Podcasts about Project Dragonfly

Welcome to a Bonus Pelecanus episode where we highlight the 2024 recipient of our Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship, Emily Summers, a graduate student with Project Dragonfly. Emily has done great work already and we're very proud to award her this scholarship. Carrie R. Wilson was a staple of the community of San Diego for the last 50+ years. Carrie believed in community inspiration through direct and intentional action. Pelecanus would never have come to fruition without Carrie, and the same can be said for so many people throughout San Diego. As the Dean of Students of the University of San Diego Law School, she was able to make a lasting impact on thousands of students' lives. Carrie asked us to let anyone looking to honor her memory know that she hopes they would make a "heartfelt gift to make the world a better place." She simply hoped for her legacy to be one of paying it forward. We aim to award this scholarship to students who embody the Pelecanus mission of demonstrating optimism through science and align with Carrie R. Wilson's passion for education, charity and service. The Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship will be open for applications for project dragonfly students again in the Spring of 2025, check our Pelecanus.org scholarship page for more information. Pelecanus is a 501C3 non-profit organization that takes tax deductible donations. You will also find a link to the donate button on our website if you'd like to contribute to the Carrie Wilson memorial programs or to Pelecanus in general. Host and producer: Austin Parker Music: A Picture Book Studios

Belize Zoo/ Birds ambience — Strap in for 30 minutes of chattering Central American Parrots et al. This recording is from the heart of the Belize Zoo near the parrots. It was captured by my biologist sister, Dr. April Blakeslee, an instructor for Miami University's Project Dragonfly, which works with the Belize Zoo. The program promotes “environmental stewardship” while working “across diverse ecological and social settings.”  

This episode of Conservation Conversations we Talk with Sanjana Ramesh, a Project Dragonfly student and WWF employee. We talk about conservation in India, the organizations she's started and the work she looks to do this summer while studying in india. Enjoy our conversation with sanjana! Please check out @dc_saeg on instgram to see how you can help. Hosts is Austin Parker Producer is Austin Parker Music was provided by A Picture Book studio Don't forget to like comment and subscribe if you want to help We'll talk to you next time! This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Biodiversity Africa's Atlantic Humpback Dolphins Win U.S. Endangered Species Protection https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/africas-atlantic-humpback-dolphins-win-us-endangered-species-protection-2024-02-20/ Legislation Bolivian Town Protects 1 Million Acres of Amazon Rainforest–Building a ‘Conservation Mosaic' of 90% Forests https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/bolivian-town-protects-1-million-acres-of-amazon-rainforest-building-a-conservation-mosaic-of-90-forests/ European Union takes historic step with Nature Restoration Law pioneering Europe restoration efforts https://www.ser.org/news/666023/ This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

On this episode of our Conservation Conversations series with the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach CA, we're moving a bit inland… we talk to Erin Lundy of the Aquarium about their programs to conserve the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog! Erin shares her experience working on recovering this important southern California amphibian and also why they are so important. Thank you to Erin for talking all about what the Aquarium of the Pacific is doing to help the Mountain Yellow Legged Frog and so much more. This concludes our series with the Aquarium of the Pacific. We can't thank them enough for letting us into their facilities and showing us the amazing work they do. Please either visit AoP when you're in town or consider donating to help them recover local wildlife and habitats. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ to see how you can help. Hosts is Austin Parker Producers are Austin and Taylor Parker and Madeline Walden Music was provided by A Picture Book studio Don't forget to like comment and subscribe if you want to help! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved

