@jackson4ants.bsky.social
Linguist, recovering biologist, writer.
20-year absentee from Cleveland.
Conservation, Arabic, Ants.
20-year absentee from Cleveland.
Conservation, Arabic, Ants.
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I guess there is some sort of centrist movement afoot to blame low 2024 Dem turnout on disgust with the Biden age thing, instead of disgust with Dem support of a genocide?
Anything, literally anything at all, to avoid examining why Dem leaders helped murder vast numbers of Palestinians.
Anything, literally anything at all, to avoid examining why Dem leaders helped murder vast numbers of Palestinians.
May 18, 2025 at 5:03 PM
I guess there is some sort of centrist movement afoot to blame low 2024 Dem turnout on disgust with the Biden age thing, instead of disgust with Dem support of a genocide?
Anything, literally anything at all, to avoid examining why Dem leaders helped murder vast numbers of Palestinians.
Anything, literally anything at all, to avoid examining why Dem leaders helped murder vast numbers of Palestinians.
Autism is not a disease. It is not even a health condition. Any attempt to "eradicate it" means eradicating people.
The National Institutes of Health will partner with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to create a database of Americans with autism, using insurance claims, medical records and smartwatch data.
RFK Jr. says autism database will use Medicare and Medicaid info
The National Institutes of Health will partner with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to create a database of Americans with autism, using insurance claims, medical records and smartwatch data.
www.npr.org
May 9, 2025 at 3:29 AM
Autism is not a disease. It is not even a health condition. Any attempt to "eradicate it" means eradicating people.
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A male fungus-farming ant, Cyphomyrmex, photographed last week at UT Austin's fabulous Brackenridge Field Lab.
May 6, 2025 at 3:38 PM
A male fungus-farming ant, Cyphomyrmex, photographed last week at UT Austin's fabulous Brackenridge Field Lab.
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Because of last night's rains in central/north Austin, I anticipate leafcutter ant mating flights around dawn tomorrow. Look for massive, goofy-looking bugs with round butts and reddish wings.
April 23, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Because of last night's rains in central/north Austin, I anticipate leafcutter ant mating flights around dawn tomorrow. Look for massive, goofy-looking bugs with round butts and reddish wings.
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I hope most people are aware that residential pest control is 90% scam, and the ones that do subscription treatment services are 100% a scam.
They have no incentive to actually solve whatever pest problem you think you have. They'd rather show up biweekly, spray blindly, and collect your money.
They have no incentive to actually solve whatever pest problem you think you have. They'd rather show up biweekly, spray blindly, and collect your money.
April 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
I hope most people are aware that residential pest control is 90% scam, and the ones that do subscription treatment services are 100% a scam.
They have no incentive to actually solve whatever pest problem you think you have. They'd rather show up biweekly, spray blindly, and collect your money.
They have no incentive to actually solve whatever pest problem you think you have. They'd rather show up biweekly, spray blindly, and collect your money.
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Airing today on ABC News:
Video Rick Steves reacts to PBS potentially facing federal cuts
Television host Rick Steves says public broadcasting is "mission driven" and benefits from the kind of programming they provide as the Trump admin. is considering cutting public broadcasting.
abcnews.go.com
April 18, 2025 at 9:31 PM
Airing today on ABC News:
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Given that habitat loss is demonstrably the single biggest threat to endangered species, this move effectively ends protection for most species, and a lot of things will go extinct.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA said that a narrower interpretation of harm — to mean intentionally killing or hurting a particular animal rather than degrading a habitat a species needs to find food, breed and thrive — reflects “the single, best meaning” of the Endangered Species Act
Trump officials say destroying endangered species’ habitats isn’t ‘harm’
A proposed rule would narrow the definition of harm under the Endangered Species Act and could open the door to more mining, construction and other activities.
www.washingtonpost.com
April 17, 2025 at 2:24 AM
Given that habitat loss is demonstrably the single biggest threat to endangered species, this move effectively ends protection for most species, and a lot of things will go extinct.
