americans is too dangerous for all but essential personnel.
Homan said he was unsure of the status of the eight men — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.
“They’re living in Sudan. And will they stay in Sudan? I don’t know,” he said. “When we sign these agreements with all these countries, we make arrangements to make sure these countries are receiving these people and there’s opportunities for these people. But I can’t tell if we remove somebody to Sudan — they can stay there a week and leave. I don’t know.”
The deportations to places like South Sudan and El Salvador where migrants have no connections have raised concerns among lawyers and immigrant advocates who fear for the men’s safety in countries with a history of human rights violations.
Past administrations have also deported foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties, but Trump’s deals have drawn more scrutiny — both with South Sudan, one of the most dangerous and war-torn nations on earth, and El Salvador, where migrants were sent to the country’s notorious mega-prison.
We all know now that we too are home to a hellhole not suprisingly placed in Florida. There are cages for everyone there. So-called Alligator Alcatraz has not allowed detainees to see their lawyers, nor will it allow Florida Congress members to see the facility, calling it “unsafe.” Local ABC News affiiate, Channel 7, has this headline. “DHS disputes dire conditions at Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is denying reports of improper living conditions for detainees at Alligator Alcatraz after reports of a hospitalization surfaced.
Reports this week have claimed that the detainees at the detention facility in the Florida Everglades are surrounded by toilets that don’t flush, temperatures ranging from freezing to sweltering, little to no access to showers, less confidential calls with an attorney, and even a hospitalization, according to the Miami Herald.
However, DHS took to X to debunk those claims, stating that the detainees are properly cared for.
Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said on X that no detainees at Alligator Alcatraz have been hospitalized. She continued to state that one was transported but was returned to the detention center in an hour and a half.
According to our news partners at CBS News Miami, one of the detainees living in poor conditions at the detention center is Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, who was arrested in Miami-Dade County for assault. He claims there’s no water to shower, the lights stay on all day, and the food is limited and sometimes spoiled.
In a phone call to CBS News Miami, La Figura described the conditions he and the other detainees are facing.
“I am Leamsy La Figura. We’ve been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There’s over 400 people here. There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath,” he said.
The facility is run by the state of Florida. CBS News Miami has reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) for comment on the alleged conditions.
Additionally, CBS News Miami said that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade is asking for access to the detention facility due to concerns over reported deaths and dangerous conditions at immigration centers across the state.
Mayor Levine Cava has said that a total of five people have died while in immigration custody in Florida so far.
As more information about Trump, Epstein, and underage girls comes to light. I’m sure we’re going to get more distractions as well as more bumbling of floods and their victims. Wired has this up today about Epstein’s death. Rumors are flying about like the flies and mosquitoes around Alligator Alcatraz. “Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified. There is no evidence the footage was deceptively manipulated, but ambiguities around how the video was processed may further fuel conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death.” I’m sure MAGA will be excited about this.
The United States Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell the night before he was found dead. The release was intended to address conspiracy theories about Epstein’s apparent suicide in federal custody. But instead of putting those suspicions to rest, it may fuel them further.
Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by WIRED and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro. The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as “raw” footage.
Experts caution that it’s unclear what exactly was changed, and that the metadata does not prove deceptive manipulation. The video may have simply been processed for public release using available software, with no modifications beyond stitching together two clips. But the absence of a clear explanation for the processing of the file using professional editing software complicates the Justice Department’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the ambiguity surrounding how the file was processed is likely to provide fresh fodder for conspiracy theories.
Remember all this happened, under Trump’s first administration, albeit it was more competent than this one. There is a scoop at Axios that might light a fire under the entire Epstein affairs. This is reported by Marc Caputo. It feels like a mic drop. “Scoop: FBI’s Dan Bongino clashes with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files.” We could have a new Agatha Christie adventure called Death by Rumor. Remind me, this is a Friday right? The traditional slow news day?
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.
Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn’t have a celebrity “client list,” and that he wasn’t murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.
- Bongino didn’t come to work Friday, leading some insiders to believe he had quit. But administration officials say he’s still on the job, even as the internal tension over the Epstein case continues.
- A source close to Bongino, though, said “he ain’t coming back.”
Zoom in: At the center of the argument: a surveillance video from outside Epstein’s cell that the administration released, saying it was proof no one had entered the room before he killed himself.
- The 10-hour video had what has widely been called a “missing minute,” fueling conspiracy theories in MAGA’s online world about a cover-up involving Epstein’s death.
- The “missing minute,” authorities say, stemmed from an old surveillance recording system that goes down each day at midnight to reset and record anew. It takes a minute for that process to occur, which effectively means that 60 seconds of every day aren’t recorded.
- Bongino — who had pushed Epstein conspiracy theories as a MAGA-friendly podcast host before President Trump appointed him to help lead the FBI — had found the video and touted it publicly and privately as proof that Epstein hadn’t been murdered.
That conclusion — shared by FBI Director Kash Patel, another conspiracy theorist-turned-insider — angered many in Trump’s MAGA base, criticism that increased after Axios first reported the release of the video and a related memo.
- After the video’s “missing minute” was discovered, Bongino was blamed internally for the oversight, according to three sources.
- Two sources familiar with Bongino’s position say he was increasingly displeased with Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case because she had publicly overpromised and underdelivered disclosures about an Epstein “client list” that apparently never existed.
The intrigue: MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, a Bondi critic, first reported Friday on X that Bongino left work and that he and Patel were “furious” with the way Bondi had handled the case.
- Some Trump advisers have criticized Bondi, but Trump “loves Pam and thinks she’s great,” a senior White House official said.
- Those witnessing the Wednesday clash between Bondi and Bongino in the White House were Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich.
Inside the room: During the meeting, Bongino was confronted about a NewsNation article that said he and Patel wanted more information released about Epstein earlier, but were held back. Bongino denied leaking that idea.
- “Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms,” said one person briefed on the heated discussion. Bongino left angry, the source said.
I’m only going to show the headline for this one from the WSJ. It just shows how much institutions are caving to presidential interference. “Harvard Explores New Center for Conservative Scholarship Amid Trump Attacks. The Ivy League school has discussed an effort to ‘support viewpoint diversity’ with potential donors, says it ‘will not be partisan’.” I suppose the devil is in the details here. Traditional American Conservatism is not what we generally see today.
Harvard leaders have discussed creating a program that people briefed on the talks described as a center for conservative scholarship, possibly modeled on Stanford’s Hoover Institution, as the school fights the Trump administration’s accusations that it is too liberal.
The idea has circulated at the university for several years but gained steam after pro-Palestinian protests began disrupting campus in late 2023. Harvard has discussed the effort with potential donors, people familiar with the matter said. The cost of creating such a center could run somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion, a person familiar with Harvard’s thinking estimated.
A spokesman for Harvard said an initiative under discussion “will ensure exposure to the broadest ranges of perspectives on issues, and will not be partisan, but rather will model the use of evidence-based, rigorous logic and a willingness to engage with opposing views.” He added that the school has been accelerating efforts to set up the initiative, which would “promote and support viewpoint diversity.”
A 2024 survey by Harvard found that only one-third of the college’s graduating class felt comfortable discussing controversial topics, and a 2023 survey by the student newspaper found that just 3% of faculty at Harvard College identified as politically conservative.
Harvard President Alan Garber helped promote an “intellectual vitality” program to reinvigorate debate on campus and ensure students engage in discussions free of self-censorship.
Okay, one last topic. It’s a big one. Trump is basically giving tariff exemptions to countries he likes. He’s throwing random tariffs at countries that do not please him. There’s a lot on this today, including some major analysis by Paul Krugman. Let me just list these reads so you my check them out. I’m glad to answer any questions regarding the application of tariffs in the comments. I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll leave the legal analysis to those who are.
Rebecca Ratcliffe / The Guardian: Shunned Myanmar leader thrilled at US contact after Trump tariff letter
Myanmar’s military leader has praised Donald Trump and asked him to lift sanctions, as the junta sought to capitalise on a tariff letter from the US president believed to be Washington’s first public recognition of its rule.
Min Aung Hlaing, who has been in power since a 2021 coup, expressed his “sincere appreciation” for Trump’s letter, which threatened a tariff of 40% on its goods, and commended the US president or his “strong leadership” and for guiding the US “toward national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot”.
US diplomats do not officially engage with Min Aung Hlaing or the ruling junta, which seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It was among a tranche of almost identical letters sent by Trump to world leaders on Monday.
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice: An embarrassing exercise in economic and diplomatic futility
Donald Trump just escalated his mindlessly self-destructive trade war against our (former) economic allies — again.
On Monday, Trump sent rambling letters informing 14 nations, including major trading partners Japan and South Korea, that the US government was slapping them with significantly higher tariffs as of August 1. These tariffs are separate from his previously announced sectoral tariffs on automobiles, steel, and aluminum. (This week, he also announced a 50 percent tariff on copper imports for August 1.) Trump sent more letters sporadically through the week, with an especially bonkers one to Brazil threatening a 50 percent tariff if the government proceeds with its prosecution of Trump’s partner in coups, Jair Bolsonaro.
Then, as this newsletter was being finalized yesterday, Trump announced a new 35 percent tariff on Canada, citing debunked claims about the country turning a blind eye to fentanyl flowing into the United States.
Trump’s new August 1 deadline is completely arbitrary, and his tariff numbers aren’t grounded in any rational economic policy. As everyone seems to understand but the president and his sycophants, these new tariffs will result in increased prices on goods Americans need and can’t magically produce ourselves. Other nations won’t shoulder the costs from tariffs. We will.
And hereis the link to Paul Krugman’s latest. “Trump’s Brazil Tariff Is Blatantly Illegal. Shouldn’t someone be suing?” And here I am still laughing over him writing to the Japanese PM Ishba as Mister Japan. Krugman writes at his SubStack.
I wrote the other day about Trump’s Brazil tariff, which is, as I said, evil and megalomaniacal. But I forgot to point out that it’s blatantly illegal. Maybe — probably — the Supreme Court is so corrupt at this point that it will ratify anything Trump does. But can’t we at least put them on the spot? Can’t we force Scott Bessent to explain why he supports such a grotesque abuse of presidential power?
Let’s be clear: U.S. law does give the executive branch a lot of discretion to impose tariffs without additional legislation. It does this for a reason: Temporary tariffs were intended to serve as a political pressure-release valve that would make low tariffs emerging from international agreements sustainable. This worked well as long as we had responsible presidents; it has been a disaster under Trump. Still, he does have a lot of legal authority to set tariffs.
But that authority is by no means open-ended. Tariffs can be imposed only for specific reasons:
Section 201: Market disruption Basically, if a sudden import surge puts a U.S. industry in danger, temporary tariffs can be imposed to give the industry time to adapt
Section 232: National security Tariffs can be used to sustain industries we might need during international confrontations
Section 301: Unfair practices Tariffs can be used to offset, say, foreign export subsidies
Anti-dumping duties Tariffs can be imposed when foreign companies are selling below cost
International Economic Emergency The president has broad tariff-setting powers during an economic crisis
Trump has hugely abused all these justifications, especially the last. There is no economic emergency. According to Trump himself, things are great …
And, remember it’s just a litttle rain and the average price of gas in New Orleans isn’t $2.76. It’s $1.98.
Okay, one more and I may hit a record of 5000 words in one post. The deal is that there is so much shit going on I’d need a magazine to publish just the excerpts. What Fresh Hell is this? This is from Sidney Blumenthal writing at The Guardian. “Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is the ultimate betrayal of his base. The measure exposes the most elaborate charade in recent US political history. But betrayal is Trump’s operating principle.”
Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill”, which will eviscerate the living standards, healthcare and aspirations of his white, working-class base, conclusively draws the curtain down on his Maga populist conceit, the most elaborate charade in recent American political history.
The price will be staggering: $1tn in cuts to Medicaid; throwing 17 million people off health coverage closing rural hospitals and women’s health clinics; battering food assistance for families, children and veterans; the virtual destruction of US solar and wind energy manufacturing; limiting access to financial aid for college; and, according to the Yale Budget Lab, adding $3tn to the national debt over the next decade, inexorably leading to raised interest rates, which will depress the housing market. These are the harsh, brutal and undeniable realities of Trumpism in the glare of day as opposed to his carnival act about how he will never touch such benefits.
The president’s Maga populism has been a collection of oddities reminiscent of PT Barnum’s museum on lower Broadway before the civil war that exhibited a 10ft tall fake petrified man, the original bearded lady and the Fiji mermaid, the tail of a large fish sewn on to a bewigged mannequin. Trump attached plutocracy to populism to construct the Maga beast. But after the passage of the bill, the Fiji mermaid that is Maga has come apart at the seams, the head separated from the tail.
“I just want you to know,” Trump said as he signed the bill, “if you see anything negative put out by Democrats, it’s all a con job.” He claimed the law was the “single most popular bill ever signed”. It is, in fact, the most unpopular piece of legislation since George W Bush proposed partial privatization of social security, which he abandoned without a single congressional vote. A Quinnipiac poll showed 53% opposing Trump’s bill, with only 27% support – 26 points underwater.
At a meeting where Trump lobbied Republican House members to vote for his bill, he told them it would not cut Medicaid because that would damage their electoral prospects. “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill,” one Republican member complained to the publication Notus. In response to the obvious contradiction, a White House spokesperson issued a statement that the bill would “protect Medicaid”. Problem solved.
Even if Trump didn’t actually know what was in his bill, too bored to pay attention to minute details or even if he was pulling a con, he coerced the Republicans into walking the plank. If he didn’t know, they certainly knew what was in the bill and they hated it. But they feared his retribution if they did not vote for it, even though it would severely harm their base and trample their own principles. The Freedom Caucus of far-right House members who boldly declared that the debt was the hill they would die on simply folded.
Hopefully, it will soon be the Winter of Discontent because this is the summer of rebranding Fresh Hells.
Well, not quite 5000 words, but very close. 4866
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
I want an overkill button.
Here’s to Ozzy’s last concert. He made my first year of university in the land of Nebraska more meaningful. He’s struggling with Parkinson’s disease.
#TrumpCult #WeAreSoFucked #AlligatorAlcatraz #DanBongino #HarvardCaves #Hellraiser #IRSOksPulpitPolitics #KristiNoemSociopathAndCunt #LongLiveOzzy #lordOfTheLivingDead #PamBondiWeirdo #TariffsAreStillHigh #TomHomanDemonBringer #WhiteChristianNationalists
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Frantic Friday Reads: More Fresh Hells
“What is wrong with you people?” John Buss, @repeat1968
Good Day, Sky Dancers!
I can’t decide which is worse. The distractions created to avoid the constant bad news or the events themselves. What I really can’t believe is the number of news outlets that can’t manage to stay on the real headlines. They’ve been bad this week. ICE continues to be the jackbooted thugs: omnipresent and well-funded, as with all fascist-loving monsters. Deportations continue to rock families and communities. The number of deaths from floods and tropical storms is rising while Homeland Security has managed to make Heckuva Job Brownie official. No one has seen the head of FEMA in days now. The only thing we see of Kristi Noem is more trashy outfits. Drunk Pete Hegseth has gone rogue. The attack on the Federal Reserve continues as Yam Tits puts illegal tariffs on Brazil. Evidently, tariff policy is based on the relationship between a country and our dotard FARTUS. Oh, and if your local groups of White Evangelical Christians weren’t annoying enough, they are now allowed by the IRS to fully promote candidates. I can assure that was something they’ve been doing since the 1980s with pulpit talk, egging folks to harass their neighbors. I can’t even imagine the grief local candidates will get with this move.
So, since I’ve been the victim of politicized White Christian Nationalists, I’ll just start with that story. Salon‘s Amanda Marcotte has this analysis. “Trump’s IRS payola for churches will backfire on evangelicals. Millions have already left right-wing Christianity because of politics.” It’s nice to know some are fleeing the alternative facts universe for churches that take all of Jesus’ teachings to heart. I see this battle daily in a lot of Christian friends on Facebook besieged by the ones that I could throw any number of gospel admonitions at that they never seem to hear or read about. They must never cover anything in Matthew or James. Jimmy Swaggert just died, but his dreadful influence lives on.
For liberals living outside the world of the Christian right, it may not seem like a major change. On Monday, the IRS revoked a long-standing rule that stripped tax-exempt status from churches that endorse political candidates. From a horse-race view of elections, this may not make a difference. While conservative pastors may have technically avoided the words “vote for Donald Trump” or “vote for Republicans” in the past, the expectation was transmitted to followers in ways that weren’t exactly subtle: Calling for the reinstatement of prayer in public schools, for “a time of national repentance” in America and even for Supreme Court vacancies to allow for the appointment of “righteous” judges.
Nor was it just that right-wing ministers were expressing Republican-shaped views about everything from LGBTQ rights to tax laws from the pulpit. Outside church walls, the massive ecosphere of Christian media hammered the message day in and day out: Democrats are demonic, and voting for them will send you to hell.
Predictably, many on the Christian right rejoiced over the decision. Robert Jeffress, a Texas megachurch pastor who claimed the IRS investigated him for supporting Donald Trump, told ABC News, “The IRS has no business dictating what can be said from the pulpit.” Craig DeRoche of the Christian Post argued, falsely, that the rule existed “not to protect democracy, but to silence opposition.”
It’s not a surprise that right-wing ministers are salivating at the chance to cater to powerful politicians while simultaneously keeping more money in their pockets. But this decision is shortsighted, particularly if they want to stymie the already significant losses in membership rolls that Christian churches have seen in the past couple of decades. They may come to rue the day they took what amounts to payola to champion Trump ahead of Jesus Christ.
Frankly, it’s hard to imagine that Trump will benefit from this politically, even if he, as he clearly hopes, gets the go-ahead from the Supreme Court for an illegal campaign for a third term. He has already captured the white evangelical vote to the tune of 80 percent in 2024, and although his approval numbers have slipped with most other demographics, these supporters have remained steadfast. Even if ministers had been allowed to endorse in the last presidential election cycle, it’s unlikely Trump would have done better among white evangelicals.
But Trump has an insatiable need for praise, and he has long been fixated on repealing the Johnson Amendment, which is the rule that prevented ministers from open endorsement. For Republicans in state and local races, this is a big deal. Campaign finance spending will go much further if directed to churches, where donors get a tax deduction, instead of to political parties and action groups, which cannot offer that benefit.
