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Lobbyists for the world's biggest meat companies have lauded a better than expected outcome at COP28, which they say left them "excited" and "enthusiastic" for their industry's prospects. U.S. livestock bosses reflected on the conference's implication for their sector on a virtual panel, fresh from "sharing U.S agriculture's story" at the climate summit last December. Campaigners and climate scientists had hoped the summit – which was billed as a "Food COP" due to its focus on farming – would see governments agree to ambitious action to transform food systems in line with the goals of the Paris climate agreement. But while more than 130 governments pledged to tackle agriculture's carbon footprint, a slew of announcements and initiatives failed to set binding targets, or to broach the question of reducing herds of ruminant livestock such as cattle and sheep, which are agriculture's largest driver of emissions. In the online discussion, which was hosted by the trade outlet FeedStuffs, meat lobbyists groups made it clear they saw COP28 as a win. The three representatives all said there had been widespread recognition at the Dubai summit that agriculture was a "solution" to climate change, despite livestock accounting for over 30 percent of anthropogenic methane emissions. Outcomes at the summit were characterised as "a far more positive outcome than we had anticipated" by Constance Cullman, the president of the Animal Feed Industry Association (AFIA) – a US lobby group whose members include some of the world's biggest meat and animal feed producers. She added that this was the first time she had "felt that optimistic" after a "large international gathering like this one". Cullman also praised the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s Global Roadmap to tackle the climate crisis and end hunger, which she described as "music to our ears", stating that she particularly welcomed the report's emphasis on "production and efficiency" over "looking at reduced consumption of animal protein". Academics described the FAO report's failure to recommend cuts to meat-eating as "bewildering" in a March submission to the journal Nature Food. According to a March paper, which surveyed more than 200 environmental and agricultural scientists, meat and dairy production must be drastically reduced – and fast – to align with the Paris Agreement. The report concludes that global emissions from livestock production need to decline by 50 percent during the next six years, with "high-producing and consuming nations" taking the lead. The FAO told DeSmog in a statement that its roadmap took a "balanced" approach to animal agriculture, saying that its report had "acknowledged the importance of livestock for poor people in traditional agrifood systems" and referenced the need for dietary shifts. "We believe that some comments on the change in diets and the role of animal products in them are either misinformed because people have not properly read the Roadmap report, or deliberately disingenuous for the sake of feeding vested interests narratives,” it said. Another industry panellist, Eric Mittenthaler, had attended COP28 on behalf of lobby group the Meat Institute (formerly the North American Meat Institute, or NAMI). He stressed the importance of sharing the message that animal agriculture is necessary for nutrition and sustainability. The Meat Institute, which runs an initiative called the ProteinPACT, represents hundreds of corporations in the meat supply chain, including the meat sector's three largest companies, JBS, Cargill and Tyson, which together have emissions equal to oil majors Shell or BP. Sophie Nodzenski, a senior campaign strategist on food and agriculture at Greenpeace International, said it was "unsurprising" that industrial meat producers felt positively about COP28's outcomes "given that their interests essentially took the central stage there". The number of lobbyists for big meat and dairy companies tripled at COP28 as revealed by DeSmog and the Guardian, amid rising scrutiny of the food sector's climate impacts. Meanwhile, smallholders and family farmers at the summit saidthey felt "drowned out". "COP28 has rightly put the spotlight on the link between food production and the climate crisis, but the sheer number of Big Ag lobbyists present gave them an outsized influence,” Nodzenski said. Full article: https://www.desmog.com/2024/04/08/us-meat-lobby-celebrates-positive-outcome-cop28/

🤦‍♀️This is America

For interactive map, go here: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13275073/Average-*****-sizes-world-revealed-interactive-map.html For full list, go here: https://www.worlddata.info/average-penissize.php

Terrible terrible terrible. Religion is such a menace to society. RIP to her & her baby they deserved so much better. Somalian, 22, 'strangles heavily pregnant girlfriend, 20, to death - also killing their unborn child' - in suspected honour killing in Sweden 'because his mother wouldn't approve of him dating a "white" girl from a different culture' Article: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13271287/pregnant-woman-murdered-sweden-suspected-honour-killing.html

Developing story: This is rich coming from Ecuador considering how in 2012 it granted political asylum to Julian Assange in their London embassy… and neither the US or the UK invaded their embassy.

