Ella Baron cartoon on AI and the drought (Guardian, 24 Aug.)

I know my floor is dirty

The situation is dire. Millions of people in the United States are months away from losing their health care. On January 1, dramatic changes to Medicaid outlined in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, or OBBA, will take effect, impacting who is eligible for Medicaid. The new law excludes some groups completely (like most immigrants), introduces “community engagement” requirements (defined as 80 hours a month of work, volunteering, or school) for most people (apart from the elderly, children, and pregnant women), and requires renewals twice a year (as opposed to yearly). Some people have been impacted already (Nebraska implemented its changes on May 1 and began disenrolling people this month), and some will be kicked off their health care in October, when some previously qualified immigrants are made ineligible for Medicaid.

Though 92 percent of people should remain eligible for Medicaid coverage (through either a qualifying exemption or meeting the community engagement requirements), millions will still end up losing care.

cross-posted from: https://opensocial.at/objects/59c238fc-136a-8c5f-c394-e96190389088

♻️ @funnysnarkyjoke.bsky.social

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/51057087

cross-posted from: https://hexbear.net/post/9046197

Banner image: A black crowned crane (Balearica pavonina), which is found within the African-Eurasian flyway. Image by H. Zell via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Up to half the bird species using the African-Eurasian flyway are declining

• Every year, billions of birds migrate long distances with the changing of seasons — according to BirdLife Africa, 40 to 50 percent of avian species migrating to and from Africa are in decline.
• BirdLife Africa’s Kariuki Ndang’ang’a says climate change and infrastructure collision stand as three of the main reasons for the decline in migratory bird species.
• Because many birds rely on the same sites each year to make their transit, loss or degradation of even small areas can push an entire population towards collapse.

Each year in May, World Migratory Bird Day draws attention to the billions of birds that migrate long distances with the changing of the seasons, a living braid of ecosystems separated by thousands — even tens of thousands — of kilometers. According to Kariuki Ndang’ang’a, BirdLife International Africa’s regional director, about 2 billion birds fly along the African-Eurasian flyway every year: the populations of between 40 and 50 percent of these migratory bird species are in decline.

Ndang’ang’a told Mongabay added that the birds that travel furthest are at greatest risk. Some species, like Abdim’s stork (Ciconia abdimii), migrate relatively short distances within the continent, but palearctic migrants — those coming from distant landscapes in Europe or Asia — are particularly vulnerable, experiencing over a 30% decline in the past 30 years.

“Because these birds depend on specific stopover sites (like Lake Chad or the Nile Delta), the loss of even one small wetland can cause an entire population to collapse,” Ndang’ang’a wrote in an email.

Abdim’s stork at Masai Mara NP, Kenya. Image by tsowerby via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC 4.0)

According to Ndang’ang’a, habitat loss, climate change and infrastructure collision stand as three of the main reasons for the decline in migratory bird species.

“For instance, the drainage of wetlands for agriculture or urban expansion has greatly affected migratory birds as they search for resting and feeding ground,” he said. Lake Chad, on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, has lost 90% of its surface area since the 1960s, depriving millions of birds such as the European roller (Coracias garrulus) a refuge.

Climate change presents another challenge for migrating birds, he said.

“Rising temperatures cause ecological mismatches where birds arrive at breeding grounds after their primary food sources (like caterpillars) have already peaked. The European warblers have ended up reaching their breeding grounds in poor condition because the Sahel wetlands in Africa are drying up earlier than usual due to changing rainfall patterns.”

“Thirdly, poorly manned infrastructure such as power lines and wind turbines cause thousands of deaths annually for large soaring birds like storks and raptors, which often follow [fly along] specific mountain ridges or valleys where wind farms are built,’’ he added.

Egyptian vulture at Mishraq Shewa, Ethiopia. Image by Paul G. Schrijvershof via iNaturalist (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

Paul Matiku, the executive director of conservation NGO Nature Kenya, says there are several successful projects aimed at preventing the death of migratory birds from collisions with energy infrastructure.

“For instance, in the intervention at the Gabal-el Zayt wind farm in Egypt, conservationists and engineers use a protocol to temporarily stop wind turbines when large flocks of migratory birds are detected approaching the site. This has significantly reduced the mortalities of birds such as the white stork from collisions without causing substantial power losses to the grid.”