If they want the benefit of overt political action, then the IRS should drop their tax exemptions. As a long-time member of both Presbyterian and Methodist denominations at one time, I’ve participated eagerly in Social Justice Actions. These benefit a particular group of people and not one politician or party, and allow you to work for a principal. It’s a big difference. There’s no reason they can’t do their traditional callings without being servile to the likes of Yam Tits. But, then this has become a whole ‘nother country. The lessening of support for ICE Actions against legal immigrants and people in the process of becoming legal has turned the page on the popularity of Trump’s actions. I heard the Good Samaritan parable a lot, and when I was a Sunday School teacher, it was still central to Methodist theology. Perhaps, the lessons stuck with many.
Here’s how it’s going on the frontline. This is from NBC News. “ICE handcuffs 71-year-old grandmother, a U.S. citizen, at San Diego immigration court. Barbara Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for hours, according to her family; she was accused of pushing an ICE officer, which she denies.
A grandmother planning to document Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests at the San Diego courthouse instead became herself the story on Tuesday, after video of her arrest began circulating online.
The 71-year-old woman, U.S. citizen Barbara Stone, was accused of pushing an ICE agent and was placed in custody for several hours. Stone denied the allegation to NBC 7 on Wednesday.
Stone was handcuffed and held by federal agents for eight hours, according to her family.
“I have a large bruise there,” Stone said on Wednesday. “I feel mentally and physically traumatized.”
A video of the incident shared with NBC 7 shows the moment tensions started to boil over.
NBC 7 made several attempts to contact ICE about the incident but was referred to the Federal Protective Service, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security. FPS has not responded to a request for comment.
It takes some real men to be threated by a 71 year-old grandmother with a clipboard and pen. Gallup Poll reports that the “Surge in U.S. Concern About Immigration Has Abated.” This is reported by Lydia Saad.
Americans have grown markedly more positive toward immigration over the past year, with the share wanting immigration reduced dropping from 55% in 2024 to 30% today. At the same time, a record-high 79% of U.S. adults say immigration is a good thing for the country.
These shifts reverse a four-year trend of rising concern about immigration that began in 2021 and reflect changes among all major party groups.
With illegal border crossings down sharply this year, fewer Americans than in June 2024 back hard-line border enforcement measures, while more favor offering pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
These findings are based on a June 2-26 Gallup poll of 1,402 U.S. adults, including oversamples of Hispanic and Black Americans, weighted to match national demographics.
The same poll finds many more Americans disapproving than approving of President Donald Trump’s handling of immigration. Trump’s 21% approval rating on the issue among Hispanic adults is below his 35% rating nationally, with the deficit likely reflecting that group’s low support for some of the administration’s signature immigration policies.
After climbing to 55% in 2024, the percentage of Americans who say immigration should be reduced has dropped by nearly half to 30%. Sentiment is thus back to the level measured in 2021, before the desire for less immigration started to mount. Meanwhile, 38% now want immigration kept at its current level, and 26% say it should be increased.
I guess they finally got the message that their food and many items will be hard to find and expensive to buy if this continues. Just a little of me wants to say it because their mamas taught them a few things about loving their neighbors. Fortunately, and with the help of Congressman Steve Scalise, hundreds of letters written by neighbors brought Mandonna Kashanian back to her home in the Lake Front area of New Orleans and to her American husband of 35 years and daughter. This is from local TV station WDSU. I can’t tell you the ugly, nasty letters filled with misinformation that accompanied news about Mrs. Kashanian. It seems people feel the need to be downright hateful these days.
The worst headline I’ve seen on how we treat folks trying to immigrate here is the ones about spiriting them off to hellholes from which they will not return. Many of them are abroad. “‘We find another country’: Homan says Trump administration looking to make deals with several countries to accept deportees.The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody. The border czar also said he was unsure of the status of the eight men recently sent to South Sudan — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.” The so-called border czar is the gatekeeper to hell. This headline is from Politico as reported by Myah Ward and Kyle Cheney.
Border czar Tom Homan said the Trump administration hopes to forge deals with “many countries” to accept deported migrants from the United States — when their home countries can’t, or won’t, take them back.
Homan spoke with POLITICO’s Dasha Burns for The Conversation in the wake of a recent Supreme Court ruling that cleared the way for eight men to be deported to South Sudan, a nation that the State Department has warned Americans is too dangerous for all but essential personnel.
Homan said he was unsure of the status of the eight men — or whether they are detained there — saying that they are no longer in U.S. custody.
“They’re living in Sudan. And will they stay in Sudan? I don’t know,” he said. “When we sign these agreements with all these countries, we make arrangements to make sure these countries are receiving these people and there’s opportunities for these people. But I can’t tell if we remove somebody to Sudan — they can stay there a week and leave. I don’t know.”
The deportations to places like South Sudan and El Salvador where migrants have no connections have raised concerns among lawyers and immigrant advocates who fear for the men’s safety in countries with a history of human rights violations.
Past administrations have also deported foreigners to countries where they have no previous ties, but Trump’s deals have drawn more scrutiny — both with South Sudan, one of the most dangerous and war-torn nations on earth, and El Salvador, where migrants were sent to the country’s notorious mega-prison.
We all know now that we too are home to a hellhole not suprisingly placed in Florida. There are cages for everyone there. So-called Alligator Alcatraz has not allowed detainees to see their lawyers, nor will it allow Florida Congress members to see the facility, calling it “unsafe.” Local ABC News affiiate, Channel 7, has this headline. “DHS disputes dire conditions at Alligator Alcatraz.”
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is denying reports of improper living conditions for detainees at Alligator Alcatraz after reports of a hospitalization surfaced.
Reports this week have claimed that the detainees at the detention facility in the Florida Everglades are surrounded by toilets that don’t flush, temperatures ranging from freezing to sweltering, little to no access to showers, less confidential calls with an attorney, and even a hospitalization, according to the Miami Herald.
However, DHS took to X to debunk those claims, stating that the detainees are properly cared for.
Furthermore, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Tricia McLaughlin, said on X that no detainees at Alligator Alcatraz have been hospitalized. She continued to state that one was transported but was returned to the detention center in an hour and a half.
According to our news partners at CBS News Miami, one of the detainees living in poor conditions at the detention center is Cuban reggaeton artist Leamsy La Figura, who was arrested in Miami-Dade County for assault. He claims there’s no water to shower, the lights stay on all day, and the food is limited and sometimes spoiled.
In a phone call to CBS News Miami, La Figura described the conditions he and the other detainees are facing.
“I am Leamsy La Figura. We’ve been here at Alcatraz since Friday. There’s over 400 people here. There’s no water to take a bath, it’s been four days since I’ve taken a bath,” he said.
The facility is run by the state of Florida. CBS News Miami has reached out to the Florida Department of Emergency Management (FDEM) for comment on the alleged conditions.
Additionally, CBS News Miami said that Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade is asking for access to the detention facility due to concerns over reported deaths and dangerous conditions at immigration centers across the state.
Mayor Levine Cava has said that a total of five people have died while in immigration custody in Florida so far.
As more information about Trump, Epstein, and underage girls comes to light. I’m sure we’re going to get more distractions as well as more bumbling of floods and their victims. Wired has this up today about Epstein’s death. Rumors are flying about like the flies and mosquitoes around Alligator Alcatraz. “Metadata Shows the FBI’s ‘Raw’ Jeffrey Epstein Prison Video Was Likely Modified. There is no evidence the footage was deceptively manipulated, but ambiguities around how the video was processed may further fuel conspiracy theories about Epstein’s death.” I’m sure MAGA will be excited about this.
The United States Department of Justice this week released nearly 11 hours of what it described as “full raw” surveillance footage from a camera positioned near Jeffrey Epstein’s prison cell the night before he was found dead. The release was intended to address conspiracy theories about Epstein’s apparent suicide in federal custody. But instead of putting those suspicions to rest, it may fuel them further.
Metadata embedded in the video and analyzed by WIRED and independent video forensics experts shows that rather than being a direct export from the prison’s surveillance system, the footage was modified, likely using the professional editing tool Adobe Premiere Pro. The file appears to have been assembled from at least two source clips, saved multiple times, exported, and then uploaded to the DOJ’s website, where it was presented as “raw” footage.
Experts caution that it’s unclear what exactly was changed, and that the metadata does not prove deceptive manipulation. The video may have simply been processed for public release using available software, with no modifications beyond stitching together two clips. But the absence of a clear explanation for the processing of the file using professional editing software complicates the Justice Department’s narrative. In a case already clouded by suspicion, the ambiguity surrounding how the file was processed is likely to provide fresh fodder for conspiracy theories.
Remember all this happened, under Trump’s first administration, albeit it was more competent than this one. There is a scoop at Axios that might light a fire under the entire Epstein affairs. This is reported by Marc Caputo. It feels like a mic drop. “Scoop: FBI’s Dan Bongino clashes with AG Bondi over handling of Epstein files.” We could have a new Agatha Christie adventure called Death by Rumor. Remind me, this is a Friday right? The traditional slow news day?
FBI deputy director Dan Bongino took a day off from work Friday after clashing at the White House with Attorney General Pam Bondi over their handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files, four sources familiar with the conflict told Axios.
Why it matters: The dispute erupted Wednesday amid the fallout of the administration walking back its claims about Epstein by determining the convicted sex offender didn’t have a celebrity “client list,” and that he wasn’t murdered in his New York City prison cell in 2019.
- Bongino didn’t come to work Friday, leading some insiders to believe he had quit. But administration officials say he’s still on the job, even as the internal tension over the Epstein case continues.
- A source close to Bongino, though, said “he ain’t coming back.”
Zoom in: At the center of the argument: a surveillance video from outside Epstein’s cell that the administration released, saying it was proof no one had entered the room before he killed himself.
- The 10-hour video had what has widely been called a “missing minute,” fueling conspiracy theories in MAGA’s online world about a cover-up involving Epstein’s death.
- The “missing minute,” authorities say, stemmed from an old surveillance recording system that goes down each day at midnight to reset and record anew. It takes a minute for that process to occur, which effectively means that 60 seconds of every day aren’t recorded.
- Bongino — who had pushed Epstein conspiracy theories as a MAGA-friendly podcast host before President Trump appointed him to help lead the FBI — had found the video and touted it publicly and privately as proof that Epstein hadn’t been murdered.
That conclusion — shared by FBI Director Kash Patel, another conspiracy theorist-turned-insider — angered many in Trump’s MAGA base, criticism that increased after Axios first reported the release of the video and a related memo.
- After the video’s “missing minute” was discovered, Bongino was blamed internally for the oversight, according to three sources.
- Two sources familiar with Bongino’s position say he was increasingly displeased with Bondi’s handling of the Epstein case because she had publicly overpromised and underdelivered disclosures about an Epstein “client list” that apparently never existed.
The intrigue: MAGA influencer Laura Loomer, a Bondi critic, first reported Friday on X that Bongino left work and that he and Patel were “furious” with the way Bondi had handled the case.
- Some Trump advisers have criticized Bondi, but Trump “loves Pam and thinks she’s great,” a senior White House official said.
- Those witnessing the Wednesday clash between Bondi and Bongino in the White House were Patel, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles and Deputy Chief of Staff Taylor Budowich.
Inside the room: During the meeting, Bongino was confronted about a NewsNation article that said he and Patel wanted more information released about Epstein earlier, but were held back. Bongino denied leaking that idea.
- “Pam said her piece. Dan said his piece. It didn’t end on friendly terms,” said one person briefed on the heated discussion. Bongino left angry, the source said.
I’m only going to show the headline for this one from the WSJ. It just shows how much institutions are caving to presidential interference. “Harvard Explores New Center for Conservative Scholarship Amid Trump Attacks. The Ivy League school has discussed an effort to ‘support viewpoint diversity’ with potential donors, says it ‘will not be partisan’.” I suppose the devil is in the details here. Traditional American Conservatism is not what we generally see today.
Harvard leaders have discussed creating a program that people briefed on the talks described as a center for conservative scholarship, possibly modeled on Stanford’s Hoover Institution, as the school fights the Trump administration’s accusations that it is too liberal.
The idea has circulated at the university for several years but gained steam after pro-Palestinian protests began disrupting campus in late 2023. Harvard has discussed the effort with potential donors, people familiar with the matter said. The cost of creating such a center could run somewhere between $500 million and $1 billion, a person familiar with Harvard’s thinking estimated.
A spokesman for Harvard said an initiative under discussion “will ensure exposure to the broadest ranges of perspectives on issues, and will not be partisan, but rather will model the use of evidence-based, rigorous logic and a willingness to engage with opposing views.” He added that the school has been accelerating efforts to set up the initiative, which would “promote and support viewpoint diversity.”
A 2024 survey by Harvard found that only one-third of the college’s graduating class felt comfortable discussing controversial topics, and a 2023 survey by the student newspaper found that just 3% of faculty at Harvard College identified as politically conservative.
Harvard President Alan Garber helped promote an “intellectual vitality” program to reinvigorate debate on campus and ensure students engage in discussions free of self-censorship.
Okay, one last topic. It’s a big one. Trump is basically giving tariff exemptions to countries he likes. He’s throwing random tariffs at countries that do not please him. There’s a lot on this today, including some major analysis by Paul Krugman. Let me just list these reads so you my check them out. I’m glad to answer any questions regarding the application of tariffs in the comments. I’m not a lawyer, so I’ll leave the legal analysis to those who are.
Rebecca Ratcliffe / The Guardian: Shunned Myanmar leader thrilled at US contact after Trump tariff letter
Myanmar’s military leader has praised Donald Trump and asked him to lift sanctions, as the junta sought to capitalise on a tariff letter from the US president believed to be Washington’s first public recognition of its rule.
Min Aung Hlaing, who has been in power since a 2021 coup, expressed his “sincere appreciation” for Trump’s letter, which threatened a tariff of 40% on its goods, and commended the US president or his “strong leadership” and for guiding the US “toward national prosperity with the spirit of a true patriot”.
US diplomats do not officially engage with Min Aung Hlaing or the ruling junta, which seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. It was among a tranche of almost identical letters sent by Trump to world leaders on Monday.
Stephen Robinson / Public Notice: An embarrassing exercise in economic and diplomatic futility
Donald Trump just escalated his mindlessly self-destructive trade war against our (former) economic allies — again.
On Monday, Trump sent rambling letters informing 14 nations, including major trading partners Japan and South Korea, that the US government was slapping them with significantly higher tariffs as of August 1. These tariffs are separate from his previously announced sectoral tariffs on automobiles, steel, and aluminum. (This week, he also announced a 50 percent tariff on copper imports for August 1.) Trump sent more letters sporadically through the week, with an especially bonkers one to Brazil threatening a 50 percent tariff if the government proceeds with its prosecution of Trump’s partner in coups, Jair Bolsonaro.
Then, as this newsletter was being finalized yesterday, Trump announced a new 35 percent tariff on Canada, citing debunked claims about the country turning a blind eye to fentanyl flowing into the United States.
Trump’s new August 1 deadline is completely arbitrary, and his tariff numbers aren’t grounded in any rational economic policy. As everyone seems to understand but the president and his sycophants, these new tariffs will result in increased prices on goods Americans need and can’t magically produce ourselves. Other nations won’t shoulder the costs from tariffs. We will.
And hereis the link to Paul Krugman’s latest. “Trump’s Brazil Tariff Is Blatantly Illegal. Shouldn’t someone be suing?” And here I am still laughing over him writing to the Japanese PM Ishba as Mister Japan. Krugman writes at his SubStack.
I wrote the other day about Trump’s Brazil tariff, which is, as I said, evil and megalomaniacal. But I forgot to point out that it’s blatantly illegal. Maybe — probably — the Supreme Court is so corrupt at this point that it will ratify anything Trump does. But can’t we at least put them on the spot? Can’t we force Scott Bessent to explain why he supports such a grotesque abuse of presidential power?
Let’s be clear: U.S. law does give the executive branch a lot of discretion to impose tariffs without additional legislation. It does this for a reason: Temporary tariffs were intended to serve as a political pressure-release valve that would make low tariffs emerging from international agreements sustainable. This worked well as long as we had responsible presidents; it has been a disaster under Trump. Still, he does have a lot of legal authority to set tariffs.
But that authority is by no means open-ended. Tariffs can be imposed only for specific reasons:
Section 201: Market disruption Basically, if a sudden import surge puts a U.S. industry in danger, temporary tariffs can be imposed to give the industry time to adapt
Section 232: National security Tariffs can be used to sustain industries we might need during international confrontations
Section 301: Unfair practices Tariffs can be used to offset, say, foreign export subsidies
Anti-dumping duties Tariffs can be imposed when foreign companies are selling below cost
International Economic Emergency The president has broad tariff-setting powers during an economic crisis
Trump has hugely abused all these justifications, especially the last. There is no economic emergency. According to Trump himself, things are great …
And, remember it’s just a litttle rain and the average price of gas in New Orleans isn’t $2.76. It’s $1.98.
Okay, one more and I may hit a record of 5000 words in one post. The deal is that there is so much shit going on I’d need a magazine to publish just the excerpts. What Fresh Hell is this? This is from Sidney Blumenthal writing at The Guardian. “Donald Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ is the ultimate betrayal of his base. The measure exposes the most elaborate charade in recent US political history. But betrayal is Trump’s operating principle.”
Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill”, which will eviscerate the living standards, healthcare and aspirations of his white, working-class base, conclusively draws the curtain down on his Maga populist conceit, the most elaborate charade in recent American political history.
The price will be staggering: $1tn in cuts to Medicaid; throwing 17 million people off health coverage closing rural hospitals and women’s health clinics; battering food assistance for families, children and veterans; the virtual destruction of US solar and wind energy manufacturing; limiting access to financial aid for college; and, according to the Yale Budget Lab, adding $3tn to the national debt over the next decade, inexorably leading to raised interest rates, which will depress the housing market. These are the harsh, brutal and undeniable realities of Trumpism in the glare of day as opposed to his carnival act about how he will never touch such benefits.
The president’s Maga populism has been a collection of oddities reminiscent of PT Barnum’s museum on lower Broadway before the civil war that exhibited a 10ft tall fake petrified man, the original bearded lady and the Fiji mermaid, the tail of a large fish sewn on to a bewigged mannequin. Trump attached plutocracy to populism to construct the Maga beast. But after the passage of the bill, the Fiji mermaid that is Maga has come apart at the seams, the head separated from the tail.
“I just want you to know,” Trump said as he signed the bill, “if you see anything negative put out by Democrats, it’s all a con job.” He claimed the law was the “single most popular bill ever signed”. It is, in fact, the most unpopular piece of legislation since George W Bush proposed partial privatization of social security, which he abandoned without a single congressional vote. A Quinnipiac poll showed 53% opposing Trump’s bill, with only 27% support – 26 points underwater.