Looks like this podcast wasn't ever released due to a technical difficulty... Here's the NEWS from February 1st! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Rewilding "Scientific Breakthrough May Save Northern White Rhino Through Surrogacy" https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/01/24/white-rhino-embryo-surrogacy/ Critically Endangered Javan Lorises Released In Indonesian Jungle https://www.manilatimes.net/2024/01/25/videos/endangered-javan-lorises-released-in-indonesian-jungle/1929632 In Bhutan, the endangered Bengal tiger is making a comeback https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/bhutan-endangered-bengal-tiger-making-comeback This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Drawdown US Carbon emissions fell in 2023 as coal use tumbled to new lows https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/10/climate/us-emissions-down-in-2023-rhodium/index.html Wild Rivers Water is freely flowing down the Klamath River for the first time in 100 years https://www.iflscience.com/water-is-freely-flowing-down-the-klamath-river-for-first-time-in-100-years-72520 Rewilding Giant tortoises have returned to Madagascar 600 years after they were wiped out https://theconversation.com/madagascar-giant-tortoises-have-returned-600-years-after-they-were-wiped-out-221615 Zoo welcomes newest addition to rare, endangered species: a baby pygmy slow loris https://www.wafb.com/2024/01/31/zoo-welcomes-newest-addition-rare-endangered-species-baby-pygmy-slow-loris/k This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

On this episode of Conservation Conversations we talk to Lauren Samarov of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach CA about their programs to conserve White Abalone! Lauren shares so many stories of working on recovering this important marine snail population. Enjoy our conversation with Lauren! Thank you to Lauren for talking all about what AOP is doing to help the white abalone and so much more. Please either visit AoP when you're in town or consider donating to help them recover local wildlife and habitats. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ to see how you can help. Hosts and Producers are Austin and Taylor Parker Producer is Madeline Walden Music was provided by A Picture Book studio This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Drawdown Two Large Offshore Wind Sites Sending Power To Us Grid For The First Time https://apnews.com/article/offshore-wind-farm-vineyard-wind-massachusetts-climate-3c0bcd680bfa5c5bea7d8136a003cf6c EPA announces $1 billion in grant funding for electric school buses https://electrek.co/2024/01/08/epa-announces-1-billion-in-grant-funding-electric-school-buses/ Wildlife "Seagrass Resurgence Offers Ray Of Hope For Florida's Hard-Hit Manatees" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/04/manatees-florida-seagrass-endangered?ref=upstract.com Humpbacks Rebound in 20th-Century Whaling Hotspot https://hakaimagazine.com/news/humpbacks-rebound-in-20th-century-whaling-hotspot/ Legal Supreme Court rejects Pebble mine, climate and water cases https://www.eenews.net/articles/supreme-court-rejects-pebble-mine-climate-and-water-cases/ This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Rewilding Colorado Releases First 5 Wolves In Reintroduction Plan Approved By Voters https://www.9news.com/article/life/animals/colorado-releases-5-wolves-reintroduction-plan-ranchers/73-57d444cd-224b-4e29-9672-88f461ac9edd LDWF's whooping crane program adds four more birds to population https://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/news/ldwfs-whooping-crane-program-adds-four-more-birds-to-population Celebration Endangered Species Act turns 50: 'First Bill of Rights for species other than humans' https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/28/endangered-species-act-turns-50-landmark-law-reaches-key-anniversary/71987562007/ Water Calif. OKs New Rules For Turning Wastewater Directly Into Drinking Water https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/california-set-become-2nd-state-rules-turning-wastewater-105765867 Protection "Biden Moves To Ban Most Old-Growth Logging In National Forests" https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/biden-moves-to-ban-most-old-growth-logging-in-national-forests/ar-AA1lJ0Ha This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

On this episode of Conservation Conversations we talk to JJ Soski of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA about their programs to conserve Kelp in CA! JJ shares so many stories of working on keeping these crucial species around on the California coastline and much more! Thank you to JJ for talking all about what AOP is doing to help Kelp and the CA coastline and so much more. Please either visit AoP when you're in town or consider donating to help them recover local wildlife and habitats. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ to see how you can help. Hosts and Producers are Austin and Taylor Parker Producer is Madeline Walden Music was provided by A Picture Book studio This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Drawdown "Over 60 Countries Back Deal To Triple Renewable Energy This Decade" https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/over-60-countries-back-deal-triple-renewable-energy-this-decade-officials-2023-11-10/ Plastic Pollution New York Cites PepsiCo's Plastic Pollution In First-Of-Its-Kind Lawsuit https://grist.org/accountability/new-york-calls-pepsicos-plastic-pollution-a-public-nuisance-in-first-of-its-kind-lawsuit/ Wildlife Facing an uncertain future, 70 endangered yellow-legged frogs released in California lake https://sandiegozoowildlifealliance.org/pr/MountainYellowLeggedFrogRelease2023 A critically endangered Sumatran rhino named Delilah successfully gives birth in Indonesia https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/critically-endangered-sumatran-rhino-named-delilah-successfully-gives-rcna126818?cid=sm_npd_nn_tw_ma&taid=6564e041b51a5b0001a51848&utm_campaign=trueanthem&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter&fbclid=IwAR3LteQ1DZnGTPPukzqSCKDIIU1HmmEr21WgzM4lVK_b73NxlsZ606fLg4g "Dominica Set To Open World's First Reserve Centered Around Sperm Whales" https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/13/caribbean-dominica-whale-reserve This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

