zephry

red-belted polypore (Fomitopsis pinicola)

radiating phlebia (Phlebia radiata)

#fungi #mushrooms #nature

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/01/us/calvin-duncan-new-orleans-criminal-court-jeff-landry.html

Louisiana Governor Signs Law Blocking Ex-Prisoner From Taking Office

An exonerated man who pulled off an unlikely victory last year to become the New Orleans criminal court clerk has been blocked from taking office after Louisiana’s governor signed a law this week abolishing the role altogether.

The man, Calvin Duncan, had regained his freedom after spending 28 years in prison for murder, during which he built up a thorough understanding of criminal law to help himself and other incarcerated people challenge wrongful convictions and reduce sentences.

In the suit, he asserted that he was being retaliated against because of “his outspoken claims that the criminal legal system in Orleans is unjust and frequently discriminatory against Black people.”

it's likely the main reason they want to block him is because he is a black man in louisiana.

#resist #racism #lousiana #democracy

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/18/fbi-kash-patel-excess-drinking

The FBI director, Kash Patel, is denying allegations detailed in a new report that he drinks to excess and has been unreachable at times during his tenure in office.

Patel threatened to sue the Atlantic over the story published on Friday, which detailed his alleged heavy drinking and how members of his security detail have on multiple occasions had difficulty waking him.

federal bureau of intoxication.

#FBI #patel #trump #resist #drinking

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/apr/11/middle-east-crisis-live-iranian-officials-arrive-in-islamabad-for-conditional-peace-talks-with-us

JD Vance says US delegation leaving Pakistan after failing to reach deal with Iran

"But again, we just could not get to a situation where the Iranians were willing to accept our terms."

if they are leaving after only one day, then there were no real negotiations.

#trump #resist #iran #vance

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/11/us/politics/deportation-iranian-revolution.html

Federal agents arrested a man whose mother served as a spokeswoman for the Islamist embassy captors during the hostage crisis that began in 1979.

A State Department statement on the matter did not accuse the three arrested of any specific unlawful or harmful acts but stated that the Trump administration “will never allow America to become a home for foreign nationals tied to anti-American terrorist regimes.”

his tie is that his mother was a spokesperson 47 years ago? incredible logic by trump.

#trump #resist #iran #deportation

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/mar/30/price-of-oil-trump-iran-stock-markets-middle-east

The price of oil hit nearly $117 (£89) a barrel on Monday as Donald Trump threatened to “blow up” and “completely obliterate” Iranian electricity plants, oilwells and its export hub Kharg Island if it did not agree to a deal.

He wrote: “We will conclude our lovely ‘stay’ in Iran by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet ‘touched’ …

#trump #resist #iran #threat

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/08/us/politics/white-house-foreign-steel-ballroom.html

White House Secures Foreign Steel for Ballroom Project

President Trump has championed the U.S. steel industry, promising to strengthen it and to impose stiff tariffs on foreign metals to shield manufacturers from overseas competitors.

Yet the White House has secured tens of millions of dollars worth of donated foreign steel for Mr. Trump’s $400 million ballroom project, according to two people familiar with the plans who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive and private conversations.

#trump #resist #steel #ballroom

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/29/nx-s1-5765380/pope-leo-rejects-claims-god-justifies-war-palm-sunday

Pope Leo XIV rejects claims that God justifies war in Palm Sunday Mass message

With the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran entering its second month and Russia's ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily to insist that God is the "king of peace" who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed.

"Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war," Leo said. "He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them."

#trump #resist #pope #peace #iran

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/30/nx-s1-5745926/endangered-species-committee-hegseth-security

U.S. could exempt oil industry from protecting Gulf animals, for 'national security'

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, citing "reasons of national security," has triggered a meeting this week that could exempt the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Mexico from requirements of the Endangered Species Act, a move that would lift protections for endangered whales, turtles and other animals threatened with extinction.

The news, revealed in court filings last week, astonished environmental lawyers, who were already shocked after the Department of the Interior announced two weeks ago that a meeting to discuss an exemption would take place on March 31.