At a meeting where Trump lobbied Republican House members to vote for his bill, he told them it would not cut Medicaid because that would damage their electoral prospects. “But we’re touching Medicaid in this bill,” one Republican member complained to the publication Notus. In response to the obvious contradiction, a White House spokesperson issued a statement that the bill would “protect Medicaid”. Problem solved.
Even if Trump didn’t actually know what was in his bill, too bored to pay attention to minute details or even if he was pulling a con, he coerced the Republicans into walking the plank. If he didn’t know, they certainly knew what was in the bill and they hated it. But they feared his retribution if they did not vote for it, even though it would severely harm their base and trample their own principles. The Freedom Caucus of far-right House members who boldly declared that the debt was the hill they would die on simply folded.
Hopefully, it will soon be the Winter of Discontent because this is the summer of rebranding Fresh Hells.
Well, not quite 5000 words, but very close. 4866
What’s on your reading and blogging list today?
I want an overkill button.
Here’s to Ozzy’s last concert. He made my first year of university in the land of Nebraska more meaningful. He’s struggling with Parkinson’s disease.
#TrumpCult #WeAreSoFucked #AlligatorAlcatraz #DanBongino #HarvardCaves #Hellraiser #IRSOksPulpitPolitics #KristiNoemSociopathAndCunt #LongLiveOzzy #lordOfTheLivingDead #PamBondiWeirdo #TariffsAreStillHigh #TomHomanDemonBringer #WhiteChristianNationalists
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Ligeti festival – ode to an adventurous and idiosyncratic composer
From 5-8 April, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam stages a Ligeti Festival from 5-8 April, together with ensemble in residence Asko|Schönberg. The iconic Poème Symphonique for 100 metronomes will be performed in the hall; Pierre Laurent Aimard will perform the Musica ricercata and the Piano Concerto; Joe Puglia plays the Violin Concerto and Netherlands Chamber Choir will sing Lux Aeterna.
The Hungarian composer György Ligeti (1923-2006) suffered under several dictatorships. The Nazis killed his father and brother during World War II, and after the war the communists forced him to write bland ‘folk music’. After the Hungarian uprising of 1956 he fled to Vienna and from there to Cologne, where he was confronted with yet another type of dogmatism from the musical avant-garde.
In the West he soon established himself as an idiosyncratic composer. He resisted the dogmas of the avant-garde and took a different direction in which microtanility, irony and humour play an important role. From Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 April he will be featured in the large-scale Ligeti festival in Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ Amsterdam.
Love for Bartók
György Ligeti was born in 1923 in a Jewish family in a small town in Transylvania. In 1941 he started studying composition with Ferenc Farkas, but three years later the Nazis called him up for a labour camp. Only after having lived through this and the war had ended, he was able to resume his studies. He at once moved to Budapest, where he again studied with Farkas, and with Sándor Veress. They relegated their love for Bartók to him, which shines through in early compositions such as the First String Quartet. This will be performed by the Dudok Quartet on Saturday, April 7.
In 1949, Ligeti completed his studies at the Franz Liszt Conservatory in Budapest, where he was then employed as a harmony teacher. Meanwhile, the communists had taken over the helm and there was a strong pressure to incorporate ‘folk’ elements in art music. In principle Ligeti had no problem with this, since Bartók had also been inspired by folk music. Within the given constraints, Ligeti looked for ways to create a personal sound world. For example in the Cello Sonata, which he composed for the Hungarian Radio in 1953.
‘Formalistic tendencies’
This was banned immediately after the broadcast because it harboured ‘formalistic tendencies’; from now on Ligeti composed for the proverbial desk drawer. Meanwhile, he kept the authorities satisfied with choral works in Kodály-style. That same year he completed Musica ricercata, a collection of eleven pieces for solo piano. These are on the programme of the French pianist Pierre-Laurent Aimard on Friday 6 April. The first movement opens with only two tones: a fundamental and its octave. In each subsequent variation one tone is added, until in the eleventh movement all twelve tones of the western tonal system are heard.
Just after World War II, Hungary was officially cut off from the pernicious West, which did not prevent Ligeti from secretly listening to German radio stations at night. These were distorted by signals from the Hungarian Government, so that mainly the higher frequencies came through. In this mutilated form he heard works such as Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony and Herbert Eimert’s electronic music. Their line of thought corresponded with his own need for renewal. As soon as a period of thaw set in in 1954, he bought scores and records of modern composers.
From communist to musical dictatorship
During this period, Ligeti also heard the first radio broadcast of Stockhausen’s tape composition Gesang der Jünglinge. He was deeply impressed and contacted his German colleague by letter. He also wrote to Herbert Eimert, director of the electronic studio of the WDR in Cologne. One month after the invasion by the Russians in November 1956, Ligeti fled to Cologne, where he was welcomed by Stockhausen and Eimert. In their electronic studio he completed his first ‘Western’ composition, Artikulation for tape.
Although Ligeti basically agreed with the principles of Stockhausen and his fellow avant-gardists, he deplored the rigidity of serialism in which all musical parameters are arranged according to strict rules. Having escaped one dictatorship, Ligeti refused to submit to a new dictatorship from the musical avant-garde. He became fascinated by the idea of replacing strict order with a large degree of freedom. Thus he used unfettered rhythms instead of mathematically organized ones, while at the same time replacing the twelve tone series of the serialists by clusters. The resulting harmonies contained many microtones, a novelty in Western art music.
Music from metronomes
In 1960, this led to the ground-breaking orchestral work Apparitions, which caused a scandal at its premiere. – Ligeti’s name as an independent avant-gardist was established. He then composed Atmosphères and Volumina, also based on clusters. But soon he walked new roads again. In 1961 he wrote The Future of Music, consisting only of a set of instructions to the listeners, jotted down on a blackboard. A year later he created Poème Symphonique, in which 100 metronomes create a complex ‘micropolyphony’. The premiere in 1963 in the Town Hall of Hilversum caused yet another scandal.
This contrary piece had been commissioned by the Gaudeamus Music Week and will be performed live on Saturday 7 April in the entrance hall of Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ. The television registration of the 1963 premiere can be seen and heard on a daily basis. The Dutch broadcasting company NOS had decided not to air the material, and for a long time it was considered lost. Recently it was rediscovered in the archives of Beeld en Geluid (Sound and Image) in Hilversum.
Time and again, Ligeti confirmed his sovereign spirit. While his colleagues abhorred any form of tonality, he re-established harmonic centres in his music. For instance in the choral work Lux Aeterna from 1966, which was immortalized in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Nederlands Chamber Choir will perform this on 7 April under the baton of Reinbert de Leeuw, Ligeti’s favourite conductor.
Car horns & Rossini aria’s
From 1974-77 György Ligeti worked on his opera Le Grand Macabre, his magnum opus. It is based on the absurdist play Ballade du Grand Macabre by the Belgian author Michel de Ghelderode and is set in the time of Breughel. The hero Nekrotzar – the ‘Grand Macabre’ of the title – announces the end of time at midnight. But when the clock finally strikes twelve Nekrotzar is the only one to die.
In Le Grand Macabre, Ligeti brought together everything he had achieved so far; the music is often downright hilarious. The opera opens with an overture of car horns and juxtaposes Rossini-like arias with disconcerting recitatives and abysmal screams. The singers burb, and we are treated to the sound of whips and other ‘unmusical’ objects. Thus allusions to predecessors such as Rossini and Monteverdi get an ironic twist.
After Le Grand Macabre, Ligeti got somewhat into a deadlock. His adventurous and investigative mind simply refused to repeat itself. He had always pursued his own course, yet was invariably mentioned in one breath with the avant-gardists Boulez, Stockhausen and Nono. When their influence began to wane, he threatened to be dragged along in this downward spiral. The more so when a younger generation of composers returned to old forms, harmonies and tonality.
Caribbean rhythms
Though Ligeti did not care to track tail of this new euphony, he was inspired by it. In 1982 he wrote his Horn Trio, in which he combines Caribbean rhythms with Brahms-like melodies. However, they are a trifle disjointed; their irregular rhythm is somewhat related to Hungarian folk music. The Horn Trio will be performed on Saturday 7th April by Aimard, the violinist Joseph Puglia and the horn player Marie-Luise Neunecker. In 1999 he composed his Hamburg Concerto for her.
In the eighties Ligeti became increasingly fascinated by Caribbean, African and Arabic rhythms. Their ‘limping’ character infused his work with spontaneity and liveliness. Not attracted to the new tonality of the younger generation, he designed new scales and tunings.
In 1993 he completed his Violin Concerto, in which the brass play overtones. He also uses instruments with an unsteady intonation, such as ocarinas and recorders. It will be performed by Joseph Puglia on 5 April with the Asko|Schönberg under the direction of Reinbert de Leeuw.
Microtones versus perfect pitch
Ligeti continued to experiment with overtones and deviating scales in his later works. Like in the aforementioned horn concerto, in which the soloist is ‘shadowed’ by four natural horns. They have a different sound with a different spectrum of harmonics, so the score is full of microtones. Ligeti did not like this term, however, since it is based on the tempered tuning, as we know it from the piano. A mistake, Ligeti proclaimed. ‘The natural third sounds slightly lower than the tempered one. If truth be told, what we consider perfect pitch is out of tune and microtonal.’
I spoke Ligeti in 2000 about his Horn Concerto, you can hear our talk on YouTube.
#AskoSchönberg #DudokKwartet #GyörgyLigeti #JosephPuglia #LeGrandMacabre #MuziekgebouwAanTIJ #NederlandsKamerkoor #ReinbertDeLeeuw
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Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
Location: Timneh Parrots inhabit the lowland forests, mangroves, and savannahs of West Africa, from Guinea-Bissau to western Côte d’Ivoire.
The Timneh Parrot, a smaller and darker cousin of the African Grey Parrot, captivates with their intelligence, vibrant personalities, and ability to mimic speech. However, their beauty and charm have contributed to their decline. The illegal pet trade is depleting wild populations, with poachers raiding nests to meet global demand. Meanwhile, habitat destruction driven by out-of-control palm oil plantations, meat agriculture, and crops like cocoa, coffee, and tobacco is eroding their forest homes.
Research shows that the parrot trade, facilitated by social media, has expanded into new regions like Algeria, where demand for exotic pets continues to fuel poaching. The population declines are staggering—studies in Cameroon show local reductions of up to 99% over 14 years due to trapping and habitat loss. Protecting these parrots requires ending the demand for wild-caught birds and halting deforestation in West Africa. Take action today: #BoycottPalmOil, boycott the pet trade #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife.
Smart and beautiful Timneh #Parrots 🦜💚live in #CoteDIvoire 🇨🇮 #SierraLeone 🇸🇱 they’re endangered from the illegal #pet trade #palmoil and #mining #deforestation. They deserve better! Fight for them #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterTimneh #Parrots 🦜💚 are endangered due to people’s selfishness, wanting them as #pets driving illegal trade. Boycott the #PetTrade for them! #PalmOil is another threat to their forest in #WestAfrica. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterThis species has been uplisted to Endangered because it is subject to heavy trapping pressure across much of its range. In combination with the high rate of ongoing habitat loss, the species is therefore suspected to be declining rapidly over three generations (47 years).
IUCN Red List
Appearance and Behaviour
Timneh Parrots are smaller than African Greys, measuring 28–33 cm in length and weighing 275–375 grams. Their smoky grey plumage is complemented by maroon tail feathers and an ivory-coloured upper mandible, giving them a subtle but elegant appearance.
Highly intelligent and social, Timneh Parrots thrive in flocks, using a range of vocalisations to communicate. Known for their exceptional ability to mimic human speech, they are sought after as pets, which is contributing massively to their population decline in the wild. In their forest home where they belong, their vocal talents serve a vital role in maintaining flock cohesion and avoiding predators.
Threats
Capture for the Illegal Pet Trade:
The global demand for Timneh Parrots as exotic pets is the primary driver of their decline. Social media platforms have exacerbated this issue by making it easier for poachers and traders to connect with buyers. Research published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research highlights the growing role of online platforms in the parrot trade in Algeria, a region where this market is expanding rapidly. Poachers often destroy nests to capture chicks, causing irreparable harm to wild populations.
Palm oil, cocoa, meat and coffee deforestation:
Expansion of palm oil plantations, meat agriculture, and crops like cocoa, coffee, and tobacco are devastating the forests of West Africa. These activities fragment and degrade the lowland forests and mangroves that Timneh Parrots rely on for nesting and feeding.
Trapping for the Pet Trade Leading to Massive Population Loss:
Research published in the African Journal of Ecology confirms catastrophic population losses in regions like Cameroon’s Korup National Park, where grey parrot populations (including Timneh Parrots) have declined by 99% between 2002 and 2016. These declines are attributed to both trapping for the pet trade and extensive habitat loss.
Hunting for Bush Meat:
In addition to the pet trade, Timneh Parrots are hunted for bushmeat or kept as pets in local communities. This practice, while small-scale, compounds the pressures on their dwindling populations.
Extreme Weather from Climate Change:
Shifting rainfall patterns and rising temperatures from climate change disrupt the ecosystems these parrots depend on, further limiting their already fragmented habitats.
Diet
Timneh Parrots are frugivores and granivores, feeding on a diet of seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries. Their role as seed dispersers is critical to forest health. By consuming fruit and scattering seeds over wide areas, they help regenerate forests and maintain biodiversity. The loss of these parrots would have cascading effects on the ecosystems they support.
Reproduction and Mating
Timneh Parrots nest in tree cavities, laying 2–4 eggs that are incubated for approximately 28–30 days. Both parents participate in raising the chicks, which fledge around 10–12 weeks after hatching.
Suitable nesting sites are increasingly scarce due to deforestation and logging, leaving parrots to compete for the few remaining mature trees. This scarcity directly impacts their reproductive success, pushing them closer to extinction.
Geographic Range
Timneh Parrots are endemic to West Africa, with a range spanning Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire. They inhabit lowland rainforests, mangroves, and savannahs but are increasingly restricted to isolated forest patches due to deforestation.
Efforts to conserve these parrots require protecting their remaining habitats and restoring degraded forests to expand their range.
FAQ
Are Timneh Parrots good pets?
Timneh Parrots are intelligent and bond strongly. However a strong warning and reminder – keeping Timneh Parrots as pets is an incredibly selfish act, as it is contributing to their extinction. Many parrots sold in the pet trade are illegally caught from the wild, causing immense suffering, the destruction of family units of birds and decimating populations. If you care about these parrots, you must advocate against the demand for exotic pets instead.
What is the lifespan of a Timneh?
In captivity, Timneh Parrots can live up to 50–60 years or more. In the wild, their lifespan is shorter due to the challenges posed by predation, disease, and habitat destruction. Timneh Parrots are not suitable pets because their species is going extinct due to the pet trade.
What is the difference between African Grey and Timneh?
Timneh Parrots are smaller and darker than African Greys. They have maroon tails and ivory-coloured upper mandibles, compared to the African Grey’s bright red tails and black bills. Timnehs are also considered less nervous and more adaptable.
What are the threats to Timneh Parrots?
The main threats include the illegal pet trade, deforestation for palm oil, cocoa, and coffee plantations, hunting for bushmeat, and climate change. Social media platforms have worsened the pet trade by facilitating connections between poachers and buyers.
Take Action!
The Timneh Parrot is on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. Refuse to support the exotic pet market, boycott products linked to deforestation, and demand conservation efforts to protect their habitats. Every choice you make can help save them: #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife.
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Ameziane, I. N., Razkallah, I., Zebsa, R., Bensakhri, Z., Bensouilah, S., Bouslama, Z., Nijman, V., Houhamdi, M., & Atoussi, S. (2024). Disentangling the role of social media in the online parrot trade in Algeria. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 70(68). Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-024-01821-3
BirdLife International. 2019. Psittacus timneh (amended version of 2018 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T22736498A155462561. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22736498A155462561.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.
BirdLife International. (n.d.). Species factsheet: Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/text
Birds of the World. (n.d.). Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/grypar10/cur/introduction
Reinhold, N., Wobker, J., Schröder, T., Kemnade, C., Bobo, K. S., & Waltert, M. (2020). Confirmation of strong declines of grey parrots in the Korup region, Cameroon, between 2002 and 2016. African Journal of Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/aje.12837
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timneh_parrot
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Bird #birds #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #CoteDIvoire #deforestation #EndangeredSpecies #ForgottenAnimals #Guinea #GuineaBissau #IvoryCoast #Liberia #mining #palmoil #Parrot #Parrots #pet #pets #pettrade #SierraLeone #SierraLeone #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #WestAfrica
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Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
IUCN Red List Status: Endangered
Location: Timneh Parrots inhabit the lowland forests, mangroves, and savannahs of West Africa, from Guinea-Bissau to western Côte d’Ivoire.
The Timneh Parrot, a smaller and darker cousin of the African Grey Parrot, captivates with their intelligence, vibrant personalities, and ability to mimic speech. However, their beauty and charm have contributed to their decline. The illegal pet trade is depleting wild populations, with poachers raiding nests to meet global demand. Meanwhile, habitat destruction driven by out-of-control palm oil plantations, meat agriculture, and crops like cocoa, coffee, and tobacco is eroding their forest homes.
Research shows that the parrot trade, facilitated by social media, has expanded into new regions like Algeria, where demand for exotic pets continues to fuel poaching. The population declines are staggering—studies in Cameroon show local reductions of up to 99% over 14 years due to trapping and habitat loss. Protecting these parrots requires ending the demand for wild-caught birds and halting deforestation in West Africa. Take action today: #BoycottPalmOil, boycott the pet trade #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife.
Smart and beautiful Timneh #Parrots 🦜💚live in #CoteDIvoire 🇨🇮 #SierraLeone 🇸🇱 they’re endangered from the illegal #pet trade #palmoil and #mining #deforestation. They deserve better! Fight for them #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterTimneh #Parrots 🦜💚 are endangered due to people’s selfishness, wanting them as #pets driving illegal trade. Boycott the #PetTrade for them! #PalmOil is another threat to their forest in #WestAfrica. #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/02/15/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterThis species has been uplisted to Endangered because it is subject to heavy trapping pressure across much of its range. In combination with the high rate of ongoing habitat loss, the species is therefore suspected to be declining rapidly over three generations (47 years).
IUCN Red List
Appearance and Behaviour
Timneh Parrots are smaller than African Greys, measuring 28–33 cm in length and weighing 275–375 grams. Their smoky grey plumage is complemented by maroon tail feathers and an ivory-coloured upper mandible, giving them a subtle but elegant appearance.