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I didn't think I could be surprised by anything this monster said anymore but it seems impossible to overestimate how cavernously stupid and hideous these people are
The full quote from RFK, Jr. is truly disgusting and this is 100% him calling for institutionalization of autistic people. This is horrifying.
April 16, 2025 at 7:38 PM
I didn't think I could be surprised by anything this monster said anymore but it seems impossible to overestimate how cavernously stupid and hideous these people are
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BREAKING: Israel’s defense minister says troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely.
Israeli defense minister says troops will remain in Gaza, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely
Israel’s defense minister says that troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely.
bit.ly
April 16, 2025 at 8:08 AM
BREAKING: Israel’s defense minister says troops will remain in so-called security zones in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon and Syria indefinitely.
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The repression of people opposing a US-backed genocide has always been a bipartisan project, and until it's not we're not going to be able to beat the Trump regime
April 15, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The repression of people opposing a US-backed genocide has always been a bipartisan project, and until it's not we're not going to be able to beat the Trump regime
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Bring back *everyone* who was sent from the U.S. to CECOT in El Salvador. *No one* should be sent there. ALL their rights were violated. ALL of them should come home.
April 13, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Bring back *everyone* who was sent from the U.S. to CECOT in El Salvador. *No one* should be sent there. ALL their rights were violated. ALL of them should come home.
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BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency
White House aims to end NOAA’s research office; NASA also targeted
www.science.org
April 11, 2025 at 3:20 PM
BREAKING from @science.org: The Trump admin is seeking to kill nearly all climate research at NOAA, its climate science agency.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
Its near-final budget proposal would end all NOAA research labs, academic institutes, and regional climate centers. And it wants to fully end the NOAA Research division.
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Hear the World's Oldest Known Song, "Hurrian Hymn No. 6" Written 3,400 Years Ago | Open Culture
www.openculture.com/2025/04/hear...
www.openculture.com/2025/04/hear...
Hear the World’s Oldest Known Song, “Hurrian Hymn No. 6” Written 3,400 Years Ago
Do you like old timey music?
Splendid.
You can’t get more old timey than Hurrian Hymn No. 6, which was discovered on a clay tablet in the ancient Syrian port city of Ugarit in the 1950s, and is over...
www.openculture.com
April 11, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Hear the World's Oldest Known Song, "Hurrian Hymn No. 6" Written 3,400 Years Ago | Open Culture
www.openculture.com/2025/04/hear...
www.openculture.com/2025/04/hear...
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Roald Dahl wrote this letter about losing his daughter *39 years ago*. RFK, and the politics he promotes, will inflict this unimaginable pain on many parents, if they get their way.
March 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Roald Dahl wrote this letter about losing his daughter *39 years ago*. RFK, and the politics he promotes, will inflict this unimaginable pain on many parents, if they get their way.
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Saddam Hussein said something similar about Kuwait in 1991.
Vladimir Putin said something similar about Ukraine in 2022.
Presidential desires for territorial expansion... only this time its the US President.
Vladimir Putin said something similar about Ukraine in 2022.
Presidential desires for territorial expansion... only this time its the US President.
REPORTER: The president said today, 'We have to have Greenland.' By being here today, are you also conveying that message?
JD VANCE: We can't just ignore the president's desires ... this island is not safe.
JD VANCE: We can't just ignore the president's desires ... this island is not safe.
March 28, 2025 at 6:55 PM
Saddam Hussein said something similar about Kuwait in 1991.
Vladimir Putin said something similar about Ukraine in 2022.
Presidential desires for territorial expansion... only this time its the US President.
Vladimir Putin said something similar about Ukraine in 2022.
Presidential desires for territorial expansion... only this time its the US President.
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Ursula K. Le Guin on the true pain of being a writer
March 26, 2025 at 1:17 PM
Ursula K. Le Guin on the true pain of being a writer
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this pic from the turkish protests goes insanely hard
March 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
this pic from the turkish protests goes insanely hard
Been trying to convince my kindergartener that a terminal -ng is a digraph with a unique sound neither n nor g. He doesn't buy it. Instead he gleefully crosses out the final g wherever it rears its head in his homework. He's not trying to start a discussion or argue. He's just not having it.