On this episode of Conservation Conversations we talk to Jenifer Burney of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach CA about Sea Stars! Jen shares all of her stories of working on restoring a long imperiled species of Sea Star on the California coastline and much more. Please either visit AoP when you're in town or consider donating to help them recover local wildlife and habitats. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ to see how you can help. Hosts and Producers are Austin and Taylor Parker Producer is Madeline Walden Music was provided by A Picture Book studio This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Rewilding Endangered bird hatched in Houston Zoo, first for species in North America https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/energy-environment/animals/2023/11/13/469407/endangered-bird-hatched-in-houston-zoo-first-for-species-in-north-america/ Two Channel Islands Plants Removed from Endangered Species List - The Santa Barbara https://keyt.com/news/santa-barbara-s-county/2023/11/06/two-plant-species-unique-to-channel-islands-removed-from-endangered-list-after-recovery/ Deforestation Deforestation In Brazil's Amazon Falls To Lowest Since 2018 https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/deforestation-brazils-amazon-drops-223-year-through-july-2023-11-09/ This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Welcome to Pelecanus Deep Dives, where we take a headline from a recent Pelecanus NEWS episode and take a deep dive, just like a pelican, into the article and try and explain some of the more technical, nuanced, or maybe complex ideas of the story to help us all better understand our world. In this episode, our host Harrison Parker, PhD., talks about Keystone species as it relates to the Conservation Conversations episode with the Aquarium of the Pacific's Megan Smylie about their Sea Otter surrogacy program that originally aired on October 19th, 2023. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org Host for this episode is Harrison Parker, Producers are Harrison and Austin Parker. Music was provided by A Picture Book Studios This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. References: Video on Yellowstone wolves: https://www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/wolf-reintroduction-changes-ecosystem/ https://www.csustan.edu/sites/default/files/groups/McNair%20Scholars%20Program/20192020Journals/pitts_taylor.pdf https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/The%20keystone%20species%20role%20of%20the%20sea%20otter%2007302021.pdf https://www.coastalresearchcenter.ucsb.edu/cmi/seaotters.html https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/role-keystone-species-ecosystem/ https://www.fws.gov/story/2022-09/sea-otters-are-unlikely-helpers-our-fight-against-climate-change https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maritime_fur_trade https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/conservation/research/southern_sea_otters https://www.pinterest.com/pin/788130003513324931/ https://ocean.org/blog/trophic-levels-part-1/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keystone_%28architecture%29 https://oregonmarinereserves.com/2019/10/24/urchins/ https://news.virginia.edu/content/study-finds-kelp-key-californias-coastal-ecosystems https://www.marinemammalcenter.org/animal-care/learn-about-marine-mammals/pinnipeds/california-sea-lion https://plannersweb.com/2006/07/enticements-needed-to-woo-the-public/pizza-delivery-large-stack-square/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphaerechinus_granularis https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/stories/the-feel-good-science-behind-sea-otter-surrogacy https://ny.eater.com/2015/1/23/7876987/pasquale-cozzolino-makes-an-uni-pizza-with-fire-and-ice-at-prova https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/conservation/sustainability_for_all https://www.esa.org/blog/2014/08/climate-change-predators-and-the-trickle-down-effects-on-ecosystems/

