North American bird population has dropped by 3 billion since 1970, study reveals
There are almost 3 billion fewer birds in the United States and Canada now than in 1970, according to a disturbing new study.
That amounts to a 29 percent drop in the avian population over the past half-century.
“Three billion is a punch in the gut,” Peter Marra, a conservation biologist at Georgetown University, told Science News. “Our study is a wake-up call. We’re experiencing an ecological crisis.”
For their study, which was published Thursday in Science, researchers examined a dozen databases covering decades of bird observations in the U.S. and Canada. They used statistical analysis to estimate trends since 1970.
“This loss of bird abundance signals an urgent need to address threats to avert future avifaunal collapse and associated loss of ecosystem integrity, function and services,” the study’s abstract states
The population loss affected common and rare birds alike, as well as invasive species.
Although the study does not specifically address why the birds are disappearing, experts believe that many species face habitat damage or loss.
“As habitats diminish, birds have nowhere to go,” Kenneth Rosenberg, an ornithologist at Cornell University, told Science News.
However, the study shows that some populations of birds — such as mallard ducks and Canadian geese — have actually increased in number since 1970.
“This increase is no accident,” Rosenberg said. “It’s a direct result of decades of conservation efforts made by hunters and billions of dollars
to protect these birds and their habitat.”
Rosenberg added that he hopes the study will spur similar concern for all types of birds.
Article via FOXNews
800-Pound Opioid Spoon Dropped At Johnson & Johnson’s HQ
An artist placed an 800-pound opioid spoon outside the front entrance to Johnson & Johnson’s world headquarters in New Brunswick.
A Boston-based artist placed an 800-pound opioid spoon outside the front entrance to Johnson & Johnson’s world headquarters in New Brunswick on Wednesday. Anyone trying to enter J&J’s office building had to walk around the giant metal spoon, etched with the initials “J&J” on its handle.
The artist, Dominic Esposito, spoke to Patch about his protest performance art, and said he expects to get plenty of push-back for what he did. But he wants to start a conversation about the danger of prescription painkillers and opioid addiction in America.
“The balance has been a hard line for us to toe: Even as a group we are not totally against opioids: For example, their use for acute cancer patients or for after an operation. Yes, there is a use for them in society,” said Esposito. “But our society has also been handing them out like candy for the past 20 years. Opiate painkillers are very dangerous drugs and should be treated as such.”
Esposito kept his ten-foot long spoon up Wednesday until New Brunswick police asked him to move it to a public space near the building. He complied, saying it wasn’t worth it for him to have the artwork confiscated or be arrested.
“I’ve gotten hate mail from people after yesterday, telling me that it’s addicts’ own fault if they are addicted,” he told Patch. “Or telling me they need the painkillers. I think some people don’t even realize they are addicted …. But to at least spark conversation makes me feel like I’m getting somewhere.”
In April of this year, Johnson & Johnson was hit with an unprecedented $572 million fine after it was sued by the state of Oklahoma for downplaying the addiction risks of its opiate painkillers. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter sued the pharmaceutical giant for what he says is their role in causing opiate devastation in that state. Johnson & Johnson is currently appealing the fine.
“Johnson
& Johnson did not cause the opioid crisis in Oklahoma, or
elsewhere,” Johnson & Johnson vice president, Ernie Knewitz told NJ.com Wednesday, adding that opioids are regulated by the FDA and the DEA.
“At the same time, we recognize that the opioid crisis is a tremendously
complex public health issue and have deep sympathy for everyone
affected.”
“I just feel like there is so much finger pointing
in all this: Someone blames Big Pharma, someone blames the DEA, someone
blames the CDC,” said Esposito. “Meanwhile, you have people literally
dying from these drugs. And they are still prescribing this stuff.”
According to the New York Times, Johnson & Johnson contracts with poppy farmers in Tasmania and supplies 60 percent of the opiates in drugs such as oxycodone.
In fact, Johnson & Johnson even developed a special strain of poppy, giving it the name “Norman.” This is the strain that produces the core pain-blocking derivative found in Oxycontin, said Esposito, who has long researched the company.
Johnson & Johnson owns subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceuticals, also headquartered in New Jersey and which also makes its own opioids and produces the fentanyl patch.