March 25, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Been trying to convince my kindergartener that a terminal -ng is a digraph with a unique sound neither n nor g. He doesn't buy it. Instead he gleefully crosses out the final g wherever it rears its head in his homework. He's not trying to start a discussion or argue. He's just not having it.
Rewatching Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 2014 with the kid. While I have my quibbles, I absolutely love how fearlessly it takes down faith-based rationalism in favor of skeptical empiricism. It's only a decade old, but even so I can't imagine its like being created in the US today.
March 23, 2025 at 7:57 PM
Rewatching Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey 2014 with the kid. While I have my quibbles, I absolutely love how fearlessly it takes down faith-based rationalism in favor of skeptical empiricism. It's only a decade old, but even so I can't imagine its like being created in the US today.
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Iconic Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur, who served in the Marine Corps, has had her contribution scrubbed from Department of Defence website
Web page about iconic Golden Girls actress becomes latest victim of DEI purge
Bea Arthur, who served in the Marine Corps, has had her wartime contribution scrubbed from the Department of Defence (DOD) website. The URL now reads "DEIBefore".
www.thepinknews.com
March 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Iconic Golden Girls actress Bea Arthur, who served in the Marine Corps, has had her contribution scrubbed from Department of Defence website
Professors impacted by the funding theft said not to collaborate. The students said not to collaborate. Human decency said not to collaborate. It is one thing to be dumb enough to think you can change the world by fiat. It is another level of idiocy to go along with it.
March 21, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Professors impacted by the funding theft said not to collaborate. The students said not to collaborate. Human decency said not to collaborate. It is one thing to be dumb enough to think you can change the world by fiat. It is another level of idiocy to go along with it.
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US President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting off Canada’s main access point to the historical Haskell Free Library that straddles the border between the Canadian province of Quebec and the US state of Vermont.
US blocking Canadian access to historical library on Quebec-Vermont border
Haskell Free Library denounces ‘unilateral’ US move amid tensions over Donald Trump’s continued threats against Canada.
aje.io
March 21, 2025 at 4:29 PM
US President Donald Trump’s administration is cutting off Canada’s main access point to the historical Haskell Free Library that straddles the border between the Canadian province of Quebec and the US state of Vermont.
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‘No Way to Please Everyone’ Says Only University Where Students Are Regularly Kidnapped
‘No Way’ to Please Everyone: Columbia’s President Confronts Trump’s Ultimatum
With Trump intent on making an example of Columbia, Armstrong is at the center of a fight over the future of higher education.
www.wsj.com
March 21, 2025 at 12:00 PM
‘No Way to Please Everyone’ Says Only University Where Students Are Regularly Kidnapped
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A completely serious question.
When people, and businesses, and institutions with the resources and reputation to stand firm…don’t, where does that leave this country.
cc Paul, Weiss. And Columbia. And so many others
When people, and businesses, and institutions with the resources and reputation to stand firm…don’t, where does that leave this country.
cc Paul, Weiss. And Columbia. And so many others
March 20, 2025 at 11:04 PM
A completely serious question.
When people, and businesses, and institutions with the resources and reputation to stand firm…don’t, where does that leave this country.
cc Paul, Weiss. And Columbia. And so many others
When people, and businesses, and institutions with the resources and reputation to stand firm…don’t, where does that leave this country.
cc Paul, Weiss. And Columbia. And so many others
Reading the Memoirs of Baron de Marbot and I can't get enough of the Bashkir horse archers in the Russian army. Their existence--or perhaps that of the 4-ft arrow they send into his leg--annoys the author so much he complains over and again how useless they are.
March 21, 2025 at 1:43 AM
Reading the Memoirs of Baron de Marbot and I can't get enough of the Bashkir horse archers in the Russian army. Their existence--or perhaps that of the 4-ft arrow they send into his leg--annoys the author so much he complains over and again how useless they are.