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! Protected Areas $300 Million Conservation Financing Mechanism for New Protected Areas Established in BC! https://news.gov.bc.ca/releases/2023FOR0061-001662 US Fish & Wildlife proposes huge new conservation area in Southwest Florida https://www.wfit.org/environment-and-science/2023-10-24/fish-and-wildlife-service-proposes-a-sprawling-conservation-area-in-the-everglades-watershed Rewilding First Successful Captive Birth Of Endangered Sawfish Species At SeaWorld https://www.forbes.com/sites/melissacristinamarquez/2023/10/22/first-successful-captive-birth-of-endangered-sawfish-species-at-seaworld/?sh=68073c3524c3 Drawdown California to get up to $1.2 billion in federal funds to expand hydrogen energy projects https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/10/13/california-selected-as-a-national-hydrogen-hub/ Port of Long Beach aims to restore ocean habitat when it builds a massive wind turbine facility https://lbpost.com/news/port-of-long-beach-aims-to-restore-ocean-habitat-when-it-builds-a-massive-wind-turbine-facility/ This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

On this episode of Conservation Conversations we talk to Megan Smylie of the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach CA. Megan works with Sea Otters! She talks about the programs that the Aquarium of the Pacific and their partners are undertaking to recover the Sea Otters of the California coastline. Enjoy our conversation with Megan and check out the youtube version or social media for videos and photos of our day at the aquarium with these adorable otters!. Please either visit the Aquarium when you're in town or consider donating to help them recover local wildlife and their habitats. Visit them at https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/ to see how you can help. Hosts and Producers are Austin and Taylor Parker Producer is Madeline Walden Music was provided by A Picture Book studio Don't forget to like comment and subscribe if you want to help us out This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu.

Welcome to a Bonus Pelecanus episode where we highlight the 2023 recipient of our Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship, Valeria Hernandez, a graduate student with Project Dragonfly from Houston, TX. Valeria is an everyday conservation hero that the world needs and we are so grateful for everything she does and were glad to award her this scholarship. Carrie R. Wilson was a staple of the community of San Diego for the last 50+ years. Carrie believed in community inspiration through direct and intentional action. Pelecanus would never have come to fruition without Carrie, and the same can be said for so many people throughout San Diego. As the Dean of Students of the University of San Diego Law School, she was able to make a lasting impact on thousands of students' lives. Carrie asked us to let anyone looking to honor her memory know that she hopes they would make a "heartfelt gift to make the world a better place." She simply hoped for her legacy to be one of paying it forward. We aim to award this scholarship to students who embody the Pelecanus mission of demonstrating optimism through science and align with Carrie R. Wilson's passion for education, charity and service. The Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship will be open for applications for project dragonfly students again in the Spring of 2023, check our Pelecanus.org scholarship page for more information. Pelecanus is a 501C3 non-profit organization that takes tax deductible donations. You will also find a link to the donate button on our website if you'd like to contribute to the Carrie Wilson memorial programs or to Pelecanus in general. Music: A Picture Book Studios

