Once a stark example of the drastic effects of Californiaâs yearslong megadrought, Lake Oroville has rebounded and is once again filled to capacity, data from the stateâs Department of Water Resources shows.
Lake Oroville, the stateâs most beleaguered and second-largest reservoir, is at 100% of its total capacity and 127% of where it should be around this time of year - a huge boost after the climate-change-fueled megadrought sucked away nearly all its water supply.
If youâve recently taken a Southern California whale-watching tour, you may have been lucky enough to come across earthâs largest animal. Pacific blue whales grow up to 110 feet long and can reach a weight of 200 tons. Decades ago, blue whales were nearly hunted to extinction, and although still listed as protected under the Endangered Species Act, marine biologists and researchers are heralding a âconservation success story,â unlike any other.
According to a study published in 2014 by researchers at the University of Washington, the West Coast blue whale population has bounced back at tremendous levels, recouping 97% of its pre-whaling population
Zoey is now 5 months old. Courtesy Zoeyâs family
A firefighter in Ocala, Florida, was pulling an overnight shift at the station in January when he was awakened at 2 a.m. by an alarm. He recognized the sound immediately. A newborn had been placed in the buildingâs Safe Haven Baby Box, a device that allows someone to safely and anonymously surrender a child â no questions asked.
âTo be honest, I thought it was a false alarm,â said the firefighter, who wished to remain anonymous to protect his familyâs privacy. But when he opened the box, he discovered a healthy infant wrapped in a pink blanket.
Icelandâs government said Tuesday it was suspending this yearâs whale hunt until the end of August due to animal welfare concerns, likely bringing the controversial practice to a historic end.
âI have taken the decision to suspend whalingâ until August 31, Food Minister Svandis Svavarsdottir said in a statement. The countryâs last remaining whaling company, Hvalur, had previously said this would be its final season as the hunt has become less profitable.
Alison Moore had a unique idea to celebrate her fatherâs 100th birthday: a pet parade filled with as many dogs as possible. Her father, Robert Moore, has always adored dogs and wanted to pet every one he saw. So, Alison took to social media and invited the community to join in the festivities. Little did she know that over 200 dogs and their owners would gather for the heartwarming event.
The parade brought immense joy not only to Robert but also to attendees like Rodger, who has Alzheimerâs disease, and his daughter Denise, who hadnât seen her father smile so much in a long time. It was a day filled with wagging tails, smiling faces, and love that made Robertâs milestone birthday an unforgettable celebration.
Tuesday, the Estonian government has survived a vote of no confidence in the Riigikogu tied to amendments to the Family Law Act and related legislation, which is granting same-sex couples the legal right to wed. 55 members of the Riigikogu voted in favor of the measure, while 34 voted against.
It is proposed that the institution of marriage, as defined by family law, be modified so that  any two natural persons of legal age, regardless of gender, may marry. The words âman and womanâ will be replaced with the words âtwo natural persons.â
For the first time, U.S. regulators on Wednesday approved the sale of chicken made from animal cells, allowing two California companies to offer âlab-grownâ meat to the nationâs restaurant tables and eventually, supermarket shelves.
The Agriculture Department gave the green light to Upside Foods and Good Meat, firms that had been racing to be the first in the U.S. to sell meat that doesnât come from slaughtered animals â whatâs now being referred to as âcell-cultivatedâ or âculturedâ meat as it emerges from the laboratory and arrives on dinner plates.
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Thatâs it for this week :)
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âAmericanizationâ is a real phenomenon, and how non-Americans should be cautious of it is taught in different countries at school. Itâs taught in Greece and people from other countries told me their elementary or middle school teachers (using the American grades, to make it make sense to the majority on the site) talked to them about it.
Itâs common sense here, except for USians, so Iâll analyze it a bit more for the dominant demographic here. In a globalized setting, the most dominant culture affects the others and sets the trends. The way our language works, how we think, our levels of politeness and intimacy, and our levels of respect. (flash news, they are going down đ)
I donât want to imply that there is nothing good in the US. There are plenty of positives in the country. Itâs just that for the rest of the cultures online itâs a constant daily fight to not forget our roots, with the degree US media and brands have permeated our lives. In Greece at least we watch more US American media than Greek media nowadays, and many of our shows are rip-offs of USian ones, with little adaptation to Greek reality and culture.