Highly intelligent and social, Timneh Parrots thrive in flocks, using a range of vocalisations to communicate. Known for their exceptional ability to mimic human speech, they are sought after as pets, which is contributing massively to their population decline in the wild. In their forest home where they belong, their vocal talents serve a vital role in maintaining flock cohesion and avoiding predators.
Threats
Capture for the Illegal Pet Trade:
The global demand for Timneh Parrots as exotic pets is the primary driver of their decline. Social media platforms have exacerbated this issue by making it easier for poachers and traders to connect with buyers. Research published in the European Journal of Wildlife Research highlights the growing role of online platforms in the parrot trade in Algeria, a region where this market is expanding rapidly. Poachers often destroy nests to capture chicks, causing irreparable harm to wild populations.
Palm oil, cocoa, meat and coffee deforestation:
Expansion of palm oil plantations, meat agriculture, and crops like cocoa, coffee, and tobacco are devastating the forests of West Africa. These activities fragment and degrade the lowland forests and mangroves that Timneh Parrots rely on for nesting and feeding.
Trapping for the Pet Trade Leading to Massive Population Loss:
Research published in the African Journal of Ecology confirms catastrophic population losses in regions like Cameroon’s Korup National Park, where grey parrot populations (including Timneh Parrots) have declined by 99% between 2002 and 2016. These declines are attributed to both trapping for the pet trade and extensive habitat loss.
Hunting for Bush Meat:
In addition to the pet trade, Timneh Parrots are hunted for bushmeat or kept as pets in local communities. This practice, while small-scale, compounds the pressures on their dwindling populations.
Extreme Weather from Climate Change:
Shifting rainfall patterns and rising temperatures from climate change disrupt the ecosystems these parrots depend on, further limiting their already fragmented habitats.
Diet
Timneh Parrots are frugivores and granivores, feeding on a diet of seeds, nuts, fruits, and berries. Their role as seed dispersers is critical to forest health. By consuming fruit and scattering seeds over wide areas, they help regenerate forests and maintain biodiversity. The loss of these parrots would have cascading effects on the ecosystems they support.
Reproduction and Mating
Timneh Parrots nest in tree cavities, laying 2–4 eggs that are incubated for approximately 28–30 days. Both parents participate in raising the chicks, which fledge around 10–12 weeks after hatching.
Suitable nesting sites are increasingly scarce due to deforestation and logging, leaving parrots to compete for the few remaining mature trees. This scarcity directly impacts their reproductive success, pushing them closer to extinction.
Geographic Range
Timneh Parrots are endemic to West Africa, with a range spanning Guinea-Bissau, Sierra Leone, Liberia, and western Côte d’Ivoire. They inhabit lowland rainforests, mangroves, and savannahs but are increasingly restricted to isolated forest patches due to deforestation.
Efforts to conserve these parrots require protecting their remaining habitats and restoring degraded forests to expand their range.
FAQ
Are Timneh Parrots good pets?
Timneh Parrots are intelligent and bond strongly. However a strong warning and reminder – keeping Timneh Parrots as pets is an incredibly selfish act, as it is contributing to their extinction. Many parrots sold in the pet trade are illegally caught from the wild, causing immense suffering, the destruction of family units of birds and decimating populations. If you care about these parrots, you must advocate against the demand for exotic pets instead.
What is the lifespan of a Timneh?
In captivity, Timneh Parrots can live up to 50–60 years or more. In the wild, their lifespan is shorter due to the challenges posed by predation, disease, and habitat destruction. Timneh Parrots are not suitable pets because their species is going extinct due to the pet trade.
What is the difference between African Grey and Timneh?
Timneh Parrots are smaller and darker than African Greys. They have maroon tails and ivory-coloured upper mandibles, compared to the African Grey’s bright red tails and black bills. Timnehs are also considered less nervous and more adaptable.
What are the threats to Timneh Parrots?
The main threats include the illegal pet trade, deforestation for palm oil, cocoa, and coffee plantations, hunting for bushmeat, and climate change. Social media platforms have worsened the pet trade by facilitating connections between poachers and buyers.
Take Action!
The Timneh Parrot is on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss and the illegal pet trade. Refuse to support the exotic pet market, boycott products linked to deforestation, and demand conservation efforts to protect their habitats. Every choice you make can help save them: #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottMeat #Boycott4Wildlife.
Timneh Parrot Psittacus timneh
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Ameziane, I. N., Razkallah, I., Zebsa, R., Bensakhri, Z., Bensouilah, S., Bouslama, Z., Nijman, V., Houhamdi, M., & Atoussi, S. (2024). Disentangling the role of social media in the online parrot trade in Algeria. European Journal of Wildlife Research, 70(68). Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10344-024-01821-3
BirdLife International. 2019. Psittacus timneh (amended version of 2018 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2019: e.T22736498A155462561. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2019-3.RLTS.T22736498A155462561.en. Downloaded on 15 February 2021.
BirdLife International. (n.d.). Species factsheet: Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from: https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/timneh-parrot-psittacus-timneh/text
Birds of the World. (n.d.). Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/grypar10/cur/introduction
Reinhold, N., Wobker, J., Schröder, T., Kemnade, C., Bobo, K. S., & Waltert, M. (2020). Confirmation of strong declines of grey parrots in the Korup region, Cameroon, between 2002 and 2016. African Journal of Ecology. DOI: 10.1111/aje.12837
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Timneh Parrot. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timneh_parrot
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 1,391 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Bird #birds #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #CoteDIvoire #deforestation #EndangeredSpecies #ForgottenAnimals #Guinea #GuineaBissau #IvoryCoast #Liberia #mining #palmoil #Parrot #Parrots #pet #pets #pettrade #SierraLeone #SierraLeone #TimnehParrotPsittacusTimneh #WestAfrica
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Philippine Sailfin Lizard Hydrosaurus pustulatus
Philippine Sailfin Lizard (Sailfin Water Lizard) Hydrosaurus pustulatus
Extant (resident)
Philippines, West Papua
Stunning bright coloured Philippine sailfin lizards are becoming more and more rare due to #palmoil #deforestation across their range in #WestPapua #Philippines and eastern #Indonesia. They are also threatened by hunting and the illegal pet trade. Males turn a dark violet colour during mating season and flare their extravagant sail-like fins to announce their mating prowess. They have a third eye on the top of their head which enables them to sense sunlight. Help them survive every time you shop and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife
Stunning vividly coloured Philippine Sailfin #Lizards 🦎😍 of #WestPapua and #Philippines 🇵🇭 need you to fight for them! Use your wallet as a weapon in the supermarket @palmoildetect #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🚫🧐 #Boycott4Wildlife https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/11/12/philippine-sailfin-lizard-hydrosaurus-pustulatus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAmazing Philippine Sailfin #Lizards of #WestPapua can walk on water and turn purple during the mating season 🧙♂️🪄🦎💜 They are decreasing in number due to multiple threats. Help their survival when you #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife 🌴🚫 @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2023/11/12/philippine-sailfin-lizard-hydrosaurus-pustulatus/
Share to BlueSky Share to TwitterAlthough this animal was previously recorded on IUCN Red List as being ‘Least Concern’ 100,000’s of hectares of rainforest in Papua and Philippines have since disappeared for palm oil – so likely, this rating is longer relevant. These lizards are most likely going to be upgraded to ‘vulnerable’ or ‘endangered’ due to massive deforestation throughout their range.
Read moreAppearance & Behaviour
Stunning bright coloured Philippine sailfin lizards are becoming more and more rare from palm oil deforestation across their range in #WestPapua #Philippines and eastern #Indonesia.
The Philippine sailfin lizard is also known by the common names sailfin water lizard, crested lizard, sailfin lizard and the soa-soa water lizard.
Found on the islands that make up the Philippines, New Guinea and Eastern Indonesia.
Known for their dramatic and attractive colouration patterns and sail-like dorsal crests which give them the appearance of a dragon – these lizards are prized on the illegal pet trade.
Philippine Sailfin Lizards belong to the genus Hydrosaurus meaning water lizard. Juvenile lizards have the ability of running on water due to the structure of their feet and toe pads which are flat and enable this.
These fascinating lizards are studied carefully by herpetologists and other sciences as their colouration and form is unique.
Philippine Sailfin Lizard by Kirkamon, WikipediaMale lizards use their impressive sail-like dorsal fins as forms of territorial display between males competing for mates.
These large and brightly coloured lizards can grow anywhere between 06.-1.2 metres in length and weigh between 1.3 – 2.2 kg.
Their sail-like crest helps them with mating territorial displays, and as a way of moderating the body’s temperature, but it’s also used as a ballast for balance when swimming.
Males have a larger crest, bigger head and darker limbs. During the mating season the head and neck of the male lizard becomes a vivid violet colour, whereas only the female’s crest can become violet during the mating season.
Philippine sailfin lizards have dark green and brown skin with yellow patches on the back side of their body and near their heads.
They use their flattened tail like a rudder to propel themselves through the water and quickly evade predators. In the presence of predators they can drop from tree branches and swim to the bottom of a river and stay there for up to 15 minutes holding their breath.
They have a vestigal eye (also known as a parietal or pineal eye) this is at the top of their skull and is thought to be used to give them a sense of direction and light from the sun.
Threats
The threats to the two species of Hydrosaurus in the Philippines are generally very similar. Populations appear to be principally threatened by habitat loss, often the conversion of wooded land to alternative uses (including agriculture), and through logging operations. In addition, animals (especially hatchlings) are heavily collected for both the pet trade (national and possibly international) and local consumption. Because of inter-island trade, there is some possibility of introduced animals mixing with indigenous populations. In some parts of is range it is additionally threatened by water pollution resulting from the use of agrochemicals and increased sedimentation.
IUCN RED LISTPhilippine sailfin lizards face a number of human-related threats, including:
- Palm oil, meat and timber deforestation: Habitat loss is a major threat.
- Collection for the illegal pet trade: Despite collection being legally limited in Philippines these lizards are still collected in the illegal pet trade and exported to the USA, especially in Indonesia.
- Hunting and poaching
- Industrial agriculture pollution and run-off: Pollution and agrochemicals from palm oil plantations
Habitat
The Philippine sailfin lizard is found in tropical wooded habitats, mangroves, rice-fields, riverine environments and near bodies of freshwater. They are found on several islands in the Philippines including Guimaras, Romblon, Negros, and Cebu, New Guinea, West Papua and some of eastern Indonesia.
Diet
These lizards are omnivores and will eat a varied diet of plants including leaves and fruits in addition to insects and crustaceans.
Mating and breeding
Philippine sailfin lizards are completely reliant upon access to a river or stream in order to mate and reproduce.
Female Philippine sailfin lizards are able to lay several clutches of eggs a year that each can contain anywhere between 2 and 8 eggs. These eggs are nestled into the soil near a river or stream for an incubation period of two months and then hatchlings emerge.
As hatchlings the lizards are born with natural agility and swiftness, including being able to run along the surface of water to evade predators.
Support Philippine Sailfin Lizard by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife
Support the conservation of this species
This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.
Further Information
Ledesma, M., Brown, R., Sy, E. & Rico, E.L. 2009. Hydrosaurus pustulatus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2009: e.T10335A3194587. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2009-2.RLTS.T10335A3194587.en. Accessed on 31 October 2022.
Sailfin Water Lizard Hydrosaurus pustulatus on Wikipedia
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
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Join 3,180 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Read moreMel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Read moreAnthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Read moreHealth Physician Dr Evan Allen
Read moreThe World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
Read moreHow do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
Read more3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support #animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #illegalPetTrade #Indonesia #lizards #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #PhilippineSailfinLizardHydrosaurusPustulatus #Philippines #poachers #poaching #Reptile #SouthEastAsia #VulnerableSpecies #WestPapua #WestPapua -
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: This rare primate is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. They are found on Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, where they inhabit lowland and hill forests in these isolated and fragile ecosystems.
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur, also known as the Pig-tailed Langur, is one of the most distinctive and endangered monkeys in the world. These ultra rare and critically endangered small primates are known for their short, upturned noses and unique pig-like tails. Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langurs are critically endangered due to palm oil and timber deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation in their tiny island homes of Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, Indonesia. Immediate conservation action is necessary to protect the remaining population and their delicate ecosystem from disappearing forever. Fight for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Forgotten #primate 🙊🐒 Pig-tailed Snub-nosed #Langur is now critically endangered on tiny islands near #Sumatra #Indonesia 🇮🇩 from #palmoil #deforestation and hunting pressures. Help them survive #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyPig-tailed Snub-nosed #langurs have a cute upturned nose and a pig-like tail. They’re critically #endangered by #palmoil #deforestation and hunting in #Indonesia 🇮🇩🐒 Resist their #extinction! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyAppearance and Behaviour
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is a medium-sized primate with a striking appearance. Their dense, greyish-brown fur contrasts with lighter underparts, and their small, upturned nose gives them a unique and endearing look. Their short, thick tail, resembling that of a pig, is another defining feature (IUCN, 2020).
These langurs are diurnal and arboreal, spending most of their time in the forest canopy. They live in social groups of up to 20 individuals, where they engage in complex communication and social bonding. Their dynamic foraging strategies allow them to adapt to the heterogeneous environments of the Mentawai Islands.
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because a population decline of 80-90% over the last 36 years (three generations) is estimated due to heavy hunting pressure and extensive habitat loss (especially on southern islands but quite significant throughout species range). The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is threatened mainly by heavy hunting and commercial logging (Whittaker 2006, Quinten et al. 2014).
IUCN Red List
Diet
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is primarily folivorous, feeding on a variety of leaves, but they also consume fruits, seeds, and flowers when available. This specialised diet ties them closely to their forest environment, making them highly vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation (IUCN, 2020).
Reproduction and Mating
As with many langurs, this species is believed to have a low reproductive rate. Females give birth to a single infant after a long gestation period, and young langurs are raised with the support of the social group. This cooperative behaviour is vital for ensuring the survival of the next generation in their challenging environment.
Geographic Range
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is restricted to the Mentawai Islands, including Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai. These islands are home to diverse but fragile ecosystems, where this species relies on primary and secondary forests for survival. Their limited geographic range makes them highly vulnerable to localised threats (IUCN, 2020).
Threats
They are also threatened by the conversion of rainforest into oil palm plantations, as well as forest clearing and product extraction by local people. Sometimes, animals are taken for the pet trade (Whittaker 2006).
IUCN Red LIST
- Palm oil and timber deforestation: The rapid expansion of out-of-control palm oil plantations, logging, and agricultural activities has resulted in the widespread destruction of the Mentawai Islands’ forests.
- Illegal hunting for bushmeat: The langur is heavily hunted for bushmeat, a significant threat in local communities.
- Habitat Fragmentation: Infrastructure development and forest clearing have fragmented their habitats, isolating populations and reducing genetic diversity.
Take Action!
Protecting the Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur requires urgent conservation measures to halt deforestation and hunting. By boycotting products containing palm oil, supporting indigenous-led conservation initiatives, and advocating for forest preservation, you can help safeguard this critically endangered primate. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan
Conservation efforts for these critically endangered small primates is underway. Read more about Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) in Indonesia.
Further Information
Quinten, M, Setiawan, A., Cheyne, S., Traeholt, C. & Whittaker, D. 2020. Simias concolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T20229A17953422. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T20229A17953422.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.
Zhao, L., et al. (2024). Dynamic foraging strategy adaptation to heterogeneous environments contributes to social aggregation in snub-nosed monkeys. Zoological Research, 45(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.047
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pig-tailed Langur. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig-tailed_langur
GBIF. (n.d.). Simias concolor. Retrieved from https://www.gbif.org/species/4267130
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,526 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CottonHeadedTamarinSaguinusOedipus #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #Indonesia #langur #Langurs #Mammal #palmoil #Primate #Sumatra #vegan
-
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: This rare primate is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. They are found on Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, where they inhabit lowland and hill forests in these isolated and fragile ecosystems.
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur, also known as the Pig-tailed Langur, is one of the most distinctive and endangered monkeys in the world. These ultra rare and critically endangered small primates are known for their short, upturned noses and unique pig-like tails. Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langurs are critically endangered due to palm oil and timber deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation in their tiny island homes of Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, Indonesia. Immediate conservation action is necessary to protect the remaining population and their delicate ecosystem from disappearing forever. Fight for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Forgotten #primate 🙊🐒 Pig-tailed Snub-nosed #Langur is now critically endangered on tiny islands near #Sumatra #Indonesia 🇮🇩 from #palmoil #deforestation and hunting pressures. Help them survive #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyPig-tailed Snub-nosed #langurs have a cute upturned nose and a pig-like tail. They’re critically #endangered by #palmoil #deforestation and hunting in #Indonesia 🇮🇩🐒 Resist their #extinction! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyAppearance and Behaviour
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is a medium-sized primate with a striking appearance. Their dense, greyish-brown fur contrasts with lighter underparts, and their small, upturned nose gives them a unique and endearing look. Their short, thick tail, resembling that of a pig, is another defining feature (IUCN, 2020).
These langurs are diurnal and arboreal, spending most of their time in the forest canopy. They live in social groups of up to 20 individuals, where they engage in complex communication and social bonding. Their dynamic foraging strategies allow them to adapt to the heterogeneous environments of the Mentawai Islands.
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because a population decline of 80-90% over the last 36 years (three generations) is estimated due to heavy hunting pressure and extensive habitat loss (especially on southern islands but quite significant throughout species range). The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is threatened mainly by heavy hunting and commercial logging (Whittaker 2006, Quinten et al. 2014).
IUCN Red List
Diet
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is primarily folivorous, feeding on a variety of leaves, but they also consume fruits, seeds, and flowers when available. This specialised diet ties them closely to their forest environment, making them highly vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation (IUCN, 2020).
Reproduction and Mating
As with many langurs, this species is believed to have a low reproductive rate. Females give birth to a single infant after a long gestation period, and young langurs are raised with the support of the social group. This cooperative behaviour is vital for ensuring the survival of the next generation in their challenging environment.
Geographic Range
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is restricted to the Mentawai Islands, including Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai. These islands are home to diverse but fragile ecosystems, where this species relies on primary and secondary forests for survival. Their limited geographic range makes them highly vulnerable to localised threats (IUCN, 2020).
Threats
They are also threatened by the conversion of rainforest into oil palm plantations, as well as forest clearing and product extraction by local people. Sometimes, animals are taken for the pet trade (Whittaker 2006).
