Exactly What It Says It Is….. I Likes Fungi….From ‘Emergence’ On-line Magazine.… From Life-enhancing - To Life-destroying….
by Bernie Bell - 08:38 on 17 January 2023
Exactly What It Says It Is…..
A new podcast from History Hit, looking at Orkney’s Neolithic remains – featuring Nick Card and Roy Towers…..
https://archaeologyorkney.com/2023/01/15/podcast-orkney-neolithic/
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I Likes Fungi….
So does someone else….. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-64251382
My own Fungal Fiesta…. https://theorkneynews.scot/?s=Fungi+Bernie+Bell
And….. https://frontiersmagazine.org/fungi-the-good-the-bad-and-the-edible/
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From ‘Emergence’ On-line Magazine.. https://emergencemagazine.org/ …..
Prophecies of Possibility
A Ripening of the Next World
by Jamie Figueroa
“A story can be living. It can be an activating force that alters vibration, transcends time, and shifts not only how we perceive, but our shared reality itself.”
“When we imagine the future, words like “Armageddon” or “apocalypse” or “collapse” may come to mind. But to what extent do the stories we tell ourselves create the world we are living in?
In this essay, Afro-Taíno author Jamie Figueroa considers the kind of world she wants to inhabit and the stories that will make it so. When a difficult living situation confronts her with narratives of catastrophe and colonialism that restrict her spirit, she draws upon the guidance of three Indigenous women to help her access her own embodied knowing. Embracing the unknown, she summons the imagination, sovereignty, and courage needed to restory herself and help rebirth the world. “
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From Life-enhancing - To Life-destroying….
I received this from Hugh Warwick ….
Hedgehog Poison
16 JAN 2023 —
“Last week it was my turn to catch the family cold! Monday I battled through a day long (and deeply fascinating) meeting online as part of my role in helping manage the research that is being funded by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People’s Trust for Endangered Species … Tuesday I tried to work and failed, Wednesday I just decided I would sleep.
Oh, the best laid plans of hedgehogs and men …
I was woken to the news that a company, Ferber Painting, was selling poison, specifically for hedgehogs.
They had a whole host of other species, badgers, snakes, birds, weasels on their hit list. To top it all, the website ended .co.uk, which suggested that it was trading here … and the order form showed the prices in pounds! This roused my ire somewhat so I put out a tweet - do follow me if you want to see what other strange things are going on - which then took off and has now had over 1.3 million impressions (I don’t really know what impressions mean, but it is far more than any other tweet of mine). With the BHPS and Hedgehog Street campaign we reached out - got messages back from MPs, I had an outraged Pam Ayres and Chris Packham online.
So what of the company - Ferber Painting? They claimed they had been hacked - but that was something they said back in November 2022, when this was first noticed (not by me). Then last week they told ITV news, when they were called in the UAE - where they seem to be based that the hedgehog product is “a bait. If you want to use it it works with a trap. The bait doesn’t kill the hedgehog itself it’s the trap that will kill the hedgehog.” This was despite the packaging visible online saying, ‘The fastest treatment, death of hedgehog in 5 minutes after ingesting the product.’
Now this seems to be rather contradictory - is it going to cause death to a hedgehog in 5 minutes? Or is it a lure to a trap? Was the company hacked and its original aim to sell paint to the world overwhelmed by some evil-doers hell bent on making them seem like murdering %&@%!^$? Or, as I was beginning to think, more likely to be a complete scam … with those wishing harm to some rather beautiful and in many cases protected, wildlife, unsuspectingly handing over their money in return for nothing …
Whatever their intent, the uproar has certainly had an impact - their website now no longer shows it selling any poisons for mammals and birds - just for invertebrates. But the mystery remains …
What can we learn from this? Certainly we know that companies who threaten our wildlife will get a pretty robust reaction from members of the public! We have seen that the anger gets a reaction - never mind the nonsense Ferber communicated to ITV, we forced them to change their website and remove the offensive items.
When we act together, we create change. Let us not forget that when we look to the developers who seek to put profit before nature (and in particular, hedgehogs) … I am thrilled that we have managed to make a dent in the way some developers act - getting them to include hedgehog highways in new developments. But I know, and you know, that is NOT ENOUGH. While we did not succeed in getting a change to the level of protection hedgehogs receive, I wonder whether we, together, can encourage the developers to treat hedgehogs as if they were that well protected? More on this soon …
Oh - and Happy New Year - sorry it is a bit late!”
Constant vigilance produces results! What a world we’re living in though – what a world.
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And then there’s Jeremy Clarkson….
When Jeremy Clarkson punched someone for not providing him with the food which he had requested, I thought he should not get any more television work. He did – lots more work. So presumably the message is - be obnoxious and you’ll do just fiiine. That’s today’s world – sign of the times.
Then, he wrote an extra-ordinarily odious, offensive column in ‘The Sun’ newspaper ( surprise, surprise) saying things about Meghan Windsor – things which he shouldn’t get away with saying about anyone – things which show him to have a very disturbing attitude to women and which could encourage others to have a very disturbing attitude to women. Another sign of the times.
Even his own daughter accused him of ‘bullying’ in his column.
Again, I would expect/hope that he would have been cut from his television work immediately.
I didn’t think ‘The Sun’ would sack him as, basically, that’s what they want from him – he’s paid to be obnoxious.
I’ll be interested to see what happens.
He’s since apologised – oh aye – that makes it all OK. He’s still there on the telly – getting paid handsomely.
Maybe fellow celebrities could refuse to work with him? That might have some kind of effect on his work prospects. And – folk could stop watching his programmes - Boycott him - that might help too.
Mike’s father used to have an imaginary island on which he placed people that he thought were intolerable – the idea being that they could be horrible to each other, and stay away from everyone else. Mike and I still reference that, and the island is developing a truly horrific set of inhabitants. Boris Johnson, Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Jeremy Clarkson, Jimmy Carr ( successfully prosecuted for Tax evasion, yet there he is infecting our television screen - until I turn him off).
Some would include Piers Morgan in this list – I can’t honestly do so, as I’ve never watched him/listened to him other than momentarily – something about him means that I …don’t want to.
Imagine the horror of that isalnd – or maybe they’d all get along famously – fair enough - as long as they were kept away from playing any part in our lives.
Then I remembered writing about The Bunker From Hell – similar idea… https://theorkneynews.scot/2020/06/04/trumps-in-his-bunker-and-whats-wrong-with-the-world/
End of rant.
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Here’s one I made earlier….. https://theorkneynews.scot/2019/11/18/an-orcadian-abroad/
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