And to demonstrate the amount of this exposure, a 22-year-old Greek asked me the other day âif something happens we call 911, right?â This might have literally cost them their life, in a dangerous situation! Because all the movies and songs they consumed (not an unusual thing for the Greek youth) were what they knew. And I found a similar comment in this comment thread.
Lots of Americans in the notes failing to understand this post. Itâs not about not liking the US. Itâs not about you feeling ashamed or guilty for being American. Itâs not about you.
Itâs about American media drowning out native language media all over the world, and workplaces requiring the English language in your repertoire more and more. Itâs about proper translations and foreign language dubbing of films disappearing because âeveryone speaks/should speak English anyway.â All of this is leading to the deterioration of native speaker groups of languages worldwide.
In my country, Dutch language courses canât find enough people who want to study the language, while English language courses are overflowing with people who want to study the language. There is even widespread distaste for the Dutch language for being crude or sounding rough or what have you. Thatâs our native language!!! That is our culture in its purest form!!! That is knowledge we inherit from our parents as they did from theirs!!! That is how we learned fairytales and folk stories and myths!!! That is the language that shapes our communication and our way of thinking!!! To hate your native language is to hate yourself at the deepest level.
And yet itâs so normalised. Droves of foreigners living in the Netherlands will never learn a word of Dutch, because âeveryone speaks English anyway.â We are the worldâs leaders in non-native understanding of English, but it comes at a cost. A grave cost we will continue to pay.
If youâre looking to support your non-American friends in any way that is not performatively shouting âI hate being an Americanâ into the void, first of all, unlearn that hatred of yourself and your culture. You are of no help self-flagellating, and there is a difference between holding your country accountable for its issues, and denying yourself your culture because your country is doing and has done bad things.
(I am not going to get into arguments about whether or not US American culture exists. It does, and if you think differently you are welcome to change your mind.)
Secondly, learn about other countries. Learn a bit of Chinese. Take an interest in the Italian political system. Ask your friends about their countriesâ folklore. Watch documentaries about art from Nigeria. Absorb information that is not fed to you by American media.
And thirdly, quit expecting your non-American friends to communicate in a way that appeals to you. The French and Dutch will always seem rude to you because our way of communicating is far more direct than the way you communicate. People from other cultures may seem vague to you because their way of communicating is far more indirect, and youâre not used to that either. Quit being frustrated when you donât get what we mean exactly. Quit assuming we mean the absolute worst thing you could imagine just because you didnât get what we meant the first time. Ask us to explain if you need us to, and learn to accept that we are different from you.
We are already adapting to your culture 100% of the time we are online. Itâs your responsibility to adapt to us, too. At least do your friends the courtesy of learning about and adapting to them.
Another aspect I find interesting about americanization is how itâs a standard in communicating online even when THERE ARE NO Americans in the group.
Itâs a standard to convert grades, types of classes or the type of school you go to. (Iâve observed it in groups of younger people hence the school related term)
Itâs a shortcut in communicating so you donât have to describe your whole school system and how, I donât know, politics suddenly changed it last year and just say âIâm going to high schoolâ.
Itâs a useful standard but be aware of it. Talk about your diffrent cultures. Bond over what cooking techniques are similar in your national cusine. Be disgusted when you find out your friends keep fruit in the fridge.
“humans don’t do anything for free” somewhere out there there is a guy who spent days if not weeks of his life cataloguing every stupid thing you can do on stardew valley so that you can minmax the fuck out of growing potatoes on a pixel grid for quite literally no reason but that it might help someone else
weirdest part about being an artist (and, to an extent, a writer too) is feeling like. shameful that you aren’t creating massive pieces of art. how dare i not line and color and shade every drawing. how dare i only draw two poses. how dare i only write 1k words. how dare i not write an entire book. how dare i
(looking at the near 1k pieces of art in my folder and the thousands of words in my notes) you know i just don’t think i do enough actually
ALT