New Brunswick is only Esposito’s most recent stop: Last year, he dropped his opioid spoon outside the headquarters of Purdue Pharmaceuticals in Stamford, Connecticut. Purdue is credited as the original maker of the oxycodone generic, and the company is now bankrupt after they were hit by dozens of lawsuits. In February, he dropped a spoon outside the headquarters of Rhodes Pharma in Rhode Island, to highlight the fact that even as Purdue was being fined due to an earlier suit, they opened Rhodes Pharma to continue producing and selling opioids.
This past April, Esposito and his team dropped a spoon outside the federal Health & Human Services building in Washington, D.C. That spoon was stamped FDA. They track their work on https://www.theopioidspoonproject.com/
For the artist, it’s personal: His own brother has been struggling for the past 12 years with substance abuse.
“My mom would call me in this panic voice that she found a spoon in the house,” he told NJ.com. “It was the peak of my brother’s 12-year battle with addiction.”
He alluded that there will likely be future “spoon drops” in the future, although wouldn’t say where.
“It’s worth it for me to do this. Every time someone comes up to me and tells me they have a family member struggling with opiate addiction, it’s worth it,” Esposito told Patch.
Watch video from the protest Wednesday:
Article via Patch.com
RHOA Star Kenya Moore and Husband Marc Daly Split After 2 Years of Marriage
Kenya Moore will be twirling on her own.
PEOPLE can exclusively reveal the Real Housewives of Atlanta star and her husband Marc Daly have split, a little over two years after saying their “I dos.”
Moore, 48, and Daly, 49, have been married since June 2017, when they tied the knot in a romantic sunset ceremony on a St. Lucia beach.
Their separation comes less than a year after Moore gave birth to their first child, daughter Brooklyn Doris Daly, on Nov. 4, 2018.
In exclusive statements to PEOPLE, both Moore and Daily asked for privacy.
“It is with profound sadness that I regret to inform my fans that I am divorcing my husband Marc Daly,” Moore said. “Due to recent and ongoing circumstances, I can no longer continue in the marriage. My sole concern and focus is and will always be my daughter, Brooklyn, my miracle baby. She was made in love and true commitment. I ask for our privacy to be respected moving forward.”
Said Daly: “I have come to the difficult decision to separate from Kenya at this time. Our daughter has two parents that love her very much and in her best interests, this situation should remain as private as possible. I cherish our family’s good times together and will continue to co-parent in a loving way. Rumors, innuendo or false accusations only serve to hurt our family and will be addressed through counsel as the law permits. Please respect our privacy during this challenging period.”
Moore and Daly were together as recently as Tuesday night, when they attended a benefit reception he hosted in honor of the Black Man Lab at the Wimbish House in Atlanta.
And on Monday, Moore, Daly, and baby Brooklyn were together in New York City for an episode of The Tamron Hall Show — their first television appearance as a family.
It was also a rare appearance for Daly, who only appeared briefly on RHOA with Moore in season 10 before her exit from the show. She’ll be back for season 12, which is being filmed now.)
On Tamron Hall, Moore called Daly “the love of my life” as he recounted how he supported her through her long IVF process.
“It’s incredibly challenging because the success rate for these these treatments are very low,” he said. “There’s expectations, but you also have to be prepared for disappointed. So just being there, being supportive, being hopeful, being positive and just being behind her was what it’s all about.”
In an exclusive interview about their nuptials in June 2017, Moore told PEOPLE that their bond was nearly instantaneous.
“I’ve never experience a first date like this before,” she gushed. “You know when you meet people, and you like them or have good chemistry with them but you don’t feel like the world has changed? I felt like the earth moved after our first date.”
The two first met through mutual friend (and fellow Bravolebrity) chef Roblé Ali back in June 2016, though they didn’t start dating until December of that year.
“I probably would have married him in 30 days, the feeling was that strong,” she said of their first date. “But we wanted to wait and get to know each other and make sure it wasn’t an infatuation. We needed to make sure it was actually real.”
Read more via Yahoo
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Aaron Carter accuses late sister Leslie of sexual abuse
Police are investigating the concerns leveled by Aaron Carter‘s family after he claimed he was sexually abused by his sister, Leslie.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is aware of recent media reports regarding family members concerned about the welfare of Aaron Carter,” a spokesperson told Page Six on Thursday. “We are currently investigating the concerns of all parties involved, and utilizing all available resources to assist family members in addressing their concerns.”
On Thursday, the “Sooner or Later” crooner, 31, made the allegations against his late sister on Twitter.
