“A pension is deferred compensation
Any politician or corporate executive who attempts to cut retirees’ pensions is nothing more than a thief.”
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“Elon Musk makes $16,000,000/hr and pays less in taxes than you.
Jeff Bezos makes $4,200,000/hr and pays less in taxes than you.
Mark Zuckerbert makes $4,000,000/hr and pays less in taxes than you.
You should be mad about this, not “cancel culture.”
Monarch (Danaus plexippus)
Driftless Area South Central Wisconsin, Dane County USA
2010 9/27 IMG_0171aaaaa2
Democrats are ushering in Republican control of Congress, Senate, and the White House kicking off a new age of deep fascism in the U.S. from which there will be no going back...and they know it
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The US Federal Reserve has gotten caught engaging in Insider Trading!?:
“Fed to ban policymakers from owning individual stocks, restrict trading following controversy”
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“Here's the list of what working people need to make per hour to afford a two bedroom apartment by state. Still for some odd reason the Democrats who control both the House and the Senate refused to pass a $15 minimum wage.
The $15 per hour is by far not even enough, but shoul actually be $21 P/H wfactor in the cost of living and inflation.”
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“Liberty University threatened to punish students who came forward with reports of being raped for violating the school’s code of conduct, according to a new report. Three students said they were asked to sign forms upon reporting their rape incidents recognizing that they could be penalized for breaking the school’s ethics code.”
“Who We Are
Get the world-class education and Christian foundation you're looking for at Liberty University, where we're celebrating 50 Years of Training Champions for Christ.” https://www.liberty.edu/aboutliberty/
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“The difference between humans and animals. Animals would never allow the dumbest of the herd to lead them.”
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“4% of all Americans are millionaires
51% or our Congress are millionaires
Remember this when a politician talks about income inequality”
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Xavier Rosseel
“Functional composition of ant assemblages in habitat islands is driven by habitat factors and landscape composition”
“Fragmented natural habitats within human-transformed landscapes play a key role in preserving biodiversity. Ants as keystone species are essential elements of terrestrial ecosystems; thus, it is important to understand the factors influencing their presence. In a large-scale multi-site study, we surveyed ant assemblages using sweep netting and D-vac sampling on 158 ancient burial mounds preserving grassland habitats in agricultural landscapes in East-Hungary. We asked the following questions: (1) How do habitat factors and landscape composition affect species richness and functional diversity of ants? (2) Which ant traits are affected by habitat factors and landscape composition? Despite their small sizes, mounds as permanent and relatively undisturbed landscape elements could provide safe havens for diverse ant assemblages even in transformed agricultural landscapes. The complex habitat structure of wooded mounds supported high species and functional diversity of ant assemblages. Ant species on wooded mounds had small or medium-sized colonies, enabling the co-existence of more species. The effect of landscape composition on ant assemblages was mediated by habitat factors: steep slopes buffered the negative effect of the cropland matrix and enabled higher ant diversity.”
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“Friends of the earth
ALARM BELLS ARE RINGING as 40% of bees and other pollinators like them are in a race against extinction.
Scientists have found that exposure to pesticides can impair honeybees' ability to navigate, bumblebees' ability to reproduce and grow their colonies, and solitary bees' ability to reproduce at all. And even though study after study shows that pesticides like those made by Bayer-Monsanto are a key driver of massive bee colony losses, almost NOTHING has been done to stop them.”
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“American bumblebee, nearly wiped out in Maine, could become an endangered species”
“Across the country, the American bumblebee population has plummeted by 89% over the past 20 years and has almost completely vanished from 8 states, including Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Idaho, North Dakota, Oregon and Wyoming.”
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The Beyond Pesticides Team vs EPA:
“EPA Must Protect Endangered Species from Pesticides
Deadline is Monday, October 25 11:59 pm (EST)
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is requesting public comments on its draft Biological Evaluations (BEs) for neonicotinoid insecticides imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam by 11:59 pm (EST) on Monday, October 25, 2021. The BEs will factor into EPA’s registration review decisions on the three bee-toxic insecticides. Written comments must be submitted through Regulations.gov. See Beyond Pesticides’ comments here.
>>Tell EPA to protect endangered species from pesticides. Submit comments now.
