That, in turn, could result in bitter cold air pushing southward into the United States within a couple of weeks, though where exactly that Arctic air will swoop down — and for how long — remains uncertain.
MONTMORENCY COUNTY, MI – Two Michigan Department of Natural Resources conservation officers found a fresh bobcat carcass in a man’s freezer while investigating an illegal trapping complaint recently.
The incident occurred in Northern Michigan’s Montmorency County a few days before bobcat trapping season started. Conservation Officer Sidney Collins responded to a complaint of a bobcat that was caught in a foothold trap, according to a DNR report.
Once Collins got to the area where the trap was located, she saw the bobcat was gone, but noticed blood and fur in the empty trap’s catch circle. She was able to identify the trapper. The next day, Collins and Conservation Officer Paul Fox went to the man’s cabin. The man initially denied catching a bobcat…
As many of you can surely imagine, sharing all these vacuous, anthropocentric, mainstream media headlines can eventually get to you. You end up feeling like shouting out, “Tell it like really is, you speciesist bastards!” But clearly, the average journalist couldn’t give a whit about the lives of non-humans. They are reporting to their readership base and wouldn’t want to risk their cushy job by thinking for themselves or a hair outside the box.
The article that set me off this time made the bland, one-sided declaration that, “131 hunters find success during December elk hunt in Northern Michigan.” A similarly bias view would be something like, ‘121 terrorists find success during their latest bombing raids’ or ‘141 serial rapists found success Friday night…’ In each case, the victims were blanketly disregarded and objectified.
But then, even posing for photos, like the one that accompanied the elk-hunting article, exhibits objectification…
Amob of people backing President Donald Trump’s coup-like effort to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election stormed the Capitol building on Wednesday, breaching security fences, entering the building, and bringing to a halt the process of Congress certifying Electoral College votes.
As of this writing, the Capitol building has been placed on lockdown and lawmakers have been evacuated. Photos taken inside the building show Trump supporters roaming throughout the building, sitting in the office chairs of lawmakers such as Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-California), and posing in the chair that’s normally reserved for the president of the Senate in that legislative chamber.
U.S. Capitol police officers point their guns at a door that was vandalized in the House Chamber during a joint session of Congress on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Reports of an armed standoff between Trump loyalists and Capitol police were also tweeted out by Bloomberg News reporter Erik Wasson. “Armed standoff on House floor. Police pointing guns at protestors who have broken glass door,” Wasson wrote.
Images from inside the Capitol show Trump supporters who breached security inside the Senate chambers standing in the gallery as well as on the Senate floor. Reports at this time have stated that all lawmakers within the building have been moved to secure locations.
As of 3:55 p.m. Eastern Time, President Donald Trump has issued two tweets directly addressing his supporters regarding the unrest inside the Capitol. None of the tweets from the president, however, are asking his supporters to remove themselves from the building to allow the certification process to continue.
A Trump supporter sits in the Senate Chamber on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
“I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence!” Trump wrote. “Remember, WE are the Party of Law & Order – respect the Law and our great men and women in Blue. Thank you!”
Trump had addressed his supporters earlier in the day outside the White House, telling them that he would continue to try and overturn the results of the election. Biden won 306 Electoral College votes in November’s race to Trump’s 232.
Trump also expressed his desire for Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally reject Electoral College votes, a power the vice president doesn’t actually have, according to the Constitution.
Trump supporters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
In a “Dear Colleague” letter made public on Wednesday, Pence refuted Trump, pointedly stating that he cannot do what the president was asking of him.
“Some believe that as Vice President, I should be able to accept or reject electoral votes unilaterally,” Pence said in the document. “Others believe that electoral votes should never be challenged in a Joint Session of Congress. After a careful study of our Constitution, our laws, and our history, I believe neither view is correct.”
Trump supporters enter the Senate Chamber on January 6, 2021, in Washington, D.C.
Following the speech, thousands of Trump’s supporters walked to Capitol Hill, where they attempted to breach several buildings, breaking through several layers of security fencing in the process.
The Madison and Cannon buildings on the Capitol Complex were initially evacuated due to the tumult. Reporters said that some in those buildings were encouraged to use underground tunnels if they had to go somewhere else.
A supporter of President Trump sits inside the office of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi while inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., January 6, 2021.
Some lawmakers appeared to be placing blame on each other, too, for the storming of the Capitol. “This is what you’ve gotten,” Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) reportedly said during the confusion, directing his ire toward Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who had objected to certifying Arizona’s Electoral College votes moments before the Capitol was stormed.