IUCN Red LIST
- Palm oil and timber deforestation: The rapid expansion of out-of-control palm oil plantations, logging, and agricultural activities has resulted in the widespread destruction of the Mentawai Islands’ forests.
- Illegal hunting for bushmeat: The langur is heavily hunted for bushmeat, a significant threat in local communities.
- Habitat Fragmentation: Infrastructure development and forest clearing have fragmented their habitats, isolating populations and reducing genetic diversity.
Take Action!
Protecting the Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur requires urgent conservation measures to halt deforestation and hunting. By boycotting products containing palm oil, supporting indigenous-led conservation initiatives, and advocating for forest preservation, you can help safeguard this critically endangered primate. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan
Conservation efforts for these critically endangered small primates is underway. Read more about Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) in Indonesia.
Further Information
Quinten, M, Setiawan, A., Cheyne, S., Traeholt, C. & Whittaker, D. 2020. Simias concolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T20229A17953422. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T20229A17953422.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.
Zhao, L., et al. (2024). Dynamic foraging strategy adaptation to heterogeneous environments contributes to social aggregation in snub-nosed monkeys. Zoological Research, 45(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.047
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pig-tailed Langur. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig-tailed_langur
GBIF. (n.d.). Simias concolor. Retrieved from https://www.gbif.org/species/4267130
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,526 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CottonHeadedTamarinSaguinusOedipus #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #Indonesia #langur #Langurs #Mammal #palmoil #Primate #Sumatra #vegan
-
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
IUCN Red List Status: Critically Endangered
Location: This rare primate is endemic to the Mentawai Islands off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. They are found on Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, where they inhabit lowland and hill forests in these isolated and fragile ecosystems.
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur, also known as the Pig-tailed Langur, is one of the most distinctive and endangered monkeys in the world. These ultra rare and critically endangered small primates are known for their short, upturned noses and unique pig-like tails. Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langurs are critically endangered due to palm oil and timber deforestation, hunting, and habitat fragmentation in their tiny island homes of Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai, Indonesia. Immediate conservation action is necessary to protect the remaining population and their delicate ecosystem from disappearing forever. Fight for them every time you shop and #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife
Forgotten #primate 🙊🐒 Pig-tailed Snub-nosed #Langur is now critically endangered on tiny islands near #Sumatra #Indonesia 🇮🇩 from #palmoil #deforestation and hunting pressures. Help them survive #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyPig-tailed Snub-nosed #langurs have a cute upturned nose and a pig-like tail. They’re critically #endangered by #palmoil #deforestation and hunting in #Indonesia 🇮🇩🐒 Resist their #extinction! #BoycottPalmOil 🌴☠️⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect https://palmoildetectives.com/2021/01/31/pig-tailed-snub-nosed-langur-simias-concolor/
Share to Twitter Share to BlueSkyAppearance and Behaviour
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is a medium-sized primate with a striking appearance. Their dense, greyish-brown fur contrasts with lighter underparts, and their small, upturned nose gives them a unique and endearing look. Their short, thick tail, resembling that of a pig, is another defining feature (IUCN, 2020).
These langurs are diurnal and arboreal, spending most of their time in the forest canopy. They live in social groups of up to 20 individuals, where they engage in complex communication and social bonding. Their dynamic foraging strategies allow them to adapt to the heterogeneous environments of the Mentawai Islands.
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because a population decline of 80-90% over the last 36 years (three generations) is estimated due to heavy hunting pressure and extensive habitat loss (especially on southern islands but quite significant throughout species range). The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is threatened mainly by heavy hunting and commercial logging (Whittaker 2006, Quinten et al. 2014).
IUCN Red List
Diet
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is primarily folivorous, feeding on a variety of leaves, but they also consume fruits, seeds, and flowers when available. This specialised diet ties them closely to their forest environment, making them highly vulnerable to habitat destruction and fragmentation (IUCN, 2020).
Reproduction and Mating
As with many langurs, this species is believed to have a low reproductive rate. Females give birth to a single infant after a long gestation period, and young langurs are raised with the support of the social group. This cooperative behaviour is vital for ensuring the survival of the next generation in their challenging environment.
Geographic Range
The Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur is restricted to the Mentawai Islands, including Siberut, Sipora, and North and South Pagai. These islands are home to diverse but fragile ecosystems, where this species relies on primary and secondary forests for survival. Their limited geographic range makes them highly vulnerable to localised threats (IUCN, 2020).
Threats
They are also threatened by the conversion of rainforest into oil palm plantations, as well as forest clearing and product extraction by local people. Sometimes, animals are taken for the pet trade (Whittaker 2006).
IUCN Red LIST
- Palm oil and timber deforestation: The rapid expansion of out-of-control palm oil plantations, logging, and agricultural activities has resulted in the widespread destruction of the Mentawai Islands’ forests.
- Illegal hunting for bushmeat: The langur is heavily hunted for bushmeat, a significant threat in local communities.
- Habitat Fragmentation: Infrastructure development and forest clearing have fragmented their habitats, isolating populations and reducing genetic diversity.
Take Action!
Protecting the Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur requires urgent conservation measures to halt deforestation and hunting. By boycotting products containing palm oil, supporting indigenous-led conservation initiatives, and advocating for forest preservation, you can help safeguard this critically endangered primate. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan
Conservation efforts for these critically endangered small primates is underway. Read more about Asian Species Action Partnership (ASAP) in Indonesia.
Further Information
Quinten, M, Setiawan, A., Cheyne, S., Traeholt, C. & Whittaker, D. 2020. Simias concolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T20229A17953422. https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-2.RLTS.T20229A17953422.en. Downloaded on 31 January 2021.
Zhao, L., et al. (2024). Dynamic foraging strategy adaptation to heterogeneous environments contributes to social aggregation in snub-nosed monkeys. Zoological Research, 45(1), 39–54. https://doi.org/10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2023.047
Wikipedia. (n.d.). Pig-tailed Langur. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig-tailed_langur
GBIF. (n.d.). Simias concolor. Retrieved from https://www.gbif.org/species/4267130
Pig-tailed Snub-nosed Langur Simias concolor
How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?
Take Action in Five Ways
1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.
Enter your email address
Sign Up
Join 3,526 other subscribers2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.
Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings
Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao
Health Physician Dr Evan Allen
The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert
How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy
3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.
https://twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status/1526136783557529600?s=20
https://twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status/1749010345555788144?s=20
https://twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1678027567977078784?s=20
4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.
5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here
Pledge your support#Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CottonHeadedTamarinSaguinusOedipus #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #endangered #extinction #Indonesia #langur #Langurs #Mammal #palmoil #Primate #Sumatra #vegan
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The Techno Anarchist Manifesto aka Let’s fuck up Techno Feudalism
This practical and profanity-laced manifesto provides the loose philosophy, strategies, battleplans, tactics, and weapons to destroy Techno Feudalism via the practice of Techno Anarchism. It explains the war we are in, the Techno battle’s place in it, and what Techno Feudalism and Techno Anarchism are.
Don’t worry, I not going to start capping tech CEOs anytime soon. I’m not a 1914 anarchist out to destroy aristocrats, the state, and the church. Nor advocating for it in general. We are taking tactics from Proudhon’s federative socialism as opposed to Russian Nihilism. We are against the perversion of society by oligarchs.
Introduction
The same day I started writing this article about some ideas floating in my head, Joan Westenberg kind of beat me to the punch on its premise.
This piece will now be more expansive and a sort of manifesto.
I want to focus my thoughts regarding the battle against Techno Feudalism. And narrow my scope. And be systemic.
I will build whatever this ends up being in public. And put my masters degree in Political Science to work. So, this is just the start of a living document. I will update it with more of the philosophy of Techno Anarchism (and other points) in the coming weeks. It will also be influenced by my versions of other philosophies including Stoicism and Taoism.
It’s also the first thing I’ve written that needs a table of contents.
Here’s what we’re exploring:
- Introduction
- Late Stage Capitalism / Techno Feudalism
- The War
- Enshittification
- The Winnable Battle
- Resources
The Mission
As supporters of democracy we need to engage in a positive fight against this timeline’s bullshit in a manner we can control ourselves.
Our goal should be to destroy autocracy rather than protect democracy. Simply because most of us live in autocracies unfortunately.
Still, we must both reform democracy and neuter it’s biggest threat, Big Tech.
I aim to make this writing more actionable than academic. We need action on the individual level and in small groups – neighborhoods, communities (geographical or digital), libraries, companies, unions, teams, non-profits, associations, clubs, schools, real churches, credit unions, local governments, the arts, independent media, etc. These groups have always been the building blocks of democracy. And they must be nurtured through use and membership.
I call the solution I propose to combat autocracy and Techno Feudalism, Techno Anarchism. While political anarchism as defined by Wikipedia is currently unlikely if not impossible (it’s wrong about human nature), you will see that in the tech arena, it is possible.
“Major definitional elements of anarchism include the will for a non-coercive society, the rejection of the state apparatus, the belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society, and a suggestion on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy.”
Again, it’s idealistic but not 100% practical. But it does have ideas we can use to build its practicality via our interactions with tech.
The writer and philosophical father of Anarchism, Proudhon believed the principle of revolution is freedom.
- Political freedom. This includes universal suffrage, an independent centralization of social functions, a continual revision of the constitution.
- Industrial (economic) freedom. This includes a guarantee of credit and sale.
He wanted “no government by men by means of the accumulation of power (autocracy) and no exploitation of men by means of the accumulation of capital (oligarchy).
His hopes for political transformation were based on the expansion of knowledge: demo-cracy was to evolve into demo-paedy, and gradually lead to anarchy of its own accord. The north star for him was justice.
To define it a little more, a later figure, Errico Malatesta wrote:
“While preaching against every kind of government, and demanding complete freedom, we must support all struggles for partial freedom…. If today we cannot get rid of every kind of government, this is not a good reason for taking no interest in defending the few acquired liberties and fighting to gain more of those.”
In other words, even if you are an anarchist you should support democratic governments and protected political rights.
He supported:
- voluntary associations, self-managed industries, and free communes—cooperating through networks and federations.
- a larger federation to advance anarchist ideas and not a centralized party aiming to take state power by elections or revolution. (Very important.)
- a radical democracy with majority decision-making but with a participatory process where any and all can have their say and minority rights are fully respected.
- an anarchist democracy that is a radical, direct, participatory democracy. One with no violence or coercion by a majority over the minority nor by a minority over the majority.
You get the idea. Individual freedom is key. And corporations are not individuals.
Personally, I view anarchism as democracy without the state, however unlikely it is. Anyway, enough with the anarchism proper.
Now, Wikipedia defines a manifesto as:
“A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent manifestos reject accepted knowledge in favor of a new idea.”
Is that what this will be? Let’s find out.
The Problem
But, before going into the details of this manifesto, let’s explore our major problem as humans, what and who we are fighting, and the bigger war that the techno feudalism versus anarchism battle takes place in.
First, let’s look at the problem, ourselves. We have not evolved enough as humans to keep up with the culture, economies, and technology we’ve developed. That’s why we feel alienated and a little lost.
We need a purpose be it one dictated by religion (for the weak-minded), nationalism (for idiots) or philosophy. Or maybe a very strong personal moral framework (which is difficult to develop). We might even get by with a manifesto. 😉 What we want to avoid is ideologies.
In general our overwhelmed brains need structure for things we don’t understand or can’t explain. We want simple, not the truth, which is why autocrats have an advantage. We’re mostly uneducated, unaware, unobservant, and intellectually lazy so we want easy answers.
H. L. Mencken wrote, “for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
Yanis Yaroufakis notes: there’s no doubt “…about humanity’s infinite capacity to mess things up, to turn miraculous technology into living hell.”
I note: or religion’s capacity for the same with ideas.
In fact, Greg Epstein’s book, Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation has this:
“Today technology is the water in which we swim, whether on not we notice we are fish. Tech provides contemporary Western lives, so polarized and divided in countless ways, with a universal organizing principle… It offers myriad rites, capturing our attention and transforming our consciousness, connecting us with a community of people who spend their days…indeed their entire lives engaging in the same repetitive behaviors with the same fervent intensity.
Naturally, we all hope our devotion to this community of fellow travelers will bear fruit: surely tech will lead to a better future! Even a kind of paradise! But the truth is many of us fear, more than we’d like to admit, this may all be heading to a deeply dark place.
In other words: technology has become a religion.”
As you see, Big Tech now functions as a religion. It provides (easy though dubious) answers as more people reject the horseshit of traditional religion.
But, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle so it needs to be reformed into a more satisfying “religion”. More the Tao of Pooh than the Torah, Koran, and Revelations. More philosophy and morality for how to live life and less damnation, doctrine, and hate. One grown by us and not tech oligarchs. More good, less evil. Ok.
So before we move on, here’s some Taoism for you from The Tao of Pooh:
“Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you’ve got.”
“The goal has to be right for us, and it has to be beneficial, in order to ensure a beneficial process. But aside from that, it’s really the process that’s important.”
“We simply need to believe in the power that’s within us, and use it.”
Also, here’s something good from the Stoics who focused on promoting a life in harmony with nature (as does Taoism), within which we are active participants. They believed logic helps us see what is really there, reason effectively about practical affairs, stand our ground amongst confusion, differentiate the certain from the probable, and so forth.
They identified virtue with a life spent practicing the four cardinal virtues in everyday life — prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
B compassionately using ideas from Taoism, Stoicism, and Techno Anarchism – we can unfuck most of our problem as humans with quality education, the right attitude, some logic, and striving for the difficult goal of simplicity in our tech.
Late Stage Capitalism / Techno Feudalism
Next let’s take a look at economics. Currently we are stuck in the economic model of capitalism. The problem is that it’s not really capitalism. It’s rigged, crony, oligarchic capitalism headed back toward feudalism. Some argue persuasively that it has already fully evolved into Techno Feudalism.
So, let’s define Techno Feudalism.
Is it a malign denomination of the Tech religion?
The child of Big Tech and Late Stage / Crony Capitalism?
Or just a bunch of cunts in Silicon Valley?
Yanis Varoufakis coined the term Techno Feudalism. In his book, Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism, he asks this question:
“Now that computers speak to each other, will this network make capitalism impossible to overthrow? Or might it finally reveal its Achilles heel?”
He advises thinking about money in this way:
“It is, above all else a reflection of our relation to one another and to our technologies; i.e. the means and the ways in which we transform matter. …Money is the alienated ability of mankind.”
In other words, if you can’t do it yourself, you can do it with money.
So, here’s his hypothesis:
“… capitalism is dead, in the sense that its dynamics no longer govern our economies. … that role … has been replaced by something fundamentally different, which I call techno feudalism.
… the thing that killed capitalism is capital itself. Not capital as we have known it since the dawn of the industrial revolution, a new form of capital, a mutation of it that has arisen in the last two decades, so much more powerful that its predecessor that like a stupid, overzealous virus it has killed off its host.”
How’s that for an academic sentence. 😉
Yanis continues:
“… capital’s mutation into what I call cloud capital has demolished capitalism’s two pillars: markets and profits.
Markets, the medium of capitalism, have been replaced by digital trading platforms, which look like, but are not markets, and are better understood as fiefdoms. And profit, the engine of capitalism, has been replaced with its feudal predecessor, rent.
… the owners of tradition capital … have become vassals in relation to a new class of feudal overlord, the owners of cloud capital.
… the rest of us have returned to our former status a serfs … contributing to the wealth and power of the new ruling class with our unpaid labor – in addition to the waged labor we perform, when we get the chance.”
Does this sound familiar? I think so.
And who wants to be a fucking serf? Not me.
More on this will follow in future updates.
The subject of equality is obviously relevant to feudal overlords and serfs.
In his book, A Brief History of Equality, Thomas Piketty writes:
“…since the end of the eighteenth century there has been a historical movement toward equality. The world of the early 2020s, no matter how unjust it may seem, is more egalitarian than that of 1950 or that of 1900, which were themselves more egalitarian than those of 1850 or 1780. ..over the long term, no matter the criterion we employ, we arrive at the same conclusion. Between 1780 and 2020 we see developments tending toward greater equality…
To continue… crises and power relations are necessary, as was the case in the past, but we will also need processes of learning and collective engagement, as well as mobilization around new political programs and proposals for new institutions.
Resistance by elites is a reality, in a world in which transnational billionaires are richer than states. Much as in the French revolution, such resistance can be overcome only by powerful collective mobilization during moments of crises and tension.
To ensure that everyone can contribute… in a decentralized way, we must develop new forms of sovereignism with a universalist vocation.”
I maintain that Techno Feudalism is contributing to the current slow to non-existent grow of equality. And I also maintain that Techno Anarchism can reverse the trend and grow equality via small-scale social mobilization and personal-data-sovereignty among other strategies to destroy Techno Feudalism.
Politics aka The War
Now, on to politics. Let’s begin with a few points. And a quick note, this isn’t about parties, but policies and exercising political rights.
Autocracy is a threat to democracy. Authoritarianism is a threat to human rights. Fascism is a threat to minorities. Autocrats, Fascists (secular or religious), and Communists are the bad guys.
However, unregulated capitalism and digital technology are a deadlier threat to democracy. Big Money and Big Tech equal the really bad guys. Oligarchs suck.
These two threats to human freedom go hand in hand. Unbound capitalism leads to fascist / authoritarian governments which lead to corrupt, crony capitalism or state capitalism aka hypocritical communism. Both of which erode and eventually destroy democracy, the environment, and human rights.
So, we need to reform and regulate large-scale capitalism and keep autocracy at bay. And again, reform democracy to function in the world we now live in.
Tech both in its Silicon Valley incarnation and the tools of repression Chinese / Israeli model are destroying democracy. One via corrupt, oligarchic capitalism / Techno Feudalism. And one via surveillance authoritarianism.
In we want democracy to survive we must fight these two tech models along with autocrats, autocratic political parties, autocratic nations, and autocratic ideologies.
The War’s Combatants
To reiterate, the larger war which I think of as WWIII is one between supporters of democracy and what I call the Evil Empire (Reagan is dead and I have commandeered the term!):
- Unregulated Capitalists / Techno Feudalists
- Big Tech in general
- Autocrats
The Evil Empire
Unregulated capitalist oligarchs, and Techno Feudalists
We’ve seen who they are.
Big Tech which is mostly Techno Feudalists, and some Techno Fascists
Regarding Tech Bros / oligarchs in general and how we got to this point, Cory Doctorow notes the following in his book, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation:
“Forty years ago, we shot anti-trust laws in the guts, and we let companies led by mediocre idiots no better than their forebearers establish monopolies. These donkeys were able to parlay their monopoly winnings into policies that prevented new technologies from supplanting their own. They got to decide who was allowed to compete with them, and how.