“It runs in the family. I never wanted to tell anyone this. But I have too [sic]…,” Aaron began a series of tweets. “My sister Leslie suffered from bipolar and took lithium to treat it. She never liked the way it made her feel and when she was off of it she did things that she never meant to do I truly believe that. I was 10 years old….”
“My sister raped me from the age of 10 to 13 years old when she wasn’t on her medications and I was absused [sic] not only sexually by her but by my first two back up dancers when I was 8 years old. And my brother absused [sic] me my whole life.”
Leslie died in 2012 from a drug overdose. She was 25.
Aaron’s claims were published after he handed over two assault rifles on Wednesday. He told TMZ he gave them up because he assumed police would come to his house to seize the weapons after his brother Nick took out a restraining order against him.
Aaron noted he kept his shotgun and pistol for protection.
The Backstreet Boys member Nick, 39, said he filed a restraining order against Aaron after, he claims, Aaron confessed to harboring intentions of killing Nick’s pregnant wife, Lauren Kitt, and their unborn child.
“In light of Aaron’s increasingly alarming behavior and his recent confession that he harbors thoughts and intentions of killing my pregnant wife and unborn child, we were left with no choice but to take every measure possible to protect ourselves and our family,” Nick tweeted this week.
“We love our brother and truly hope he gets the proper treatment he needs before any harm comes to himself or anyone else.”
Aaron was ordered to stay 100 yards away from Nick, his wife, their kids, other family members and their residence in Las Vegas.
Article via PageSix
Instagram will block content that promotes weight-loss products or cosmetic procedures to anyone under 18
Instagram announced a new policy that will block, and sometimes remove, content promoting weight-loss or cosmetic procedures to younger teens. Users known to be under 18 will now be blocked from seeing posts promoting the use of certain weight-loss products or cosmetic procedures and those that have an incentive to buy or includes a price.
Content that makes a miraculous claim about certain diet or weight loss products, and is linked to a discount code or other offer, will no longer be allowed and will be removed from the platform.
The changes come as the platform grapples with the impact of influencers promoting diet teas, supplements and certain cosmetic surgery.
“We want Instagram to be a positive place for everyone that uses it and this policy is part of our ongoing work to reduce the pressure that people can sometimes feel as a result of social media,” Instagram’s public policy manager Emma Collins said in a statement.
While the change is being led on Instagram, the policy will also be in place on Facebook. Over the coming weeks, Instagram will roll out a feature to allow users to report a post within the app if they believe it violates this policy. The post will then be reviewed and actioned appropriately by the app’s team of content reviewers.
The new policy change is a long time coming. Actress Jameela Jamil said she has been working with Instagram all year toward this change. “This is an extraordinary win that is going to make a big difference,” the actress wrote on Instagram. “Influencers have to be more responsible.”
Jamil has been a loud advocate for these regulations for years. In 2018, she started the “I Weigh” campaign on Instagram, which promotes body positivity. She has publicly criticized celebrities like the Kardashian/Jenner family and Cardi B for promoting detox teas.
This isn’t the first time Instagram has attempted to control the content on their platforms. Earlier this year, the company said it would start blocking hashtags that surface vaccine misinformation, but two months after that announcement, misinformation was still rampant on the platform.
A May CNN Business report revealed that, though Instagram had announced it was blocking hashtags like #VaccinescauseAIDS, the hashtag #VaccinesKill was still up on the app and appeared as a top result in a search for “vaccines” after anti-vax accounts.
Shortly after, the platform cracked down on blocking more hashtags. While the hashtags are no longer on the app, top results in a search for “vaccines” today are still all anti-vax accounts.
This year, Instagram also rolled out a set of tools to help manage time on the app more effectively and has been testing the removal of likes, which the company said is “designed to help people focus on what they share rather than how many likes something gets.”
Article via CNN
“The Rookie” Producers Find No “Inappropriate” Behavior In Star’s Accusations
She quit the show after saying she experienced racial and sexual harassment.
The Rookie star Afton Williamson made some scathing accusations against a number of people involved with the ABC series. Afton, who portrayed the character Talia Bishop on the show, claimed that she experienced racial discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying, and was the target of inappropriate comments. She said that she reported her encounters to those in charge, including Human Resources, but nothing was done to correct any behaviors.