EPA’s Biological Evaluations for these highly toxic chemicals make no agency conclusion or recommendation that would trigger a request to initiate formal Endangered Species Act (ESA) §7(a)(2) consultations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to determine a possible jeopardy finding for the listed species and requisite mandatory use restrictions of the relevant pesticide. This, despite the fact that for imidacloprid the agency’s draft Biological Evaluation made a May Affect determination for 89% of the 1821 species considered and 90% of the 791 critical habitats considered. Strikingly, a May Affect determination was made for 100% of amphibian and avian listed species and their critical habitat. It was also determined that imidacloprid is Likely to Adversely Affect 100% of the listed amphibian species exposed. The Biological Evaluation for each of the three neonicotinoids makes effects determinations—NE (no effect), MA (may affect), NLAA (not likely to adversely affect), or LAA (likely to adversely affect)—that could affect 1821 listed species, and 791 designated critical habitats.
These serious risk findings for endangered and threatened species made for imidacloprid, clothianidin, and thiamethoxam account for existing product labels and mitigation efforts. The Endangered Species Act requires, “Each Federal agency shall, in consultation with and with the assistance of the Secretary, insure that any action authorized, funded, or carried out by such agency…is not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of any endangered species or threatened species or result in the destruction or adverse modification of habitat of such species….”
The complete Biological Evaluations—with all determinations and species considered—must be included with the formal consultation request and not just the LAA determinations. This will allow USFWS to also corroborate the agency findings of NLAA and LAA as part of the consultation.
A No Effect determination was made for only 11% of listed species considered because these species have a limited geographic distribution and would likely not be exposed to imidacloprid under the existing label use and mitigation instructions. Thus, any species listed and exposed to imidacloprid is potentially adversely affected.
For clothianidin, a similar May Affect determination was made for 86% of listed species considered and 83% of the critical habitats considered. Likely to Adversely Affect findings overall were made for 67% of listed species and 56% of critical habitats considered. As imidacloprid, 100% of listed amphibian species are likely to be adversely affected by clothianidin uses.
Thiamethoxam degrades to clothianidin and therefore shares similar fate and behavior in the environment. May Affect determinations were made for 88% of species and 89% of critical habitats considered. Likely to Adversely Affect findings overall were made for 77% of listed species and 81% of critical habitats considered. As reported for the other neonicotinoids, 100% of amphibian species and critical habitat are likely to be adversely affected.
EPA should also include the American bumble bee (Bombus pensylvanicus) in its revised Biological Evaluations for the neonicotinoid insecticides. Although this insect is not a currently listed species, the Fish and Wildlife Service has recently determined a petition including substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that listing the American bumble bee as an endangered or threatened species may be warranted. Bumble bee species are highly susceptible to neonicotinoid exposures and are likely jeopardized by continued use of these insecticides.
Must we wait until species are listed as threatened or endangered to protect them? Given the systemic character of neonicotinoids and their extreme toxicity to insects, EPA must assume that they will ultimately lead to the demise of insects that consume nectar, pollen, plant exudates, or plant tissues. The burden of proof is on the registrant(s) to demonstrate that these products will not further exacerbate the ongoing insect apocalypse—and lead to further biodiversity loss through decimation of this essential link in food webs.
Furthermore, EPA must use organic production as the standard against which pesticide “benefits” are weighed. Any crop that can be produced with chemical-intensive methods can be produced organically. Organic producers use very few synthetic pesticides and no neonicotinoids. Therefore, the potential jeopardy of extinction to the 1445+ species identified by these biological evaluations must be considered unreasonable under the definition in FIFRA.
EPA has determined unequivocally that neonicotinoids pose risks to the environment that cannot be acceptably mitigated in any long-term, sustainable way. The agency in its proposed interim decisions for these chemicals identifies several uses for imidacloprid and clothianidin that must be cancelled. However, EPA believes that the benefits of other uses outweigh these serious risks and is proposing limited or no mitigation measures. Given the frequency of detection in U.S. waterways, soil, and plants, the recognized acute and chronic risks posed to pollinators, aquatic invertebrates, vertebrate wildlife, and human health, the risk/benefit determination is pitifully insufficient, especially in light of the BEs identifying the majority of listed species as potentially jeopardized by these neonicotinoid insecticides. Therefore, EPA must quickly suspend all remaining neonicotinoid uses as it pursues the ESA §7(a)(2) consultations with the Services. Additional data to address existing uncertainties and gaps will not alter or lessen the environmental and health risks already unmistakably recognized.
>>Submit comments to EPA using Regulations.gov.
Need help in submitting comments? Regulations.gov requires more than a single click, but it is not difficult. Please feel free to cut-and-paste from the information above into Regulations.gov and add or adjust the text to personalize it. See this instructional video. (Regulations.gov has changed its look since this video was made.)
Thank you for your continued support!
—The Beyond Pesticides Team”
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