A gathering of the six-person committee, nicknamed the "God Squad" for its power to make life-or-death decisions about endangered animals, has only happened before after extensive prior consultation with environmental agencies and months of public notice.

both hegseth and trump need to be impeached for reasons of national security.

#trump #resist #hegseth #endangeredspecies

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/04/16/boundary-waters-vote-on-mining-by-us-senate-thursday?utm_source=npr.org&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=national_highlight&utm_content=homepage

Senate votes 50-49 to overturn mining ban near Boundary Waters

The U.S. Senate has voted to overturn a 20-year ban on mining on about 350 square miles of federal land near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area, paving the way for Twin Metals to renew efforts to open an underground copper mine near Ely, on the doorstep of the wilderness area.

All Democrats opposed it, including Minnesota U.S. Sens. Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar. Two Republicans broke ranks and voted against the proposal: Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

republicans are determined to eliminate, in the name of capitalism and profit, anything protective of public land and public health even if profits go to a foreign corporation.

#environment #trump #republicans #mining #conservation

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/us/politics/trump-buffalos-montana.html

Home on the Range No More: Trump Wants Bison Gone

Crazy Alice, a half-ton bison, likes to feast on grass and roll in the dirt, but her deepest attachment might be to a certain corner of the Montana prairie — when her handlers once moved her herd to a different pasture, she tried to break out and go back.

Now, the Trump administration wants to evict Crazy Alice and hundreds of other bison from that home on the range, and replace them with cattle. The resulting clash on the prairie has pitted ranchers and Republican leaders against a furry, snorting symbol of the American West.

“This is a part of our country’s heritage,” said Alison Fox, executive director of American Prairie, a deep-pocketed nonprofit that has spent two decades buying ranches and grazing leases on public land in northern Montana to create the newly embattled home for bison.

#trump #resist #bison #prairie

Trump Administration Weighs Citing ‘Emergency’ to Admit More Afrikaners as Refugees

Since last year, Afrikaners, the white minority from South Africa, have had the rare ability to seek refugee status.
Mr. Trump and his aides have claimed Afrikaners face racial persecution, an assertion strongly disputed by South African

Now the administration is considering substantially expanding access for the white South Africans by declaring that an “unforeseen emergency” in that country warrants more than doubling the number who could enter as refugees, according to multiple people familiar with the matter and documents obtained by The New York Times.

#trump #resist #afrikaners #refugees

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/15/democrats-pete-hegseth-impeachment

House Democrats filed six articles of impeachment against Pete Hegseth on Wednesday, accusing the defense security of “high crimes and misdemeanors”, in reference to the attack on Iran without congressional authorization and deadly strikes on suspected drug smuggling boats, among other official acts.

In Wednesday’s resolution, Yassamin Ansari, a Democratic congresswoman from Arizona, and colleagues including John Larson of Connecticut accused Hegseth of disregarding rules to minimize civilian casualties during armed conflict.

#trump #resist #hegseth #impeach

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/09/civil-war-chimpanzee-group-closer-to-human-condition-aoe

Wild chimpanzees recorded waging ‘civil war’ with coordinated attacks between two groups

In a new study published this week in the journal Science, Sandel and his colleagues document what may be the first observed “civil war” in wild chimpanzees. While chimpanzees have long been known to wage campaigns of lethal aggression on outsiders, witnessing a once unified group turn on itself is something new – and very human.

“Cases where neighbours are killing neighbours is more troubling and, in a way, it gets closer to the human condition. How do we have this seeming contradiction within us where we are able to cooperate, but then also very quickly turn on one another?” Sandel said.

#chimpanzees #war #behavior
#ecology

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/18/jon-ossoff-fiery-speech-presidential-rumors

Jon Ossoff calls out ‘Mar-a-Lago mafia’ amid presidential bid rumors
Georgia senator says Americans will pay for Trump’s Iran war, and family’s corruption, with child and health care cuts.