Notably, tech giants today are able to wield the law against interoperators: new technologies that plug into their services, systems, and platforms.”
That sounds about right, doesn’t it.
In her book, The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley, Marietje Schaake writes:
“…the fact that our social, professional, and civil lives are increasingly digitized and, essentially, all aspects of digitation are in the hands of private companies; that certain technologies have inherent antidemocratic characteristics, while laws to protect democratic values and the rule of law are lagging; and that, most important, democratic governments’ outsourcing of key functions has led to a hollowing out of government’s core capabilities.
These systemic problems are now undermining the core principles of democracy: free and fair elections, the rule of law, the separation of powers, a well-informed, public debate, national security and the protection of civil liberties such as freedom of expression, the presumption of innocence, and the right to privacy.
As digitization progresses, we see a gradual shift in responsibility and power away from democratic leaders. This shift accelerates two trends: growing digital authoritarianism and a wholesale decline in democratic governance.”
We are the frogs being slowly boiled in the pot as the temperature rises. But, it’s not a fucking joke.
More on this will follow in future updates.
Autocrats
You are probably most familiar with these villains. They either rule your country or are a political party(ies) in it.
In her book, Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World Anne Applebaum writes:
“Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, (today’s Autocrats) operates not like a bloc but rather like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, single-minded determination to preserve their personal wealth and power, Autocracy, Inc.
Their bonds with one another, and with their friends in the democratic world, are cemented not through ideals but through deals – deals designed to take the edge off sanctions, to exchange surveillance technology, to help one another get rich.
Autocracy, Inc., offers its members not only money and security but also something less tangible, impunity.
Their enmity toward the democratic world is not merely some form of traditional geopolitical competition… (It) …has its roots in the very nature of the democratic political system, in words “accountability,” “transparency,” and “democracy.” They hear that language coming from the democratic world, they hear the same language coming from their own dissidents, and they seek to destroy them both.”
More on this will follow in future updates.
Democracy Supporters / Enlightened Humans
This is short. It’s us. At least the intelligent ones in the “Western World”, Oceania, Japan, and South Korea rules-based world. Plus a few other countries in the global south and various dissidents everywhere.
Enshittification
Before moving on to Techno Anarchism, here’s a quick note about Enshittification. It is part of techno feudalism and increasingly capitalism in general. Chicken or the egg first? I don’t know.
But, Cory Doctorow describes enshittification like this:
“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a “two-sided market”, where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.”
So, not only are Techno Feudalists part of the evil empire, their products suck as well.
Ok, enough about the cunts. Let’s move on the good guys.
The Winnable Battle
Will democracy win the war against autocracy? Who knows? It’s an eternal war that the bad guys currently have the upper hand in. And have had for the last decade or two. And have had for 99.99% of human history. Make what you will of that.
But, one of the war’s largest current battles can definitely be won. Equality can continue to grow. And our lives can be improved. And the world’s apocalypse can be delayed.
This battle is the one where Techno Anarchism opposes Techno Feudalism.
It is winnable because this victory can be achieved at the personal and small group level. It also has the advantage that the bad guys can’t defeat it (only resist it). Only apathy (which is also hard to overcome) can defeat Techno Anarchism. If you have a hundred million of drops of water you might drown an elephant. If you have a hundred you can’t even get one toe wet.
It’s also winnable because it’s more of a matter of changing habits (difficult) than political beliefs (extremely difficult). Anarchists and libertarians can be partial allies here along with many other freedom lovers.
And partial is important because this battle’s tactics are modular. It’s not all or nothing. You can take it one step at a time. It’s easy to be a soldier and not too hard to be an officer. You can increase your efforts over time as you get in the martial groove. Hopefully, you can even become a general.
Finally, the battle’s winnable because software is exceptional. Via backwards engineering in the worst case, programs can be written to interoperate with those for other platforms. iWork literally kept Apple from dying.
As Cory Doctorow notes interoperability can make Big Tech a lot smaller, very quickly (assuming we can kill off monopolies). Siphoning off its users reduces its revenues and lobbying power.
Software is also exceptional because it allows us to fight big tech with its own weapons.
Cory notes in The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation:
“If we someday triumph over labor exploitation, gender discrimination and violence, colonialism, and racism, and snatch a habitable planet from the jaws of extractive capitalism, it will be thanks to technologically enabled organizing.”
And more importantly taking actions. Which brings us to ⇊.
Techno Anarchism
So, let’s move on to Techno Anarchism / Digital Distributism and Digital Sovereignty (which is slightly different). It is the philosophy, strategies, and actions needed to defeat Techno Feudalism.
As I mentioned before, Joan Westenberg published something similar to my gestating thoughts. So, let’s not reinvent the wheel and look as her points.
The article in question is The Revolution Will Be Decentralized. It’s not really a revolution, but more a radical adjustment of habits. But, if it happens it will be decentralized. Anyway, take a break and go read her article now! You may need to eat lunch too.
You’re back. Great.
She uses the terms Digital Democracy and Digital Feudalism versus Techno Anarchism and Techno Feudalism.
Westenberg’s central idea addresses both distribution and personal data sovereignty:
“The implementation of Digital Distributism rests on three foundational pillars: infrastructure commons, data sovereignty, and algorithmic democracy. Each pillar requires specific technical and organizational structures to function effectively.
The revolution toward digital democracy begins with individual choices. Every person who moves to decentralized platforms weakens the grip of tech monopolies. Every contribution to open source projects builds alternative infrastructure. Every act of resistance against surveillance and control helps shift the balance of power.
But individual action is not, is never enough. It must be coupled with collective organization. We need coordinated efforts to build and promote alternatives. We need political movements that understand the connection between digital and democratic power. We need communities dedicated to practicing digital distributism in their own operations.
The infrastructure of freedom won’t build itself. But neither did the infrastructure of control. Every system of power depends on the daily choices of millions of individuals. Will we shape the change toward digital democracy or submit to digital feudalism?”
That’s the question. And fortunately you can answer it.
How? With a blast from the past.
Joan and I both propose a similar idea, the Digital Distributist Alternative (Joan) and Techno Anarchism (me).
But FYI, these are not new ideas. They existed before as an alternative to capitalism and socialism. Unfortunately, they didn’t win out.
Distributism
Traditional Distributism is summarized by Wikipedia as:
”Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world’s productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching principles, especially those of Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum novarum (1891) and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno (1931). It has influenced Anglo Christian Democratic movements, and has been recognized as one of many influences on the social market economy.
Distributism views laissez-faire capitalism and state socialism as equally flawed and exploitative, due to their extreme concentration of ownership. Instead, it favors small independent craftsmen and producers; or, if that is not possible, economic mechanisms such as cooperatives and member-owned mutual organisations, as well as small to medium enterprises and vigorous anti-trust laws to restrain or eliminate overweening economic power.”
Joan says:
“Digital Distributism updates this framework for the internet age, recognizing that digital infrastructure is now as fundamental to human flourishing as land was in the agricultural era. It offers a comprehensive alternative to digital feudalism by reimagining how we structure and govern the technologies that increasingly mediate human existence.”
Techno Distributism / Anarchism is the modern equivalent fighting Techno Feudalism as opposed to unregulated capitalism and state socialism. And it has a better chance of coming out on top. It’s more about the means of computation and consumption versus the means of production.
We’re digital serfs here, not the proletariat.
More on this will follow in future updates.
So, we now have our nebulously defined movement, Techno Anarchism. How do we win the war against its all to real foe?
By slowly killing Techno Feudalism with weapons of course. It will experience death by a thousand cuts.
The Arsenal of Techno Anarchism
Okay, so what are the weapons we can use to destroy Techno Feudalism?
Open Source Technology
We start by using open-source technology. Again, it has the advantage that it can’t be bought and enshittified at scale.
Let’s examine the arsenal in detail. Please explore and start using these tools while dropping their enshittified, corporate, feudalistic alternatives. Obviously, all of these are not for everyone. But, do what you can.
They will also boost the privacy and security of your personal data aka your digital sovereignty.
More details on these individual tools will follow in future updates. For now please use the links.
Password Manager
VPN
Browser
Search Engine
Cloud
Office Suite
Grammar Checker
Chat / Messaging
Team Chat
eMail
eBook Management
Maps
Personal Websites via opensource publishing software
- Write Freely (integrates with Fediverse)
- WordPress.org not .com (integrates with Fediverse)
- Micro.Blog (integrates with Fediverse)
- Microwebber
- Publi
- Ghost (integrates with Fediverse)
- Grav CMS
RSS
Your website should have it. And you should follow your allies’ websites with it.
App Building
Project Management
Git
Wiki
Operating Systems
Computers – Linux. But very user-friendly, similar to Chromebooks.
Mobile Operating Systems
Hardware
Open Media Network
Hamish Campbell is a self-described openweb organic intellectual, technologist and part of the Open Media Network. He writes:
“Capitalism’s invisible hand has always relied on hidden data. In the digital age, that data is metadata the overlooked, under-the-hood information that tells us who, where, when, how often, and what next. It doesn’t matter what you say or do if someone else controls the context around it. That’s where the power lies. Let’s be clear: the battle for metadata is the battle for the future.
Capitalism: Metadata is hoarded by the dotcons. Google, Meta, TikTok—they thrive on extracting context from your every click. It’s not about what you say, but what your patterns say about you. They sell this to advertisers, to governments, to anyone with enough cash. Capital controls metadata, metadata controls behaviour, and behaviour keeps the system in place. This is the tech-feudalism of today—soft fascism in algorithmic form.
Chinese Communism: Here, the state doesn’t outsource metadata – it owns it. Surveillance is centralised. Social credit systems reduce people to patterns and can be used to penalise deviation. The state controls metadata, metadata controls capitalism. It’s the digitised return of the command economy.
Liberalism: Wants to privatise metadata to the individual, to revive the mythical free market of rational actors with perfect information. But this is a fantasy—metadata’s power comes from aggregation, and no individual can match corporate or state capacity to hoard it. The liberal path leads to a more blinded, slightly less abusive cage.
Anarchism and the Commons: A Fourth Way
What does anarchism want? It wants the social conditions for free association. It wants autonomy, not just individual, but community autonomy. The #4opens and the OMN (Open Media Network) are an explicit political project to create this.
- Open data: everyone can see and use.
- Open metadata: the tail behind the content, telling you where it came from and how it’s been passed around.
- Open process: how decisions are made is visible and changeable.
- Open code: tools are modifiable and forkable.
The Open Media Network doesn’t pretend metadata isn’t powerful, it’s built around that power. But instead of hiding it, it makes that power visible, shared, and accountable. We’re not encrypting metadata into irrelevance. We’re composting it into trust.”
What does that mean for you? Like us you can be part of the Open Media Network by hosting a website using the tools listed in the previous section, putting a blog on it, writing, and distributing it via RSS. And don’t use AI! You’ll also want to implement ethical SEO and boost your writing on the Fediverse. This is one of the most vital things you can do to kill off Techno Feudalism.
Fediverse
In the home stretch, let’s look at the most powerful weapon against techno feudalism, The Fediverse. It’s also part of the Open Media Network.
Corporate social media is even worse than mass media. Millions of morons can get on it and pontificate as much as they want. It is used by extremists and conspiracy theorists to devastating effect. And it’s run by the motherfuckers behind techno feudalism. Today’s true rulers control the algorithms that show all this horseshit, encourage it, and addict us to following it.
In her book, Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, Renee DiResta writes:
“My focus is on a profound transformation in the dynamics of power and influence, which have fundamentally shifted, and on how we, the citizens, can come to grips with a force that is altering our politics, our society, and our very relationship to reality. For sure, companies and governments must bear their burden of figuring out how to regulate this new space, and how to restore trust and shore up institutions, but we as citizens, have a responsibility to understand these dynamics so we can build healthy norms and fight back. This is the task of a new civics.”
Well said, though I have no faith in the companies doing shit and little faith in governments doing their part competently. So it falls to us as Techno Anarchists to unfuck this. We can do this by leaving corporate social media and moving to the Fediverse.
In his book, Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life, Nathan Schneider writes:
“The ways people can and cannot collectively self-govern in daily online life, furthermore, have been constrained in dominant social networks… the constraints on governance in online spaces have contributed to the peril of democratic politics in general. It is not enough to merely defend existing governmental institutions, healthy democracy depends on enabling creative new forms of self-governance, especially on networks.
If democracy is on the horizon (for humanity), self-governance is a plausible practice for moving in that direction. Governable Spaces, then, are where democratic self-governance can happen.
…the design of online social spaces has contributed to the atrophy of everyday democratic skills. (Fortunately) …the future of democracy can begin at the level of ordinary community, wherever we find ourselves together, where each of us has a chance to make a difference.”
You and I can have a profound impact on the governance of the Fediverse in addition to the good it does in the world. Pick a platform and get involved.
We covered the enshittification of corporate social media above.
For its The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation page, Cory Doctorow’s publisher wrote:
“When the tech platforms promised a future of “connection,” they were lying. They said their “walled gardens” would keep us safe, but those were prison walls.
The platforms locked us into their systems and made us easy pickings, ripe for extraction. Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms are hard to leave by design. They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it’s a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships.”
Cory writes:
“Switching cost are all the things you have to give up when you stop using a product. When switching costs are high enough, people will keep using products and services even though they hate those products and services.
Interoperability lowers switching costs. It allows users to set the terms on which we use that technology. It allows us to use the parts of products and services that benefit us, and block the parts that don’t.”
His publisher continues:
“We can – we must – dismantle the tech platforms. (We must) …seize the means of computation, by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission.
Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.”
To counteract enshittification (and speed up the death of these feudal social platforms) we must seize the means of communication / computation via self-publishing with open-source tech. This is provided by personal websites built with open-source technology and distributed with RSS as seen earlier and via the Fediverse. Decentralization and interoperability are key. We must work for these results politically as well.
The Fediverse is the most formidable weapon of Techno Anarchy because it is unbuyable. It is unseizable if hosted in Europe. And it lets us focus on localism (again small groups) vs globalism. It’s distributed not siloed. And open-source not corporate. No ads, less harassment, and less bullshit greet you there. It’s also quite anarchic in general.
Learn more about the technical aspects and platforms of the Fediverse from these Symfony Station articles.
- You say you want a revolution: help the free, fair, and friendly Fediverse destroy Big Social
- Intrigued by the Fediverse – Traverse our Accounts to Map your Journey
And more details on these individual tools will follow in future updates. For now please use the links.
Publishing – Distribution
Publishing – Personal Websites / Blogging
Microblogging
- Mastodon – Do join Mastodon, but don’t join the mastodon.social instance.
- Friendica – Follow me on Friendica.
- GoToSocial
- And more.
Photos
Do join Pixelfed, but don’t join the pixelfed.social instance.
Videos
Podcasting
Forums / Link Aggregators
Music
Curation
It’s a critical tactic to use these weapons. It’s also important to support them financially and to be active in their communities.
Tactics
Here are some more easy and local tactics. And for those with the technical skills, difficult ones.
Support the Independent Non-profit Press
The mass media is an unreliable ally in the war against autocracy much less the battle against Techno Feudalism.
Traditional journalism is flailing and failing. And it’s slowly going out of business. Plus, they are too spineless to save themselves. It’s because they are corporate and thus cowards. And they are mostly owned by c^nts.
Instead, we need to support and patronize independent non-profit journalistic organizations. That means giving them money directly my fellow anarchists.
Like this publication the following examples are tech-oriented or politics-oriented. But there are many for every issue you care about.
- Propublica
- 404 Media
- The Markup
- CalMatters
- The 19th News
- good internet magazine– coming soon
- Investigative Journalism Foundation
- Tech Policy
- Bellingcat
- Mother Jones
- Newsletters, unless they are on SubStack
- Associated Press
- NPR
- Public Media
- ABC (Australia)
- Al Jazeera (Qatar)
- BBC (UK)
- The Conversation (US)
- Crikey (Australia)
- DW (Germany)
- The Guardian (UK)
- Haaretz (Israel)
- The Tyee (Canada)
- The Breach (Canada)
- The Narwhal
- Sequencer Magazine
- The Xylom
- The Appeal
- The Conversation
- Lawfare
Think Global, Buy Local
In general, please explore the principles of degrowth.
But in particular, before spending your capital, think about that decision’s impact on our planet and your fellow humans. That’s basic morality. And please buy physical products from a local brick and mortar store. And only if you need them.
More relevant to Techno Anarchism, buy digital products from small tech suppliers or open-source suppliers or non and not-for-profits. Donate as much money as you can to open-source technology and other non-profit service providers.
This is easy, it just takes a little conscious thought and avoiding lazy thinking. Or a lack of thinking.
Technical Professionals
We Disagree has a fantastic but long article entitiled Technically Radical: On the Unrecognized Potential of Tech Workers and Hackers. Read it at your convenience, but for now here is the most important part.
The author, Frank Miroslav promotes four approaches tech professionals can take to battle the Tech Right.
“Despite this the sheer scale of things that people could do, it is still possible to demarcate between broad approaches to categorize politically consequential action that people might take. To this end I like the following conceptual scheme which breaks forms of action into four broad categories that I break down on the following axes – whether or not the action occurs within a capitalist institution and what the action seeks to achieve.
One can act inside institutions like the state or corporations or outside those institutions. Such action can aim to be to be destructive in that it undermines property claims or destroys mechanisms of control or it can be constructive in that it builds technology or capabilities that helps people fight oppression or go live beyond capitalism.
ApproachesInsideOutsideDestructiveShaping internal policy in firms, stopping or sandbagging projectsBreaking infrastructure, freeing intellectual propertyConstructiveWorking on subversive projects funded by the state or capitalBuilding and maintaining technology that subverts capitalPeople within specific positions who have accumulated a significant degree of knowledge about the software they work on are not just hard to replace, but can also engage in hard-to-detect sabotage and subtle infrastructural changes that can frustrate attempts to use technology in bad ways. Given the increasing risk workplace organizers face thanks to the threat of layoffs, more informal forms of activism may be necessary.
However, while such activism may be critical for preventing immediate dangers, in the long run, the real interesting stuff is in activism that attempts to break apart the control vectoralists (TechnoFeudalists) have over information or infrastructures of control, rather than attempting to ameliorate their negative effects from within.”
So, if you have the tech chops, wreck havoc on the c^nts.
Battleplan
I am sure you’re ready to kick some ass. So, what can you do? I think you mostly know by now. It’s not complex. We’re not invading Normandy here.