In Sudan and Ethiopia, power lines have been retrofitted with visibility markers and insulation to prevent the electrocution of species like Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus).

“In Kenya, Nature Kenya worked with Birdlife International and government partners and produced wind power strategic environment assessment report which helps to map places that are most important for migrating birds and which should be avoided during wind power placement,” Matiku said.

Nature Kenya has also enlisted residents of local communities with first hand knowledge of the most common places where birds fall victims of power lines. The NGO provides training for site support groups to gather better information to guide the relevant authorities to rethink powerline design.

From Africa to Central Asia, the European roller’s migration builds relationships

BirdLife SA's tiny staff dedicated to the European Roller Monitoring Project is supported by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The tracking devices are paid for by individual donors. Image courtesy of Lourenço Afonso.

World Migratory Bird Day’s May date has been chosen to coincide with the peak migration period for birds using not only the African-Eurasian flyway, but others linking East Asia to Australia or North to Central and South America.

“Migratory birds connect continents,” said Blessings Chingagwe, who works for one of BirdLife’s partners, Wildlife and Environmental Society of Malawi in March.

“A bird feeding at Chia Lagoon may have travelled thousands of kilometres from Europe or Asia. If just one important wetland along the flyway is lost or degraded, it can affect populations across multiple countries. Protecting wetlands in Malawi is part of protecting a global ecological system.”

Because it was 2 bucks cheaper than the black electric toothbrush.

Hello everyone, first time poster on this community!

I think the context came out a tad too long, so TL;DR: this is gluten (and nickel) free bread made mostly from rice flour and starch. The recipe is my own, developed mostly from scratch for the past year or so. The starter is live, 2.5 years old, made from whole grain rice flour (more photos and info below).

A bit of context: For a variety of reasons and food allergies/intolerances I've been eating gluten free for the past 5 years or thereabouts. I've always been deeply unsatisfied with commercial gluten free breads, especially since my mother used to bake a lot, even sourdough sometimes, and it was always stellar.

In an attempt to make some decent bread, a couple years ago I started my live sourdough made from whole grain rice fluor exclusively (it actually started from white rice flour, but whole grain has more proteins, so it rises better, and I find it has a better taste too).

The recipe is one I've been developing on my own for the past year or so, mostly because I needed something that was also nickel free (for allergies). I live in Italy and the GF offer here is stellar, but the only alternative I could find which suited my needs tasted waaay too sugary for my taste (which is a common issue in gf baked products I find, since sugar tends to be used both for rising and for giving the bread a nice caramelized color). GF products tend to replace wheat with mostly corn (tons of nickel) and/or potato starch (also tons of histamine as well, and I need to keep it in check). The flour mix I was using before was made mostly from those two alone, so I had to change it.

This is my first bake after a period away from home. I had dried and freezed my starter before leaving, then unfreezed it and started feeding it again a couple days before the bake. I actually got the proportions for my recipe completely wrong this time, and added about 100g too much flour. Somehow the proportions worked out in the end, I didn't even need to change the hydratation.

After making the dough, I let it rise for ~1.5hrs outside the fridge (~35°), then 12hrs in the fridge, then a couple hours outside to let it reach room temp. I think the dough was a bit dry on the outside and it split during rising. I cut it ~1cm deep in a ) shape along the border before baking. With my recipe the bread usually splits along the cut which didn't happen this time, but at a second look it mostly rised from the previous split.

The crust is very crunchy for a GF bread, not so much for a norml wheat bread. The crumb is a bit humid and gummy, probably because of too high hydratation. The bubbles are some of the best I've even obtained, I'm definitely marking this accident as a happy one.

Would be really happy to contribute my bakes to this community and to hear everyone's thoughts!

The sandwich is almost entirely bread, with a very thin layer of filling.

Three years ago I made some basic Italian beef with pureed tomatoes and red wine. I had leftovers and canned them for later.

Combine that with oven fries, smoked mozzarella and some seasonings and we have this monster meal. Not available in stores.

Cost: $4.00

Imperfections were all made with hand tools except for the sanding

hell yeah i've still got it

I'm not the artist, this person is: Source

You don't see this in museum cafes.Today's clickbait brings tears to my eyes.Onion rings à la Kolhapur.Well and truly 'hand' made!

#globalmuseum #streetfood #onions