Yet another epidemic wrecks havoc in the nation!By Malavika Menon -January 6, 2021
While India is currently in the thick of things regarding securing vaccines against COVID-19, a new complication has arisen in many of its states — a bird flu epidemic that has taken the lives of many of our local and migratory feathered friends.
Avian influenza, the dreaded virus responsible for the spread of bird flu, has killed nearly 1700 ducks in the districts of Alappuzha and Kottayam in Kerala, 2400 migratory waterbirds in Himachal Pradesh, 250 crows in Rajasthan and almost 400 crows in Madhya Pradesh.
He hadn’t seen anything yet. But this time, Colbert wasn’t sad, he was furious.
The Late Show host once again threw out the jokes Wednesday night, going live on CBS to share his horrified response to the act of violent insurrection earlier in the day fueled by the president’s election lies.
“I really want to do the show we’re about to do,” Colbert began. “And I also really don’t want to do the show. Because lord have mercy, there are some dark topics that we talk about on the show occasionally, but I’ve rarely been as upset as I am tonight.”
Speaking directly to the Republican members of Congress who support Trump, the host asked, “Have you had enough? After five years of coddling this president’s fascist rhetoric, guess whose followers want to burn down the Reichstag?”
“Who could have seen this coming?” Colbert asked. “Everyone! Even dummies like me. This is the most shocking, most tragic, least surprising thing I’ve ever seen. For years now, people have been telling you cowards that if you let the president lie about our democracy over and over and then join him in that lie and say he’s right when you know for a fact that he is not, there will be a terrible price to pay. But you just never thought you’d have to pay it too.”
From there, he singled out Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who was caught on camera “raising your stupid fist to the mob outside the Capitol.” In the first line of the night that could be considered a joke, Colbert said, “It’s like Black Power but the opposite. There really should be a name for that. And obviously he has to keep his fist closed, because if he opened it you’d see all the blood on his hands.”
Then the host took on Fox News. “You think maybe years of peddling his conspiracy theories had anything to do with this?” Colbert asked, mocking the network for claiming its “news” and “opinion” sides are different. Like the “lubricated catheters” they sell during the ad breaks, he said, “You know where you can stick your excuses and you can skip the lubrication.”
Colbert’s even longer than usual monologue continued for another 10 minutes, as he tore into President Trump for claiming to support “law and order” while encouraging his minions to violently overtake the U.S. Capitol building. “For the record, if I said that, I’d be arrested for inciting a riot,” he said. “But of course, you can’t arrest the president… for 15 more days.”
“Now I’ve said before, violence is the last refuge of the incompetent,” Colbert said later. “And if the last four years have taught us anything, it’s that there are a lot of incompetent people in our leadership.”
Looking ahead to 2022, “when all of those Republicans, who, make no mistake, are responsible for what happened today and are running for reelection,” he said, “let’s remember them for who they showed themselves to be today: Cynical cowards who believe the voters should not get to choose who governs this country. Let’s hope the voters prove them all wrong.”
Ashli Babbitt survived eight U.S. military deployments, but the Air Force veteran died Wednesday on a mission in the homeland – an assault on the nation’s Capitol.PauseCurrent Time 0:10/Duration 1:15Loaded: 18.56%Unmute0FullscreenWhat To Know About The Electoral College Certification Amid Riots At Capitol HillClick to expand
U.S. Capitol Police identified Babbitt as the woman who was shot inside the Capitol.
“As protesters were forcing their way toward the House Chamber where Members of Congress were sheltering in place, a sworn USCP employee discharged their service weapon, striking an adult female,” police said Thursday. “Medical assistance was rendered immediately, and the female was transported to the hospital where she later succumbed to her injuries. She has been identified as Ashli Babbitt.”
The Capitol Police employee has been placed on administrative leave and their police powers have been suspended pending the outcome of a joint Metropolitan Police Department and USCP investigation, police said.
Three other people also died Wednesday from medical emergencies, including a man from Greentown, Pennsylvania, a man from Athens, Alabama, and a woman from Kennesaw, Georgia, D.C. police chief Robert Contee III said in a press conference Thursday. It was not immediately clear how they died.
“They were on the grounds of the Capitol when they experienced the medical emergency,” Contee said.
Numerous media outlets named Babbitt, a 35-year-old San Diego woman, late Wednesday, and KSUI-TV quoted her husband saying she had been a staunch Trump supporter and “a great patriot.”