“During the Season, it continued along with Sexual Harassment from a recurring guest star,Demetrius Grosse,and the racist commentary & bullying from the Hair Dept.Head, Sally Ciganovich escalated into Sexual Assault at our Wrap party,” Afton wrote back in August. “The Sexual Harassment though reported directly to the Showrunner/EP remained undocumented and was not reported to HR as promised.Ciganovich was fired ONLY after the sexual assault and NOT for an entire year of outward racism/racially charged language and bullying behavior in and out of the Hair and Makeup trailer. HR protocol was never adhered to following the above reports given by me to my Showrunner/EP and an investigation was never issued for any of my claims.”
Later, it was announced that Afton quit the series because of her conflicts, and a formal investigation was launched by production to find out if there was any legitimacy behind her claims. On Tuesday, Variety shared an official statement by Entertainment One, also known as eOne, that stated they determined that nothing inappropriate occurred on set. The company shared that they used a third-party law firm to examine the evidence and investigate close to 400 hours of interviews.
“As a result of the independent investigation, we have concluded that those identified in Ms. Williamson’s allegations did not conduct themselves in an unlawful manner or demonstrate behavior inappropriate for the workplace,” eOne stated. “It was also concluded that the executive producers, including showrunner Alexi Hawley, addressed matters of which they were made aware promptly and in a fair and reasonable manner.”
They added, “We recognize and respect that as individuals, the lens through which we view situations, interactions and comments, can differ based on our experiences and perspectives. As such, we regret that Ms. Williamson’s time on the series was not a positive one for her, and we respect her decision to move on to other projects.”
A spokesperson for ABC also released a statement on behalf of the network. “We are glad that eOne has completed an investigation into allegations on the set of ‘The Rookie.’ We are confident that eOne takes these matters seriously and that they will continue to look for the best ways to surface concerns and address complaints.” The second season of The Rookie premieres on September 29.
Article via HotNewHipHop
Azealia Banks wrote a song about executing Elon Musk
Azealia Banks teased new music on her Instagram Tuesday night, and one song in particular, “96’Corolla (Motorman),” seems to be a thinly-veiled fantasy about executing Elon Musk.
The song is about an “ungrateful technocrat who’s [sic] ego becomes too big for his britches,” according to the since-deleted post. The song’s villain, Alon Dust, is plotting to use the brains of the poor to power his neural network, Neuralink. But things go sideways when Neuralink recognizes Dust himself as a threat. The AI overlord, played by Banks in the song (but originally written for Poppy, according to the Instagram post), decides to cut the technocrat’s neural activity off via satelite, “rendering him a vegetable and erasing him as a threat to humanity.”
Banks has had a bone to pick with Musk since last August, when she flew to LA to collaborate on a single with his girlfriend Claire Boucher, aka Grimes. Banks alleged Grimes never showed and she was left alone to wander Musk’s mansion “for days” and said it was “like a real life episode of Get Out.”
In a string of mostly now-deleted Instagram posts, Banks railed against the singer and the tech tycoon, calling Grimes a “dirty-sneaker-inbred-out of the woods Pabst beer pussy methhead-junkie” and Musk a “trash ass beta male” with “pork skin.”
The rapper is hardly the first to compare Musk to a Bond villain-in-the-making, but the fact that her song clearly and specifically envisions the execution of a powerful public figure throws the ethics and legality of her creativity into question. Freedom of Speech debates rage in America today, and many of the arguments involve social media.
In 2014, a man named Anthony Elonis was sentenced to 44 months in prison for a series of posts he made on Facebook, mostly in the form of rap lyrics, threatening to harm his estranged wife and a female police officer. Elonis ended many of the posts with the lines, “Art is about pushing limits. I’m willing to go to jail for my constitutional rights. Are you?” In 2015, the US Supreme Court heard his case on appeal to settle the narrow legal standard of what constitutes a “true threat” versus harmless creative fantasizing. The justices reversed Elonis’ conviction in an 8-1 decision — but they didn’t decide the case on First Amendment grounds. The court said the government just couldn’t prove whether Elonis intended to act from his Facebook alone.
It’s unclear how Banks’ foray into “revenge art” will play out in the court of public opinion or the actual legal system. But she arguably knows Musk and Grimes personally. She could potentially harbor ill-will towards them. But come on, “96’Corolla (Motorman)” is a work of science fiction. There’s no way Banks would advocate for actual violent revolution against the capitalists, right?