The Biden administration is poised to issue a proposal aimed at reducing or eliminating student loan balances for millions of borrowers, according to people familiar with the matter, marking President Biden's second attempt at large-scale loan forgiveness. The regulations, which are set to be issued as soon as next week, come after the Supreme Court last year overturned the administration's first debt cancellation plan, which would have wiped away up to $20,000 in student debt for borrowers making less than $125,000 a year. Biden is planning to outline the broad strokes of the new proposal during a speech on Monday in Madison, Wis., where he is expected to tout his administration's wide-ranging efforts to chip away at the student debt burden facing more than 40 million Americans, the people said. A White House spokesman declined to comment. Administration officials expect that the final rule will be challenged in court, but they think they are on solid legal footing. The new approach, they argue, is more tailored because it outlines specific conditions for debt cancellation, a contrast with the more sweeping plan that was overturned by the Supreme Court. The administration used the Heroes Act to underpin Biden's first loan-forgiveness program. But the Supreme Court ruled that the administration had overstepped its authority by using the law, which allows the education secretary to modify student aid programs to respond to emergencies, to forgive loans for tens of millions of Americans. Source

did y'all feel that omg?

Did she lie?

Black tradesman 'told he does not look like an electrician' during 'traumatic' Met Police search A black tradesman has claimed that Metropolitan Police officers told him he "does not look like an electrician" during a stop and search on his way home from work. Josh King, 23, and his colleagues were returning from a job in Guildford when they were stopped by officers in a police van parked by the side of the road as they drove through Clapham on September 13, 2023. This week, a video went viral on social media showing King and three coworkers, all in company uniforms, being forcibly removed from their vehicle and handcuffed by police during the tense search, leading to the arrest of one person for possessing an electrician's knife. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) later ruled that no further action should be taken against him. Mr King, from Peckham, claims he was racially profiled and that his colleague was arrested despite explaining the knife was a work tool. He added that officers appeared to dismiss his colleague's explanation that the tool had been inadvertently left in his cargo trousers. The electrician, who owns KK Electrical Contractor Limited, claims that his business lost a client as a result of the incident. He told the Standard: "We're going home from work in my person car as I don't have a van. I'm with the lads and we pass a police vehicle which is parked up in Clapham – I wasn't speeding, my car's insured – and I said 'why have we been stopped? What's the reason?’” "And immediately they dragged us out the car and started antagonising us. We were put in handcuffs for about 90 minutes on the side of the road and they told us we don't look like electricians. "It makes you think, what does an electrician even look like? What does a plumber look like? What does a doctor look like? "It was a very concerning thing to say but they didn't realise the severity of what they said until afterwards.” He added: "In that whole time period we were in handcuffs, they mistreated us. It was totally unnecessary…it wasn't professional at all. As somebody who has never previously been stopped by police in my life, it was quite a traumatic experience for me. Regarding the lost client, he said: "We were working on a project and the police emailed the client. I was offered that job and then lost it. We deal with quite high-end contracts so it's nothing we take lightly but it did happen. "Police asked them if we are who we say we are, which was unnecessary.” Mr King is planning to lodge an official complaint against the Met following the "traumatic" incident. He says his colleagues have been left shaken by the ordeal and that morale at his business is low. A Met spokesperson said: "The men were searched after a passenger in the car was seen attempting to hide a lock knife in a door compartment following a traffic stop. "Possession a lock knife is illegal and officers thought the man's attempt to hide it was suspicious. He was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an offensive weapon. "The man claimed he was using the knife for work, however the group's other tools were found in the boot, rather than the passenger compartment. "Ultimately the Crown Prosecution Service decided the man should face no further action, but we regularly see the devastation knives cause and officers will do all they can to remove them from the streets of London.” Last month, Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley criticised the "army of armchair commentators" who, in his view, record and scrutinise the actions of officers. The Met said the searches were carried out after "a passenger in the car was seen attempting to hide a lock knife in a door compartment following a traffic stop". Commander Claire Smart, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "The men were searched after a passenger in the car was seen attempting to hide a lock knife in a door compartment following a traffic stop. "Possession of a lock knife can be illegal and officers thought the man's attempt to hide it was suspicious. He was arrested on suspicion of being in possession of an offensive weapon. "Ultimately the Crown Prosecution Service decided the man should face no further action. "When done right, stop and search is an effective tool and officers take 4,000 dangerous weapons off our streets every year as a result of this tactic. "We know nonetheless stop and search has a significant impact on our communities which we are keen to better understand. "There has been no formal complaint about this incident, however I would welcome the opportunity to meet with the man to discuss this further and to hear his concerns."