Graphic videos of the shooting show Babbitt wore a Trump flag as a cape as she tried to crawl through a broken window, flanked by other protesters. A single shot rang out, and she fell to the floor bleeding from an apparent neck wound.
Police officers screamed for the crowd to make room and a voice heard on video declared, “Ladies and gentlemen, a lady was just shot. She might be dying right now.”
Messages of grief and mourning poured out on social media after Babbitt’s identity was circulated.
The biographical section of a Twitter account with the user name, Ashli Babbitt, using the display name “CommonSenseAsh,” identifies her as a veteran, a Libertarian, and a Second Amendment supporter.
Online, she was vocal about her backing of Trump and appeared in photographs wearing a red ball cap with the president’s “Make America Great Again” slogan. In September, Babbitt tweeted a photo from a pro-Trump boat parade in San Diego.
On Tuesday, she posted a declaration: “Nothing will stop us….they can try and try and try but the storm is here and it is descending upon DC in less than 24 hours….dark to light!”
That message was in response to a post from another Twitter user who pictured a colonial flag overlaid with “1776 Again” above the words, “Trump is still our president.”
Babbitt’s account also shows many retweets. The last one, posted Wednesday, called for Vice President Mike Pence to resign and face charges of treason; for former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to be arrested and charged as an accessory to murder and treason; and for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to resign.
Members of Babbitt’s family could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Babbitt served in the Air Force under the married name of Ashli Elizabeth McEntee. She served as an enlisted airman in the Air Force, serving on active duty and in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, according to records released Thursday.
She worked as an active duty security forces airman, troops with law enforcement training who protect air bases in the United States and abroad. She served on active duty from April 2004 to April 2008 and deployed to Iraq, according to the records. She received several commendations, including for service in the Global War on Terrorism.
She was in the reserve from 2008 to 2010, and the guard from 2010 to 2016.
An undated news release from Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska pictured Airman Ashli McEntee with her then husband, Sgt. 1st Class Timothy McEntee, after they had adopted her military working dog. Maryland records show the McEntees divorced in 2019.
A Washington, D.C., Air National Guard news release in 2014 listed Senior Airman Ashli McEntee among 30 personnel being sent to southwest Asia. The article noted it was her eighth deployment and identified her as a mentor to others in the 113th Security Forces Squadron.
California business records list Ashli Elizabeth McEntee as owner of Fowler’s Pool Service & Supply, a San Diego County business. A LinkedIn account for Ashli McEntee indicates she took over the company in 2017. Customers praised Ashli and Aaron Babbitt online for their service.
Contributing: Tom Vanden Brook
Dennis Wagner and Grace Hauck, USA TODAY; Melissa Daniels, Desert Sun
The highest part of the weather atmosphere is undergoing some big changes right now. Researchers find that these changes occurring high up in the air eventually transfer to a weather pattern realignment here at the ground.
The stratosphere is around 100,000 feet above the ground. Usually in winter there is a swirling vortex centered over the north pole, with the vortex up in the stratosphere. This is the vortex that most researchers call the Polar Vortex. On Dec. 25, the temperature average in this vortex started to warm. Since then, the temperature around 100,000 feet has warmed 54 degrees Fahrenheit. While…
Date:December 28, 2020Source:Scripps Research InstituteSummary:Chemists have made a discovery that supports a surprising new view of how life originated on our planet. They demonstrated that a simple compound called diamidophosphate (DAP), which was plausibly present on Earth before life arose, could have chemically knitted together tiny DNA building blocks called deoxynucleosides into strands of primordial DNA.Share: FULL STORY
Chemists at Scripps Research have made a discovery that supports a surprising new view of how life originated on our planet.
In a study published in the chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie, they demonstrated that a simple compound called diamidophosphate (DAP), which was plausibly present on Earth before life arose, could have chemically knitted together tiny DNA building blocks called deoxynucleosides into strands of primordial DNA.
The finding is the latest in a series of discoveries, over the past several years, pointing to the possibility that DNA and its close chemical cousin RNA arose together as products of similar chemical reactions, and that the first self-replicating molecules — the first life forms on Earth — were mixes of the two.
The discovery may also lead to new practical applications in chemistry and biology, but its main significance is that it addresses the age-old question of how life on Earth first arose. In particular, it paves the way for more extensive studies of how self-replicating DNA-RNA mixes could have evolved and spread on the primordial Earth and ultimately seeded the more mature biology of modern organisms.
“This finding is an important step toward the development of a detailed chemical model of how the first life forms originated on Earth,” says study senior author Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, PhD, associate professor of chemistry at Scripps Research.