Digital Sovereignty
You must own your communications, own your data, own your digital identity, own your digital devices, and own your own online real estate. Use the open-source technology featured here. Use open-source hardware. Each time you do you place a nail in Techno Feudalism’s coffin. The more you use, the faster that death occurs.
Choose Your Weapons and Kill Techno Feudalism
Use the weapons in Techno Anarchism’s arsenal. Again, the battle against Techno Feudalism is modular. It’s not all or nothing. You can take it one step at a time or one weapon at a time. Put more nails in. And add as many as you can over time. Let’s shut that fucker tight.
As Joan says:
“Each new protocol, each independent instance, each decentralized application creates another crack in the walls of digital feudalism.”
You’re the General
Again, proceed at your pace. Rome wasn’t built or destroyed in a day and these corporate shits are difficult to leave. Intentionally.
We’re in WWIII here and its going to take a while to kill these fucks and cripple their allies. But, they are going to die. Not, inglorious bastards style but via Techno Anarchism. So no bullets or baseball bats. That’s the final resort I hope we never see.
Thanks for reading my semi-manifesto. Please share it, bookmark it, and come back to it later as a reference and to see its updates.
Keep Fighting, Techno Anarchists! We can win this. The power is yours.
Resources
To begin with, follow us each week for the latest happenings in this battle via Battalion’s Destroying Autocracy posts.
Follow me via the Fediverse. Or follow this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
If you are of an academic bent, feel free to take a deep dive into the resources inspiring this manifesto.
Tech as a Religion
The War
The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley
Autocrats
Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
Techno Feudalism
Welcome to the Age of Technofeudalism
How Silicon Valley Unleashed Techno-feudalism:The Making of the Digital Economy
Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason
Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism
Governable Spaces book: Democratic Design for Online Life
Techno Anarchism/Digital Distributism
The Revolution Will Be Decentralized
The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation
Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Please share this article.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
- Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.
Ringleader, Battalion
#4opens #anarchism #arsenal #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #battleplan #BigTech #Capitalism #combatants #Democracy #Distributism #enshittification #Fascism #fedivers #Fediverse #general #local #media #mission #OMN #opensource #problem #resources #sovereignty #tactics #TechnoAnarchism #war #weapons #winnable https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1212
Reuben Walker
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The Techno Anarchist Manifesto aka Let’s fuck up Techno Feudalism
This practical and profanity-laced manifesto provides the loose philosophy, strategies, battleplans, tactics, and weapons to destroy Techno Feudalism via the practice of Techno Anarchism. It explains the war we are in, the Techno battle’s place in it, and what Techno Feudalism and Techno Anarchism are.
Don’t worry, I not going to start capping tech CEOs anytime soon. I’m not a 1914 anarchist out to destroy aristocrats, the state, and the church. Nor advocating for it in general. We are taking tactics from Proudhon’s federative socialism as opposed to Russian Nihilism. We are against the perversion of society by oligarchs.
Introduction
The same day I started writing this article about some ideas floating in my head, Joan Westenberg kind of beat me to the punch on its premise.
This piece will now be more expansive and a sort of manifesto.
I want to focus my thoughts regarding the battle against Techno Feudalism. And narrow my scope. And be systemic.
I will build whatever this ends up being in public. And put my masters degree in Political Science to work. So, this is just the start of a living document. I will update it with more of the philosophy of Techno Anarchism (and other points) in the coming weeks. It will also be influenced by my versions of other philosophies including Stoicism and Taoism.
It’s also the first thing I’ve written that needs a table of contents.
Here’s what we’re exploring:
- Introduction
- Late Stage Capitalism / Techno Feudalism
- The War
- Enshittification
- The Winnable Battle
- Resources
The Mission
As supporters of democracy we need to engage in a positive fight against this timeline’s bullshit in a manner we can control ourselves.
Our goal should be to destroy autocracy rather than protect democracy. Simply because most of us live in autocracies unfortunately.
Still, we must both reform democracy and neuter it’s biggest threat, Big Tech.
I aim to make this writing more actionable than academic. We need action on the individual level and in small groups – neighborhoods, communities (geographical or digital), libraries, companies, unions, teams, non-profits, associations, clubs, schools, real churches, credit unions, local governments, the arts, independent media, etc. These groups have always been the building blocks of democracy. And they must be nurtured through use and membership.
I call the solution I propose to combat autocracy and Techno Feudalism, Techno Anarchism. While political anarchism as defined by Wikipedia is currently unlikely if not impossible (it’s wrong about human nature), you will see that in the tech arena, it is possible.
“Major definitional elements of anarchism include the will for a non-coercive society, the rejection of the state apparatus, the belief that human nature allows humans to exist in or progress toward such a non-coercive society, and a suggestion on how to act to pursue the ideal of anarchy.”
Again, it’s idealistic but not 100% practical. But it does have ideas we can use to build its practicality via our interactions with tech.
The writer and philosophical father of Anarchism, Proudhon believed the principle of revolution is freedom.
- Political freedom. This includes universal suffrage, an independent centralization of social functions, a continual revision of the constitution.
- Industrial (economic) freedom. This includes a guarantee of credit and sale.
He wanted “no government by men by means of the accumulation of power (autocracy) and no exploitation of men by means of the accumulation of capital (oligarchy).
His hopes for political transformation were based on the expansion of knowledge: demo-cracy was to evolve into demo-paedy, and gradually lead to anarchy of its own accord. The north star for him was justice.
To define it a little more, a later figure, Errico Malatesta wrote:
“While preaching against every kind of government, and demanding complete freedom, we must support all struggles for partial freedom…. If today we cannot get rid of every kind of government, this is not a good reason for taking no interest in defending the few acquired liberties and fighting to gain more of those.”
In other words, even if you are an anarchist you should support democratic governments and protected political rights.
He supported:
- voluntary associations, self-managed industries, and free communes—cooperating through networks and federations.
- a larger federation to advance anarchist ideas and not a centralized party aiming to take state power by elections or revolution. (Very important.)
- a radical democracy with majority decision-making but with a participatory process where any and all can have their say and minority rights are fully respected.
- an anarchist democracy that is a radical, direct, participatory democracy. One with no violence or coercion by a majority over the minority nor by a minority over the majority.
You get the idea. Individual freedom is key. And corporations are not individuals.
Personally, I view anarchism as democracy without the state, however unlikely it is. Anyway, enough with the anarchism proper.
Now, Wikipedia defines a manifesto as:
“A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent manifestos reject accepted knowledge in favor of a new idea.”
Is that what this will be? Let’s find out.
The Problem
But, before going into the details of this manifesto, let’s explore our major problem as humans, what and who we are fighting, and the bigger war that the techno feudalism versus anarchism battle takes place in.
First, let’s look at the problem, ourselves. We have not evolved enough as humans to keep up with the culture, economies, and technology we’ve developed. That’s why we feel alienated and a little lost.
We need a purpose be it one dictated by religion (for the weak-minded), nationalism (for idiots) or philosophy. Or maybe a very strong personal moral framework (which is difficult to develop). We might even get by with a manifesto. 😉 What we want to avoid is ideologies.
In general our overwhelmed brains need structure for things we don’t understand or can’t explain. We want simple, not the truth, which is why autocrats have an advantage. We’re mostly uneducated, unaware, unobservant, and intellectually lazy so we want easy answers.
H. L. Mencken wrote, “for every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.”
Yanis Yaroufakis notes: there’s no doubt “…about humanity’s infinite capacity to mess things up, to turn miraculous technology into living hell.”
I note: or religion’s capacity for the same with ideas.
In fact, Greg Epstein’s book, Tech Agnostic: How Technology Became the World’s Most Powerful Religion, and Why It Desperately Needs a Reformation has this:
“Today technology is the water in which we swim, whether on not we notice we are fish. Tech provides contemporary Western lives, so polarized and divided in countless ways, with a universal organizing principle… It offers myriad rites, capturing our attention and transforming our consciousness, connecting us with a community of people who spend their days…indeed their entire lives engaging in the same repetitive behaviors with the same fervent intensity.
Naturally, we all hope our devotion to this community of fellow travelers will bear fruit: surely tech will lead to a better future! Even a kind of paradise! But the truth is many of us fear, more than we’d like to admit, this may all be heading to a deeply dark place.
In other words: technology has become a religion.”
As you see, Big Tech now functions as a religion. It provides (easy though dubious) answers as more people reject the horseshit of traditional religion.
But, there’s no putting the genie back in the bottle so it needs to be reformed into a more satisfying “religion”. More the Tao of Pooh than the Torah, Koran, and Revelations. More philosophy and morality for how to live life and less damnation, doctrine, and hate. One grown by us and not tech oligarchs. More good, less evil. Ok.
So before we move on, here’s some Taoism for you from The Tao of Pooh:
“Do you really want to be happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you’ve got.”
“The goal has to be right for us, and it has to be beneficial, in order to ensure a beneficial process. But aside from that, it’s really the process that’s important.”
“We simply need to believe in the power that’s within us, and use it.”
Also, here’s something good from the Stoics who focused on promoting a life in harmony with nature (as does Taoism), within which we are active participants. They believed logic helps us see what is really there, reason effectively about practical affairs, stand our ground amongst confusion, differentiate the certain from the probable, and so forth.
They identified virtue with a life spent practicing the four cardinal virtues in everyday life — prudence, fortitude, temperance, and justice.
B compassionately using ideas from Taoism, Stoicism, and Techno Anarchism – we can unfuck most of our problem as humans with quality education, the right attitude, some logic, and striving for the difficult goal of simplicity in our tech.
Late Stage Capitalism / Techno Feudalism
Next let’s take a look at economics. Currently we are stuck in the economic model of capitalism. The problem is that it’s not really capitalism. It’s rigged, crony, oligarchic capitalism headed back toward feudalism. Some argue persuasively that it has already fully evolved into Techno Feudalism.
So, let’s define Techno Feudalism.
Is it a malign denomination of the Tech religion?
The child of Big Tech and Late Stage / Crony Capitalism?
Or just a bunch of cunts in Silicon Valley?
Yanis Varoufakis coined the term Techno Feudalism. In his book, Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism, he asks this question:
“Now that computers speak to each other, will this network make capitalism impossible to overthrow? Or might it finally reveal its Achilles heel?”
He advises thinking about money in this way:
“It is, above all else a reflection of our relation to one another and to our technologies; i.e. the means and the ways in which we transform matter. …Money is the alienated ability of mankind.”
In other words, if you can’t do it yourself, you can do it with money.
So, here’s his hypothesis:
“… capitalism is dead, in the sense that its dynamics no longer govern our economies. … that role … has been replaced by something fundamentally different, which I call techno feudalism.
… the thing that killed capitalism is capital itself. Not capital as we have known it since the dawn of the industrial revolution, a new form of capital, a mutation of it that has arisen in the last two decades, so much more powerful that its predecessor that like a stupid, overzealous virus it has killed off its host.”
How’s that for an academic sentence. 😉
Yanis continues:
“… capital’s mutation into what I call cloud capital has demolished capitalism’s two pillars: markets and profits.
Markets, the medium of capitalism, have been replaced by digital trading platforms, which look like, but are not markets, and are better understood as fiefdoms. And profit, the engine of capitalism, has been replaced with its feudal predecessor, rent.
… the owners of tradition capital … have become vassals in relation to a new class of feudal overlord, the owners of cloud capital.
… the rest of us have returned to our former status a serfs … contributing to the wealth and power of the new ruling class with our unpaid labor – in addition to the waged labor we perform, when we get the chance.”
Does this sound familiar? I think so.
And who wants to be a fucking serf? Not me.
More on this will follow in future updates.
The subject of equality is obviously relevant to feudal overlords and serfs.
In his book, A Brief History of Equality, Thomas Piketty writes:
“…since the end of the eighteenth century there has been a historical movement toward equality. The world of the early 2020s, no matter how unjust it may seem, is more egalitarian than that of 1950 or that of 1900, which were themselves more egalitarian than those of 1850 or 1780. ..over the long term, no matter the criterion we employ, we arrive at the same conclusion. Between 1780 and 2020 we see developments tending toward greater equality…
To continue… crises and power relations are necessary, as was the case in the past, but we will also need processes of learning and collective engagement, as well as mobilization around new political programs and proposals for new institutions.
Resistance by elites is a reality, in a world in which transnational billionaires are richer than states. Much as in the French revolution, such resistance can be overcome only by powerful collective mobilization during moments of crises and tension.
To ensure that everyone can contribute… in a decentralized way, we must develop new forms of sovereignism with a universalist vocation.”
I maintain that Techno Feudalism is contributing to the current slow to non-existent grow of equality. And I also maintain that Techno Anarchism can reverse the trend and grow equality via small-scale social mobilization and personal-data-sovereignty among other strategies to destroy Techno Feudalism.
Politics aka The War
Now, on to politics. Let’s begin with a few points. And a quick note, this isn’t about parties, but policies and exercising political rights.
Autocracy is a threat to democracy. Authoritarianism is a threat to human rights. Fascism is a threat to minorities. Autocrats, Fascists (secular or religious), and Communists are the bad guys.
However, unregulated capitalism and digital technology are a deadlier threat to democracy. Big Money and Big Tech equal the really bad guys. Oligarchs suck.
These two threats to human freedom go hand in hand. Unbound capitalism leads to fascist / authoritarian governments which lead to corrupt, crony capitalism or state capitalism aka hypocritical communism. Both of which erode and eventually destroy democracy, the environment, and human rights.
So, we need to reform and regulate large-scale capitalism and keep autocracy at bay. And again, reform democracy to function in the world we now live in.
Tech both in its Silicon Valley incarnation and the tools of repression Chinese / Israeli model are destroying democracy. One via corrupt, oligarchic capitalism / Techno Feudalism. And one via surveillance authoritarianism.
In we want democracy to survive we must fight these two tech models along with autocrats, autocratic political parties, autocratic nations, and autocratic ideologies.
The War’s Combatants
To reiterate, the larger war which I think of as WWIII is one between supporters of democracy and what I call the Evil Empire (Reagan is dead and I have commandeered the term!):
- Unregulated Capitalists / Techno Feudalists
- Big Tech in general
- Autocrats
The Evil Empire
Unregulated capitalist oligarchs, and Techno Feudalists
We’ve seen who they are.
Big Tech which is mostly Techno Feudalists, and some Techno Fascists
Regarding Tech Bros / oligarchs in general and how we got to this point, Cory Doctorow notes the following in his book, The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation:
“Forty years ago, we shot anti-trust laws in the guts, and we let companies led by mediocre idiots no better than their forebearers establish monopolies. These donkeys were able to parlay their monopoly winnings into policies that prevented new technologies from supplanting their own. They got to decide who was allowed to compete with them, and how.
Notably, tech giants today are able to wield the law against interoperators: new technologies that plug into their services, systems, and platforms.”
That sounds about right, doesn’t it.
In her book, The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley, Marietje Schaake writes:
“…the fact that our social, professional, and civil lives are increasingly digitized and, essentially, all aspects of digitation are in the hands of private companies; that certain technologies have inherent antidemocratic characteristics, while laws to protect democratic values and the rule of law are lagging; and that, most important, democratic governments’ outsourcing of key functions has led to a hollowing out of government’s core capabilities.
These systemic problems are now undermining the core principles of democracy: free and fair elections, the rule of law, the separation of powers, a well-informed, public debate, national security and the protection of civil liberties such as freedom of expression, the presumption of innocence, and the right to privacy.
As digitization progresses, we see a gradual shift in responsibility and power away from democratic leaders. This shift accelerates two trends: growing digital authoritarianism and a wholesale decline in democratic governance.”
We are the frogs being slowly boiled in the pot as the temperature rises. But, it’s not a fucking joke.
More on this will follow in future updates.
Autocrats
You are probably most familiar with these villains. They either rule your country or are a political party(ies) in it.
In her book, Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World Anne Applebaum writes:
“Unlike military or political alliances from other times and places, (today’s Autocrats) operates not like a bloc but rather like an agglomeration of companies, bound not by ideology but rather by a ruthless, single-minded determination to preserve their personal wealth and power, Autocracy, Inc.
Their bonds with one another, and with their friends in the democratic world, are cemented not through ideals but through deals – deals designed to take the edge off sanctions, to exchange surveillance technology, to help one another get rich.
Autocracy, Inc., offers its members not only money and security but also something less tangible, impunity.
Their enmity toward the democratic world is not merely some form of traditional geopolitical competition… (It) …has its roots in the very nature of the democratic political system, in words “accountability,” “transparency,” and “democracy.” They hear that language coming from the democratic world, they hear the same language coming from their own dissidents, and they seek to destroy them both.”
More on this will follow in future updates.
Democracy Supporters / Enlightened Humans
This is short. It’s us. At least the intelligent ones in the “Western World”, Oceania, Japan, and South Korea rules-based world. Plus a few other countries in the global south and various dissidents everywhere.
Enshittification
Before moving on to Techno Anarchism, here’s a quick note about Enshittification. It is part of techno feudalism and increasingly capitalism in general. Chicken or the egg first? I don’t know.
But, Cory Doctorow describes enshittification like this:
“Here is how platforms die: first, they are good to their users; then they abuse their users to make things better for their business customers; finally, they abuse those business customers to claw back all the value for themselves. Then, they die. I call this enshittification, and it is a seemingly inevitable consequence arising from the combination of the ease of changing how a platform allocates value, combined with the nature of a “two-sided market”, where a platform sits between buyers and sellers, hold each hostage to the other, raking off an ever-larger share of the value that passes between them.”
So, not only are Techno Feudalists part of the evil empire, their products suck as well.
Ok, enough about the cunts. Let’s move on the good guys.
The Winnable Battle
Will democracy win the war against autocracy? Who knows? It’s an eternal war that the bad guys currently have the upper hand in. And have had for the last decade or two. And have had for 99.99% of human history. Make what you will of that.
But, one of the war’s largest current battles can definitely be won. Equality can continue to grow. And our lives can be improved. And the world’s apocalypse can be delayed.
This battle is the one where Techno Anarchism opposes Techno Feudalism.
It is winnable because this victory can be achieved at the personal and small group level. It also has the advantage that the bad guys can’t defeat it (only resist it). Only apathy (which is also hard to overcome) can defeat Techno Anarchism. If you have a hundred million of drops of water you might drown an elephant. If you have a hundred you can’t even get one toe wet.
It’s also winnable because it’s more of a matter of changing habits (difficult) than political beliefs (extremely difficult). Anarchists and libertarians can be partial allies here along with many other freedom lovers.