Article via Mic
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Comedian Mo’Nique Accused of Owing $620,000 in Back Taxes
According to court documents obtained by The Blast, the Georgia Department of Revenue filed a state tax lien against Mo’Nique (real name Monique Hicks). The lien also lists her husband/manager Sidney Hicks.
The Academy Award winner is accused of owing a total of $60,365.75 for the years 2015 and 2016.
The original tax debt was $31,445.71 but it grew with interest ($8,983.55), penalties ($13,597.35) and collection costs ($6,289.14).
The Department of Revenue warns if the debt isn’t paid quickly, they will begin the process of seizing her property and assets.
Mo’Nique’s biggest project in 2015 was the HBO film “Bessie” with Queen Latifah. She would star in the film “Almost Christmas” the following the year.
The lien is the latest in a string of financial troubles for the actress.
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A Romanian TV show host has been accused of ‘extreme racism’ after saying Serena Williams looks like one of ‘those monkeys at the zoo’ live on air
A Romanian TV show host said Serena Williams looks like a “monkey” whilst live on air.
“Serena Williams looks exactly like one of those monkeys at the zoo with the red asses,” said Radu Bancui whilst presenting the late evening show on B1 TV. “If monkeys wore trousers, they’d look exactly like Serena Williams does on the court.”
Bancui has been fined $1,875 by the National Council for Combatting Discrimination (CNCD) who referred to his comments as “extreme racism.”
Williams has been a victim of racial abuse on numerous occassions, including when she was the subject of a cartoon which depicted her as an angry baby with an oversized nose and lips.
A Romanian TV show host said Serena Williams looks like “those monkeys at the zoo” while live on air.
Radu Bancui, 49, made the comment while hosting the late evening show on B1 TV.
“Serena Williams looks exactly like one of those monkeys at the zoo with the red asses,” Bancui said, according to a translated press release from the National Council for Combating Discrimination (CNCD) in Bucharest.
“If monkeys wore trousers, they’d look exactly like Serena Williams does on the court.”
Bancui has been fined $1,875 for the comments, however it does not appear that he will lose his job.
“The governing board shows that slavery of people of color was based, among other things, on their comparison with monkeys,” reads the statement from the CNCD, translated by Insider’s associate translation editor Ruqayyah Moynihan. “As a result, such statements express a form of extreme racism.”
This isn’t the first time Williams has been subjected to racial abuse.
At the Sony Ericsson Championship in Miami in 2007, a heckling fan was removed for shouting: “That’s the way to do it! Hit the net like any Negro would!” at her, according to The Washington Post.
Most infamously, after the US Open final in 2018, Australian newspaper The Herald Sun twice printed a cartoon depicting Williams as an angry baby with an oversized nose and lips.
Alex Ohanion, Williams’ husband, branded the cartoon by Mark Knight “racist and misogynistic,” however an Australian media watchdog ruled it not so, claiming the drawing merely showed Williams “in a highly animated tantrum.”
Williams, who lost in the US Open final to teenager Bianca Andreescu earlier this month, recently slipped to ninth place in the WTA’s tour rankings, with Australian Ashleigh Barty ranked first.
Article via MSN
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Church’s message to air conditioning thieves: ‘It’s hot where you’re going’
AKRON, Ohio — Someone stole the air conditioning unit from Akron Alliance Fellowship Church in Ohio about three weeks ago, according to Pastor Gus Brown.
It was a loss of $3,500 for the church that sits on Diagonal Road in Akron.
“It was a brand new unit that we had just put in. We hadn’t even made the first payment on it yet, it had only been in a few days,” Brown told WJW.
The church immediately called Akron police.
“They cut the wires nicely, they cut the tubing with a tubing cutter. They had to know what they were doing. It had to be at least two, because one person would not have been able to pick it up,” Brown said.
In the meantime, the church put up a new sign that reads: “Whoever stole our A C Unit: Keep it. It’s hot where you’re going.”
Brown said the meaning is clear.
“That you are wrong and staying on this path will only get you one place. And we don’t want you to go there. Our desire is to even see him at our church one day,” Brown said.
Bible studies and services will continue, despite this weekend’s heat.
The church plans to hold an offering plate this Sunday for the AC fund.
via: https://pix11.com/2019/09/19/church-pastor-to-air-conditioning-thieves-its-hot-where-youre-going/
Photo Credit: pix11.com