The finding also nudges the field of origin-of-life chemistry away from the hypothesis that has dominated it in recent decades: The “RNA World” hypothesis posits that the first replicators were RNA-based, and that DNA arose only later as a product of RNA life forms.
Is RNA too sticky?
Krishnamurthy and others have doubted the RNA World hypothesis in part because RNA molecules may simply have been too “sticky” to serve as the first self-replicators.
A strand of RNA can attract other individual RNA building blocks, which stick to it to form a sort of mirror-image strand — each building block in the new strand binding to its complementary building block on the original, “template” strand. If the new strand can detach from the template strand, and, by the same process, start templating other new strands, then it has achieved the feat of self-replication that underlies life.
But while RNA strands may be good at templating complementary strands, they are not so good at separating from these strands. Modern organisms make enzymes that can force twinned strands of RNA — or DNA — to go their separate ways, thus enabling replication, but it is unclear how this could have been done in a world where enzymes didn’t yet exist.
A chimeric workaround
Krishnamurthy and colleagues have shown in recent studies that “chimeric” molecular strands that are part DNA and part RNA may have been able to get around this problem, because they can template complementary strands in a less-sticky way that permits them to separate relatively easily.
The chemists also have shown in widely cited papers in the past few years that the simple ribonucleoside and deoxynucleoside building blocks, of RNA and DNA respectively, could have arisen under very similar chemical conditions on the early Earth.
Moreover, in 2017 they reported that the organic compound DAP could have played the crucial role of modifying ribonucleosides and stringing them together into the first RNA strands. The new study shows that DAP under similar conditions could have done the same for DNA.
“We found, to our surprise, that using DAP to react with deoxynucleosides works better when the deoxynucleosides are not all the same but are instead mixes of different DNA ‘letters’ such as A and T, or G and C, like real DNA,” says first author Eddy Jiménez, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in the Krishnamurthy lab.
“Now that we understand better how a primordial chemistry could have made the first RNAs and DNAs, we can start using it on mixes of ribonucleoside and deoxynucleoside building blocks to see what chimeric molecules are formed — and whether they can self-replicate and evolve,” Krishnamurthy says.
He notes that the work may also have broad practical applications. The artificial synthesis of DNA and RNA — for example in the “PCR” technique that underlies COVID-19 tests — amounts to a vast global business, but depends on enzymes that are relatively fragile and thus have many limitations. Robust, enzyme-free chemical methods for making DNA and RNA may end up being more attractive in many contexts, Krishnamurthy says.make a difference: sponsored opportunityhttps://action.publicgood.com/embed.html?partner_id=sciencedaily&utm_source=sciencedaily&title=Discovery%20boosts%20theory%20that%20life%20on%20Earth%20arose%20from%20RNA-DNA%20mix%3A%20Newly%20described%20chemical%20reaction%20could%20have%20assembled%20DNA%20building%20blocks%20before%20life%20forms%20and%20their%20enzymes%20existed&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedaily.com%2Freleases%2F2020%2F12%2F201228095428.htm&utm_content=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencedaily.com%2Freleases%2F2020%2F12%2F201228095428.htm&widget_type=card&action=Default&is_flex=true&match_type=terms&content_id=13885177&cid_match_type=regex&tag=coronavirus%20~%20unsponsored%20first%20responders%20variant%20terms%20match&target_id=a5b62d04-991b-4b01-a285-9a499e519227&target_type=campaign&is_filter=true&url_id=25771184&parent_org=sciencedaily&target_name=Support%20%20First%20Responders%20and%20Health%20Care%20Workers%20During%20Coronavirus&is_sponsored=false&sponsor_name=
Ramanarayanan Krishnamurthy, Eddy I. Jiménez, Clémentine Gibard. Prebiotic Phosphorylation and Concomitant Oligomerization of Deoxynucleosides to form DNA. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 2020; DOI: 10.1002/anie.202015910
Aug. 30, 2018 — How did life arise on Earth? Researchers have found among the first and perhaps only hard evidence that simple protein catalysts — essential for cells, the building blocks of life, to function — …
Apr. 25, 2016 — The crucibles that bore out building blocks of life may have been, in many cases, not fiery cataclysms, but modest puddles. Researchers working with that hypothesis have achieved a significant …
Jan. 12, 2016 — Cell survival depends on having a plentiful and balanced pool of the four chemical building blocks that make up DNA. However, if too many of these components pile up, or if their usual ratio is ..
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