And partial is important because this battle’s tactics are modular. It’s not all or nothing. You can take it one step at a time. It’s easy to be a soldier and not too hard to be an officer. You can increase your efforts over time as you get in the martial groove. Hopefully, you can even become a general.
Finally, the battle’s winnable because software is exceptional. Via backwards engineering in the worst case, programs can be written to interoperate with those for other platforms. iWork literally kept Apple from dying.
As Cory Doctorow notes interoperability can make Big Tech a lot smaller, very quickly (assuming we can kill off monopolies). Siphoning off its users reduces its revenues and lobbying power.
Software is also exceptional because it allows us to fight big tech with its own weapons.
Cory notes in The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation:
“If we someday triumph over labor exploitation, gender discrimination and violence, colonialism, and racism, and snatch a habitable planet from the jaws of extractive capitalism, it will be thanks to technologically enabled organizing.”
And more importantly taking actions. Which brings us to ⇊.
Techno Anarchism
So, let’s move on to Techno Anarchism / Digital Distributism and Digital Sovereignty (which is slightly different). It is the philosophy, strategies, and actions needed to defeat Techno Feudalism.
As I mentioned before, Joan Westenberg published something similar to my gestating thoughts. So, let’s not reinvent the wheel and look as her points.
The article in question is The Revolution Will Be Decentralized. It’s not really a revolution, but more a radical adjustment of habits. But, if it happens it will be decentralized. Anyway, take a break and go read her article now! You may need to eat lunch too.
You’re back. Great.
She uses the terms Digital Democracy and Digital Feudalism versus Techno Anarchism and Techno Feudalism.
Westenberg’s central idea addresses both distribution and personal data sovereignty:
“The implementation of Digital Distributism rests on three foundational pillars: infrastructure commons, data sovereignty, and algorithmic democracy. Each pillar requires specific technical and organizational structures to function effectively.
The revolution toward digital democracy begins with individual choices. Every person who moves to decentralized platforms weakens the grip of tech monopolies. Every contribution to open source projects builds alternative infrastructure. Every act of resistance against surveillance and control helps shift the balance of power.
But individual action is not, is never enough. It must be coupled with collective organization. We need coordinated efforts to build and promote alternatives. We need political movements that understand the connection between digital and democratic power. We need communities dedicated to practicing digital distributism in their own operations.
The infrastructure of freedom won’t build itself. But neither did the infrastructure of control. Every system of power depends on the daily choices of millions of individuals. Will we shape the change toward digital democracy or submit to digital feudalism?”
That’s the question. And fortunately you can answer it.
How? With a blast from the past.
Joan and I both propose a similar idea, the Digital Distributist Alternative (Joan) and Techno Anarchism (me).
But FYI, these are not new ideas. They existed before as an alternative to capitalism and socialism. Unfortunately, they didn’t win out.
Distributism
Traditional Distributism is summarized by Wikipedia as:
”Distributism is an economic theory asserting that the world’s productive assets should be widely owned rather than concentrated. Developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, distributism was based upon Catholic social teaching principles, especially those of Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Rerum novarum (1891) and Pope Pius XI in Quadragesimo anno (1931). It has influenced Anglo Christian Democratic movements, and has been recognized as one of many influences on the social market economy.
Distributism views laissez-faire capitalism and state socialism as equally flawed and exploitative, due to their extreme concentration of ownership. Instead, it favors small independent craftsmen and producers; or, if that is not possible, economic mechanisms such as cooperatives and member-owned mutual organisations, as well as small to medium enterprises and vigorous anti-trust laws to restrain or eliminate overweening economic power.”
Joan says:
“Digital Distributism updates this framework for the internet age, recognizing that digital infrastructure is now as fundamental to human flourishing as land was in the agricultural era. It offers a comprehensive alternative to digital feudalism by reimagining how we structure and govern the technologies that increasingly mediate human existence.”
Techno Distributism / Anarchism is the modern equivalent fighting Techno Feudalism as opposed to unregulated capitalism and state socialism. And it has a better chance of coming out on top. It’s more about the means of computation and consumption versus the means of production.
We’re digital serfs here, not the proletariat.
More on this will follow in future updates.
So, we now have our nebulously defined movement, Techno Anarchism. How do we win the war against its all to real foe?
By slowly killing Techno Feudalism with weapons of course. It will experience death by a thousand cuts.
The Arsenal of Techno Anarchism
Okay, so what are the weapons we can use to destroy Techno Feudalism?
Open Source Technology
We start by using open-source technology. Again, it has the advantage that it can’t be bought and enshittified at scale.
Let’s examine the arsenal in detail. Please explore and start using these tools while dropping their enshittified, corporate, feudalistic alternatives. Obviously, all of these are not for everyone. But, do what you can.
They will also boost the privacy and security of your personal data aka your digital sovereignty.
More details on these individual tools will follow in future updates. For now please use the links.
Password Manager
VPN
Browser
Search Engine
Cloud
Office Suite
Grammar Checker
Chat / Messaging
Team Chat
eMail
eBook Management
Maps
Personal Websites via opensource publishing software
- Write Freely (integrates with Fediverse)
- WordPress.org not .com (integrates with Fediverse)
- Micro.Blog (integrates with Fediverse)
- Microwebber
- Publi
- Ghost (integrates with Fediverse)
- Grav CMS
RSS
Your website should have it. And you should follow your allies’ websites with it.
App Building
Project Management
Git
Wiki
Operating Systems
Computers – Linux. But very user-friendly, similar to Chromebooks.
Mobile Operating Systems
Hardware
Open Media Network
Hamish Campbell is a self-described openweb organic intellectual, technologist and part of the Open Media Network. He writes:
“Capitalism’s invisible hand has always relied on hidden data. In the digital age, that data is metadata the overlooked, under-the-hood information that tells us who, where, when, how often, and what next. It doesn’t matter what you say or do if someone else controls the context around it. That’s where the power lies. Let’s be clear: the battle for metadata is the battle for the future.
Capitalism: Metadata is hoarded by the dotcons. Google, Meta, TikTok—they thrive on extracting context from your every click. It’s not about what you say, but what your patterns say about you. They sell this to advertisers, to governments, to anyone with enough cash. Capital controls metadata, metadata controls behaviour, and behaviour keeps the system in place. This is the tech-feudalism of today—soft fascism in algorithmic form.
Chinese Communism: Here, the state doesn’t outsource metadata – it owns it. Surveillance is centralised. Social credit systems reduce people to patterns and can be used to penalise deviation. The state controls metadata, metadata controls capitalism. It’s the digitised return of the command economy.
Liberalism: Wants to privatise metadata to the individual, to revive the mythical free market of rational actors with perfect information. But this is a fantasy—metadata’s power comes from aggregation, and no individual can match corporate or state capacity to hoard it. The liberal path leads to a more blinded, slightly less abusive cage.
Anarchism and the Commons: A Fourth Way
What does anarchism want? It wants the social conditions for free association. It wants autonomy, not just individual, but community autonomy. The #4opens and the OMN (Open Media Network) are an explicit political project to create this.
- Open data: everyone can see and use.
- Open metadata: the tail behind the content, telling you where it came from and how it’s been passed around.
- Open process: how decisions are made is visible and changeable.
- Open code: tools are modifiable and forkable.
The Open Media Network doesn’t pretend metadata isn’t powerful, it’s built around that power. But instead of hiding it, it makes that power visible, shared, and accountable. We’re not encrypting metadata into irrelevance. We’re composting it into trust.”
What does that mean for you? Like us you can be part of the Open Media Network by hosting a website using the tools listed in the previous section, putting a blog on it, writing, and distributing it via RSS. And don’t use AI! You’ll also want to implement ethical SEO and boost your writing on the Fediverse. This is one of the most vital things you can do to kill off Techno Feudalism.
Fediverse
In the home stretch, let’s look at the most powerful weapon against techno feudalism, The Fediverse. It’s also part of the Open Media Network.
Corporate social media is even worse than mass media. Millions of morons can get on it and pontificate as much as they want. It is used by extremists and conspiracy theorists to devastating effect. And it’s run by the motherfuckers behind techno feudalism. Today’s true rulers control the algorithms that show all this horseshit, encourage it, and addict us to following it.
In her book, Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality, Renee DiResta writes:
“My focus is on a profound transformation in the dynamics of power and influence, which have fundamentally shifted, and on how we, the citizens, can come to grips with a force that is altering our politics, our society, and our very relationship to reality. For sure, companies and governments must bear their burden of figuring out how to regulate this new space, and how to restore trust and shore up institutions, but we as citizens, have a responsibility to understand these dynamics so we can build healthy norms and fight back. This is the task of a new civics.”
Well said, though I have no faith in the companies doing shit and little faith in governments doing their part competently. So it falls to us as Techno Anarchists to unfuck this. We can do this by leaving corporate social media and moving to the Fediverse.
In his book, Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life, Nathan Schneider writes:
“The ways people can and cannot collectively self-govern in daily online life, furthermore, have been constrained in dominant social networks… the constraints on governance in online spaces have contributed to the peril of democratic politics in general. It is not enough to merely defend existing governmental institutions, healthy democracy depends on enabling creative new forms of self-governance, especially on networks.
If democracy is on the horizon (for humanity), self-governance is a plausible practice for moving in that direction. Governable Spaces, then, are where democratic self-governance can happen.
…the design of online social spaces has contributed to the atrophy of everyday democratic skills. (Fortunately) …the future of democracy can begin at the level of ordinary community, wherever we find ourselves together, where each of us has a chance to make a difference.”
You and I can have a profound impact on the governance of the Fediverse in addition to the good it does in the world. Pick a platform and get involved.
We covered the enshittification of corporate social media above.
For its The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation page, Cory Doctorow’s publisher wrote:
“When the tech platforms promised a future of “connection,” they were lying. They said their “walled gardens” would keep us safe, but those were prison walls.
The platforms locked us into their systems and made us easy pickings, ripe for extraction. Twitter, Facebook and other Big Tech platforms are hard to leave by design. They hold hostage the people we love, the communities that matter to us, the audiences and customers we rely on. The impossibility of staying connected to these people after you delete your account has nothing to do with technological limitations: it’s a business strategy in service to commodifying your personal life and relationships.”
Cory writes:
“Switching cost are all the things you have to give up when you stop using a product. When switching costs are high enough, people will keep using products and services even though they hate those products and services.
Interoperability lowers switching costs. It allows users to set the terms on which we use that technology. It allows us to use the parts of products and services that benefit us, and block the parts that don’t.”
His publisher continues:
“We can – we must – dismantle the tech platforms. (We must) …seize the means of computation, by forcing Silicon Valley to do the thing it fears most: interoperate. Interoperability will tear down the walls between technologies, allowing users leave platforms, remix their media, and reconfigure their devices without corporate permission.
Interoperability is the only route to the rapid and enduring annihilation of the platforms. The Internet Con is the disassembly manual we need to take back our internet.”
To counteract enshittification (and speed up the death of these feudal social platforms) we must seize the means of communication / computation via self-publishing with open-source tech. This is provided by personal websites built with open-source technology and distributed with RSS as seen earlier and via the Fediverse. Decentralization and interoperability are key. We must work for these results politically as well.
The Fediverse is the most formidable weapon of Techno Anarchy because it is unbuyable. It is unseizable if hosted in Europe. And it lets us focus on localism (again small groups) vs globalism. It’s distributed not siloed. And open-source not corporate. No ads, less harassment, and less bullshit greet you there. It’s also quite anarchic in general.
Learn more about the technical aspects and platforms of the Fediverse from these Symfony Station articles.
- You say you want a revolution: help the free, fair, and friendly Fediverse destroy Big Social
- Intrigued by the Fediverse – Traverse our Accounts to Map your Journey
And more details on these individual tools will follow in future updates. For now please use the links.
Publishing – Distribution
Publishing – Personal Websites / Blogging
Microblogging
- Mastodon – Do join Mastodon, but don’t join the mastodon.social instance.
- Friendica – Follow me on Friendica.
- GoToSocial
- And more.
Photos
Do join Pixelfed, but don’t join the pixelfed.social instance.
Videos
Podcasting
Forums / Link Aggregators
Music
Curation
It’s a critical tactic to use these weapons. It’s also important to support them financially and to be active in their communities.
Tactics
Here are some more easy and local tactics. And for those with the technical skills, difficult ones.
Support the Independent Non-profit Press
The mass media is an unreliable ally in the war against autocracy much less the battle against Techno Feudalism.
Traditional journalism is flailing and failing. And it’s slowly going out of business. Plus, they are too spineless to save themselves. It’s because they are corporate and thus cowards. And they are mostly owned by c^nts.
Instead, we need to support and patronize independent non-profit journalistic organizations. That means giving them money directly my fellow anarchists.
Like this publication the following examples are tech-oriented or politics-oriented. But there are many for every issue you care about.
- Propublica
- 404 Media
- The Markup
- CalMatters
- The 19th News
- good internet magazine– coming soon
- Investigative Journalism Foundation
- Tech Policy
- Bellingcat
- Mother Jones
- Newsletters, unless they are on SubStack
- Associated Press
- NPR
- Public Media
- ABC (Australia)
- Al Jazeera (Qatar)
- BBC (UK)
- The Conversation (US)
- Crikey (Australia)
- DW (Germany)
- The Guardian (UK)
- Haaretz (Israel)
- The Tyee (Canada)
- The Breach (Canada)
- The Narwhal
- Sequencer Magazine
- The Xylom
- The Appeal
- The Conversation
- Lawfare
Think Global, Buy Local
In general, please explore the principles of degrowth.
But in particular, before spending your capital, think about that decision’s impact on our planet and your fellow humans. That’s basic morality. And please buy physical products from a local brick and mortar store. And only if you need them.
More relevant to Techno Anarchism, buy digital products from small tech suppliers or open-source suppliers or non and not-for-profits. Donate as much money as you can to open-source technology and other non-profit service providers.
This is easy, it just takes a little conscious thought and avoiding lazy thinking. Or a lack of thinking.
Technical Professionals
We Disagree has a fantastic but long article entitiled Technically Radical: On the Unrecognized Potential of Tech Workers and Hackers. Read it at your convenience, but for now here is the most important part.
The author, Frank Miroslav promotes four approaches tech professionals can take to battle the Tech Right.
“Despite this the sheer scale of things that people could do, it is still possible to demarcate between broad approaches to categorize politically consequential action that people might take. To this end I like the following conceptual scheme which breaks forms of action into four broad categories that I break down on the following axes – whether or not the action occurs within a capitalist institution and what the action seeks to achieve.
One can act inside institutions like the state or corporations or outside those institutions. Such action can aim to be to be destructive in that it undermines property claims or destroys mechanisms of control or it can be constructive in that it builds technology or capabilities that helps people fight oppression or go live beyond capitalism.
ApproachesInsideOutsideDestructiveShaping internal policy in firms, stopping or sandbagging projectsBreaking infrastructure, freeing intellectual propertyConstructiveWorking on subversive projects funded by the state or capitalBuilding and maintaining technology that subverts capitalPeople within specific positions who have accumulated a significant degree of knowledge about the software they work on are not just hard to replace, but can also engage in hard-to-detect sabotage and subtle infrastructural changes that can frustrate attempts to use technology in bad ways. Given the increasing risk workplace organizers face thanks to the threat of layoffs, more informal forms of activism may be necessary.
However, while such activism may be critical for preventing immediate dangers, in the long run, the real interesting stuff is in activism that attempts to break apart the control vectoralists (TechnoFeudalists) have over information or infrastructures of control, rather than attempting to ameliorate their negative effects from within.”
So, if you have the tech chops, wreck havoc on the c^nts.
Battleplan
I am sure you’re ready to kick some ass. So, what can you do? I think you mostly know by now. It’s not complex. We’re not invading Normandy here.
Digital Sovereignty
You must own your communications, own your data, own your digital identity, own your digital devices, and own your own online real estate. Use the open-source technology featured here. Use open-source hardware. Each time you do you place a nail in Techno Feudalism’s coffin. The more you use, the faster that death occurs.
Choose Your Weapons and Kill Techno Feudalism
Use the weapons in Techno Anarchism’s arsenal. Again, the battle against Techno Feudalism is modular. It’s not all or nothing. You can take it one step at a time or one weapon at a time. Put more nails in. And add as many as you can over time. Let’s shut that fucker tight.
As Joan says:
“Each new protocol, each independent instance, each decentralized application creates another crack in the walls of digital feudalism.”
You’re the General
Again, proceed at your pace. Rome wasn’t built or destroyed in a day and these corporate shits are difficult to leave. Intentionally.
We’re in WWIII here and its going to take a while to kill these fucks and cripple their allies. But, they are going to die. Not, inglorious bastards style but via Techno Anarchism. So no bullets or baseball bats. That’s the final resort I hope we never see.
Thanks for reading my semi-manifesto. Please share it, bookmark it, and come back to it later as a reference and to see its updates.
Keep Fighting, Techno Anarchists! We can win this. The power is yours.
Resources
To begin with, follow us each week for the latest happenings in this battle via Battalion’s Destroying Autocracy posts.
Follow me via the Fediverse. Or follow this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
If you are of an academic bent, feel free to take a deep dive into the resources inspiring this manifesto.
Tech as a Religion
The War
The Tech Coup: How to Save Democracy from Silicon Valley
Autocrats
Autocracy Inc: The Dictators Who Want to Run the World
Techno Feudalism
Welcome to the Age of Technofeudalism
How Silicon Valley Unleashed Techno-feudalism:The Making of the Digital Economy
Critique of Techno-Feudal Reason
Techno Feudalism: What Killed Capitalism
Governable Spaces book: Democratic Design for Online Life
Techno Anarchism/Digital Distributism
The Revolution Will Be Decentralized
The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation
Rulers: The People Who Turn Lies into Reality
Capital in the Twenty-First Century
Governable Spaces: Democratic Design for Online Life
CTAs (aka show us some free love)
- Please share this article.
- Follow me on the Fediverse. Or this site via the button in the footer. Or via RSS.
- Or follow Battalion on Bluesky.
Ringleader, Battalion
#4opens #anarchism #arsenal #Authoritarianism #Autocracy #battleplan #BigTech #Capitalism #combatants #Democracy #Distributism #enshittification #Fascism #fedivers #Fediverse #general #local #media #mission #OMN #opensource #problem #resources #sovereignty #tactics #TechnoAnarchism #war #weapons #winnable https://battalion.mobileatom.net/?p=1212
Reuben Walker
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