Girl, 14, left in coma after attack by teenagers outside school in France | France | The Guardian

Grindr currently has a market cap of $1.9 billion and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol GRND. Simply Wall Street noted a few days ago that the stock is up 63% in the last year.

https://newsroom.heart.org/news/8-hour-time-restricted-eating-linked-to-a-91-higher-risk-of-cardiovascular-death Hmmm, I wouldn't be surprised if this is caused by people eating heavy Americanized meals in a short time frame to get calories that is high in saturated fat. Not that it in itself is unhealthy.

Political provocateur Michael Weinstein has the unlikeliest of allies in his quest to remove statewide limits on rent control: Republicans in Huntington Beach. Weinstein, a nonprofit executive who's poured upward of $100 million into political fights in California, is trying to repeal a law that bars cities from rent-controlling newer apartments — a restriction that's ferociously guarded by developers and real estate investors. Opponents of his November ballot measure — his third such attempt — say it would have such a chilling effect on development that it could essentially allow local governments to skirt state laws requiring them to allow more housing. "On paper, it would be legal to build new homes. But it would be illegal, largely speaking, to make money doing so,” said Louis Mirante, vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council, a pro-business advocacy group that opposes the measure. That's where Weinstein's effort has apparently found a friend in Huntington Beach Councilmember Tony Strickland, a Republican who's attempting to organize his colleagues behind a measure backed by liberal activists. He has led the city's efforts to fight Gov. Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta in court as the state tries to force the city to comply with housing mandates. Strickland said Weinstein's rent control measure would block "the state's ability to sue our city" because Huntington Beach could slap steep affordability requirements on new, multi-unit apartment projects that are now exempt from rent control. Such requirements, he argued, could stop development that would "destroy the fabric" of the town's quaint "Surf City" vibe. Pro-housing advocates who have long clashed with Weinstein argue affluent cities have already tried to use the guise of affordability requirements to try to prevent new construction — and that this measure would make it easier for them to do so. Soon after California passed a law requiring cities to allow duplexes and lot splits in neighborhoods zoned for single-family homes, several coastal enclaves, including Dana Point and Camarillo, tried to impose stringent rules for such units, requiring below-market rents. Those cities largely backed down after the state threatened legal action. But some pro-housing leaders and Newsom allies say the rent-control ballot measure appears to be similarly motivated. A person close to the governor, who was granted anonymity to speak candidly, said: "They're all patches in the same quilt, which is that there are people in this state who just don't want to see more housing. Source

American "democracy" is a farce.

Possible mammal to mammal transmission does not mean well for the future- cow to human transmission under investigation CDC issues statements one man infected "mild symptoms" 52% mortality rate since 2022

JK Rowling has challenged Scotland's new hate crime law in a series of social media posts - inviting police to arrest her if they believe she has committed an offence. The Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Act 2021 creates a new crime of "stirring up hatred" relating to age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, transgender identity or being intersex. Ms Rowling, who has long been a critic of some trans activism, posted on X on the day the new legislation came into force. Ms Rowling said: "I'm currently out of the country, but if what I've written here qualifies as an offence under the terms of the new act, I look forward to being arrested when I return to the birthplace of the Scottish Enlightenment." Police Scotland said it had not received any complaints over the posts. The maximum penalty under the new act in Scotland is a jail sentence of seven years. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c51j64lk2l8o.amp LOCK HER UP!!