Ukrainian Missile Sinks Russian Warship Will Elon Musk Buy Twitter To Silence Critics?

Trump Still Won't Call Putin Evil, Russia Sanctions Congress & the Easter Bunny Brings Salmonella!

Seed banks: the last line of defense against a threatening global food crisis

As climate breakdown and worldwide conflict continue to place the food system at risk, seed banks from the Arctic to Lebanon try to safeguard biodiversity

by Salomé Gómez-Upegui and Rita Liu

Fri 15 Apr 2022 06.00 EDT

As the risks from the climate crisis and global conflict increase, seed banks are increasingly considered a priceless resource that could one day prevent a worldwide food crisis. Two in five of the world’s plant species are at risk of extinction, and though researchers estimate there are at least 200,000 edible plant species on our planet, we depend on just three – maize, rice and wheat– for more than half of humanity’s caloric intake.

There are roughly 1,700 seed banks, or gene banks, around the world housing collections of plant species that are invaluable for scientific research, education, species preservation and safeguarding Indigenous cultures.

“At a first glance, seeds may not look like much, but within them lies the foundation of our future food and nutrition security, and the possibility for a world without hunger,” said Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an organization dedicated to preserving crop diversity for food security. “Well-funded, well-maintained seed banks are critical to reducing the negative impact of the climate crisis on our agriculture globally.”

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/apr/15/seed-banks-the-last-line-of-defense-against-a-threatening-global-food-crisis

Covid cases rise in north-eastern US, driven by the BA.2 subvariant

Melody Schreiber
Thu 14 Apr 2022 08.19 EDT

The subvariant of omicron that’s more transmissible than BA.1 was responsible for an estimated 86% of new US cases last week


ttps://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4f8c3e983f3661e629b221b9a85a86d0760e40f7/0_0_5848_3509/master/5848.jpg?width=620&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=e8882f56f11337e14a08a5aad144de04


Covid cases are on the rise in the north-eastern part of the US, as many Americans travel and gather together for spring break and religious holidays.

The rise is being driven by BA.2, a subvariant of Omicron which is more transmissible than its sibling BA.1, and was responsible for an estimated 86% of new Covid-19 cases nationwide last week, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

With precautions having been relaxed in many places earlier this year, experts have been looking at whether BA.2 will lead to another surge. “This is what the beginning of surges have looked like” in the past, said Julia Raifman, assistant professor at the Boston University School of Public Health.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/14/ba2-variant-covid-cases-us-rise-north-east-omicron

Don't tell Bill Maher......

And in the Death by Satan state of FLORIDA.....they have this pro-life BS....

Ron DeSantis cites 'promoting fatherhood' as he signs abortion ban without rape exceptions

By David Edwards
Published April 14, 2022

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) called for more fathers in the home on Thursday as he signed a 15-week abortion ban without exceptions for rape or incest.

During a signing event at Nacion de Fe church in Kissimmee, the governor spoke on the importance of fatherhood.

"We are viewing this in terms of protecting life as something that we see through really, if you look at what we've done this week, we're promoting fatherhood in Florida," DeSantis explained to applause.

https://www.rawstory.com/ron-desantis-abortion-ban/

Isn't this one of the right wing states that will send said kids when they get older into combat ......well by golly it is.....

France's Marine Le Pen wants NATO-Russia 'rapprochement'

By Agence France-Presse
Published April 13, 2022

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Wednesday said she would back closer ties between NATO and Russia and pull Paris out of the alliance's military command, if she defeats Emmanuel Macron for the presidency.

Le Pen faces Macron on April 24 in a run-off vote after she came second in the April 10 first round, with the latest polls showing the president holding on to a solid but slim lead.

Foreign policy is set to play an important role in the vote after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and also accusations from Macron that Le Pen is too close to President Vladimir Putin.

https://www.rawstory.com/france-s-marine-le-pen-wants-nato-russia-rapprochement/

You know they had some authoritarian that supported Nazi's back in the day of WWII: and what's really classic she got money from Putin.....corruption is still corruption and that money she got was and is "blood money"....

-snip-

Vichy France is the common name of the French State headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. The regime was authoritarian, xenophobic, antisemitic, corporatist and traditionalist in nature........sounds like Le Pen........

Pro-Trump Arizona candidate complains Biden's new rules wouldn't let him build his 'very cool' ghost

By Matthew Chapman
Published April 11, 2022

On Monday, President Joe Biden announced a first-of-its kind new gun regulation enacted by executive order that will restrict unserialized kits that allow people to assemble untraceable so-called "ghost guns," and make ownership of certain existing unserialized guns illegal.

Under the new rules, "firearm" and "frame and receiver" will be defined to include so called "buy build shoot" kits, and manufacturers of components used in ghost guns will be required to use the federal background check system on buyers.

But the announcement did not sit well with Arizona GOP Senate candidate Blake Masters, who took to Twitter to complain that under the new rules, a "very cool" firearm he assembled last month would be illegal to build now.

https://twitter.com/bgmasters/status/1513599602196291588/photo/1

https://www.rawstory.com/ghost-guns/


Hey jerk, I really do believe that your bullets for that gun and any gun should be taxed at 5000%.
And no-one knew you made such a weapon ...does it give a warm and fuzzy feeling ....

Hong Kong police arrest veteran journalist for alleged sedition

By Reuters
Published April 11, 2022

?id=29664518&width=980&quality=85

By Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong's national security police arrested a veteran journalist and former contributing writer with the now-shuttered liberal media outlet Stand News, on Monday for alleged sedition, police and local media said.

A crackdown on the media based on a sedition law that dates from the British colonial-era, as all as a China-imposed national security law has seen several major media outlets raided by police and closed down, including the Apple Daily newspaper and the Stand News online news portal.

Local police said in a statement that the national security department of the police force had arrested a 54 year-old male for "conspiracy to publish seditious publications" and had detained him for further investigation.

https://www.rawstory.com/hong-kong-police-arrest-veteran-journalist-for-alleged-sedition/

Why again do we do business with regimes of kleptocracies authoritarians......

Ukraine strikes what it says was a Russian ammunition store in Donetsk

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 4/11/22 starts at the 33.34 minute mark