“Did you hear what this man said two weeks ago?” the senator asked supporters, referring to Trump. “Quote: ‘It’s not possible,’ the president said, ‘for us to take care of daycare, Medicaid or Medicare.’ He said: ‘We can only afford to fund war.’”

#trump #ossoff #resist #megalomania #war

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/04/us/beagles-ridglan-farms-wisconsin.html

1,500 Beagles From Troubled Research Facility Are Getting New Homes

About 1,500 beagles in Wisconsin that have been at the center of a fierce fight waged by animal rights activists are moving to new homes.

The state-licensed facility, Ridglan Farms, outside Madison, breeds the beagles for biomedical research aimed at improving veterinary medicine. Last fall, a special prosecutor found that Ridglan had performed procedures on the beagles that constituted animal mistreatment. The company has denied that it abuses animals.

The special prosecutor had let Ridglan Farms avoid prosecution on the condition that it surrender its breeding license by July, which would end its ability to sell dogs to outside labs.

#beagles #research #ridglanfarms #rescue #animalrights

https://www.npr.org/2026/03/31/nx-s1-5768399/npr-pbs-trump-federal-funding

A District Court judge has found that a Trump White House executive order to defund NPR and PBS violated the First Amendment and is therefore "unlawful and unenforceable." It wasn't immediately clear what the decision, which could be appealed by the administration, would mean for the future of federal funding of public broadcasting.

In his ruling, Judge Randolph D. Moss of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said "the First Amendment draws a line, which the government may not cross, at efforts to use government power – including the power of the purse – 'to punish or suppress disfavored expression' by others."

#trump #resist #npr #pbs

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/06/us/gop-memphis-tennessee-house-map.html

Republicans Unveil Map Carving Up Tennessee’s Majority-Black House District

The General Assembly is expected to quickly approve the map, which slices up Memphis, a majority-Black city that makes up most of the state’s lone Democratic district.

i never imagined the u.s. government would decline to the point of being openly racist again.

#trump #resist #racism #tennessee

https://www.npr.org/2026/04/29/g-s1-118041/family-planning-birth-control-condoms-aid-cuts-rubio

The Trump team is quietly eliminating U.S. support for birth control abroad

The second Trump administration has moved to eliminate programs for contraception and other family planning work abroad. Congress actually appropriated funds for this work, but the administration has not spent it. And it has shut down programs aimed at helping people choose when to have children, such as efforts to improve access to birth control and provide resources for treating sexually transmitted diseases. The issue here is not abortion. For more than 50 years, it's been illegal for foreign aid to fund abortions.

#resist #trump #birthcontrol

https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2026/mar/29/middle-east-crisis-live-explosions-tehran-yemen-houthis-iran-war-updates-trump-us-israel-strikes-lebanon

Middle East crisis live: Trump says he wants to ‘take the oil’ in Iran and could seize Kharg Island ‘easily’
US president tells Financial Times his ‘preference would be to take the oil’ but that ‘some stupid people back in the US say: why are you doing that?’

The newspaper quotes him as saying his “preference would be to take the oil”, comparing the potential move to Venezuela, where the US intends to control the oil industry “indefinitely” following its ousting of president Nicolás Maduro in January.

he admits he wants iranian oil but some 'stupid' people in the u.s. would question it. for him the u.s. is just a profit making organization to benefit himself and his fellow billionaires.

#trump #resist #oil #iran #stupid

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/16/russia-attack-ukraine-drones-missiles-kyiv-odesa-volodymyr-zelenskyy

At least 17 people killed in Russia’s deadliest attack on Ukraine this year
More than 100 injured across country after Russia launches nearly 700 drones and dozens of ballistic and cruise missiles

“I don’t understand Russia’s motive. We are civilians. It’s really surreal. We had nothing against them. One day Russia decides it has to kill and destroy us,” he said.

four years after the invasion putin continues to target civilians. trump offers no help for ukraine and has never spoken a critical word of putin.

#trump #resist #putin #ukraine #civilians #war

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/09/house-democrats-trump-war-powers-resolution-iran

An attempt by House Democrats to pass a long-shot resolution on Thursday curtailing Donald Trump’s war powers over Iran failed after the Republican pro forma speaker, Chris Smith, did not recognize lawmakers from the opposite party on the floor.

republican democracy.

#trump #resist #republican #congress

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/05/covid-shingles-vaccines-studies-fda

FDA blocked studies finding Covid and shingles vaccines safe, HHS official says

The US Food and Drug Administration has blocked the publication of several studies that found Covid-19 and shingles vaccines to be safe, according to a spokesperson from the Department of Health and Human Services.

Agency scientists conducted the studies by analyzing millions of patient records and found that serious side-effects from the vaccines were rare, the spokesperson confirmed. The studies – funded by taxpayer money and costing several million dollars – included research examining the safety of Covid-19 vaccines in 2023 and 2024.

kennedy continues to war against science. soon desperate people in the u.s. will be going to canada for health care.

#kennedy #trump #resist #science #covid #shingles

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/16/us/ice-detention-alabama-french-woman.html

ICE Arrests 85-Year-Old French Widow Who Married Her G.I. Sweetheart

After Marie-Thérèse Ross-Mahé’s husband died, an inheritance battle exploded. Her stepson then used his influence to have her arrested, an Alabama probate judge said.

#trump #resist #ice

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/apr/30/trump-administration-gun-show-loophole

US reinstates ‘gun show loophole’ amid rollback of firearms restrictions
The US justice department has rolled back several significant restrictions on guns, including reinstating the so-called “gun show loophole”, which allowed people at such events to buy firearms without a background check.

Blanche claimed the changes bring gun regulations in line with supreme court rulings, while cutting down on red tape on firearms sellers and owners.

In 2024, the Biden administration closed the “gun show loophole”, which freed firearms dealers from running background checks on buyers at gun shows and other places outside brick-and-mortar stores.

#trump #resist #guns #restrictions #violence

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/07/us/politics/trump-budget-cuts.html

To Boost Military Budget, Trump Targets Popular Programs at Home

Mr. Trump did not address Medicare and Medicaid directly. But he did ask Congress to slash about $73 billion next fiscal year across a wide array of domestic agencies and programs, including education, health care, housing and nutrition assistance.

He coupled that call for cuts with a request to ratchet up military spending by more than $400 billion, which would amount to one of the largest one-year boosts in modern history.

#trump #resist #military #spendingcuts

https://www.npr.org/2026/05/06/g-s1-120455/republicans-trump-ballroom-billion

Republicans want to add $1 billion for Trump's ballroom security to ICE funding plan

The bill also contains one billion dollars for the Secret Service, part of the DHS, for security infrastructure related to President Trump's White House ballroom project. According to the bill text, the funds may not be used for any non-security elements of the project, which the administration says is being funded through private donations.

#trump #resist #ballroom

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/07/health/hantavirus-americans-cdc.html

Hantavirus Response Shows How Trump Cuts Have Compromised U.S. Preparedness

The Americans are now back on U.S. soil, and three states are monitoring them; none have shown symptoms so far. That information came on Wednesday — not from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or from the State Department, which is coordinating the nation’s response to the hantavirus outbreak, but from the medical news publication MedPage Today.

It was only a day earlier, on Tuesday, that the agency had set up a team to respond to the outbreak, nearly a month after the first patient had died.

It is that the administration’s sluggish response and lack of communication suggest the United States is ill prepared for a larger health crisis, such as another pandemic.

#trump #resist #hantavirus #kennedy

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/19/independent-bookstores-comeback

Independent bookstores make quiet comeback as big chains dominate retail

About 422 new indie bookshops opened in 2025, according to the American Booksellers Association, a 31% rise from 2024.

The Barnes & Noble outlet near me has to meet their numbers each month and is focused entirely on moving product to make the most of every square inch of space. It’s not as profitable as a location to inventory slower-selling titles, even if there’s an audience for them. Small businesses fill in that space. They sell more obscure books that only a small percentage of people will buy. Big companies optimize for scale. Small businesses win by ignoring it.

#indiebookstores #readbooks