A version of this essay has been published by Open Magazine at https://openthemagazine.com/essays/the-new-knowledge-war/Generative AI, as exemplified by chatGPT from Microsoft/OpenAI and Bard from Google, is probably the hottest new technology of 2023. Its ability has mesmerised consumers to provide answers to all sorts of questions, as well as to create readable text or poetry and images with universal appeal. These generative AI products purport to model the human brain (‘neural networks') and are ‘trained' on large amounts of text and images from the Internet. Large Language Models or ‘LLMs' are the technical term for the tools underlying generative AI. They use probabilistic statistical models to predict words in a sequence or generate images based on user input. For most practical purposes, this works fine. However, in an earlier column in Open Magazine, “Artificial Intelligence is like Allopathy”, we pointed out that in both cases, statistical correlation is being treated by users as though it were causation. In other words, just because two things happened together, you can't assume one caused the other. This flaw can lead to completely wrong or misleading results in some cases: the so-called ‘AI hallucination'. To test our hypothesis, we asked chatGPT to summarise that column. It substantially covered most points, but surprisingly, though, it completely ignored the term ‘Ayurveda', although we had used it several times in the text to highlight ‘theory of disease'. This is thought-provoking, because it implies that in the vast corpus of data that chatGPT trained on, there is nothing about Ayurveda.The erasure of Indic knowledgeEpistemology is the study of knowledge itself: how we acquire it, and the relationship between knowledge and truth. There is a persistent concern that Indic knowledge systems are severely under-represented or mis-represented in epistemology in the Anglosphere. Indian intellectual property is ‘digested', to use Rajiv Malhotra's evocative term.For that matter, India does not receive credit for innovations such as Indian numerals (misnamed Arabic numerals), vaccination (attributed to the British, though there is evidence of prior knowledge among Bengali vaidyas), or the infinite series for mathematical functions such as pi or sine (ascribed to Europeans, though Madhava of Sangamagrama discovered them centuries earlier).The West (notably, the US) casually captures and repackages it even today. Meditation is rebranded as ‘mindfulness', and the Huberman Lab at Stanford calls Pranayama ‘cyclic sighing'. A few years ago, the attempts of the US to patent basmati rice and turmeric were foiled by the provision of ‘prior art', such as the Hortus Malabaricus, written in 1676 about the medicinal plants of the Western Ghats. Judging by current trends, Wikipedia, and presumably Google, LinkedIn, and other text repositories, are not only bereft of Indian knowledge, but also full of anti-Indian and specifically anti-Hindu disinformation. Any generative AI relying on this ‘poisoned' 'knowledge base' will, predictably, produce grossly inaccurate output. This has potentially severe consequences: considering that Sanskrit, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali (and non-Latin scripts) etc. are underrepresented on the Internet, generative AI models will not learn or generate text from these languages. For all intents and purposes, Indic knowledge will disappear from the discourse. These issues will exacerbate the bias against non-English speakers, who will not think about their identity or culture, reducing diversity and killing innovation.More general problems with epistemology: bias, data poisoning and AI hallucinationsGenerative AI models are trained on massive datasets of text and code. This means they are susceptible to inherent biases. A case in point: if a dataset is biased against non-white females, then the generative AI model will be more likely to generate text that is also biased against non-white women. Additionally, malicious actors can poison generative AI models by injecting false or misleading data into the training dataset. For example, a coordinated effort to introduce anti-India biases into Wikipedia articles (in fact this is the case today) will produce output that is notably biased.  An example of this is a query about Indian democracy to Google Bard: it produced a result that suggested this is a Potemkin construct (i.e., one that is merely a facade); Hindu nationalism and tight control of the media “which has become increasingly partisan and subservient to the government” were highlighted as concerns. This is straight from ‘toolkits', which have poisoned the dataset and are helped, in part, by US hegemonic economic dominance. More subtly, generative AI models are biased towards Western norms and values (or have a US-centric point of view). For example, the Body Mass Index (BMI), a measure of body fat, has been used in Western countries to determine obesity, but is a poor measure for the Indian population, as we tend to have a higher percentage of body fat than our Western counterparts. An illustration of AI hallucination came to the fore from an India Today story entitled "Lawyer faces problems after using ChatGPT for research. AI tool comes up with fake cases that never existed." It reported how a lawyer who used ChatGPT-generated precedents had his case dismissed because the court found the references were fabricated by AI. Similar risks in the medical field for patient treatment will be exacerbated if algorithms are trained on non-curated datasets. While these technologies promise access to communication, language itself becomes a barrier. For instance, due to the dominant prevalence of English literature, a multilingual model might link the word dove with peace, but the Basque word for dove (‘uso') is used as a slur. Many researchers have encountered the limitations of these LLMs, for other languages like Spanish or Japanese. ChatGPT struggles to mix languages fluently in the same utterance, such as English and Tamil, despite claims of 'superhuman' performance. The death of Intellectual Property RightsIntellectual property rights are a common concern. Already, generative AIs can produce exact copies (tone and tenor) of creative works by certain authors (for example, J K Rowling's Harry Potter series). This is also true of works of art. Two things are happening in the background: any copyright inherent in these works has been lost, and creators will cease to create original works for lack of incentives (at least according to current intellectual property theory). A recent Japanese decision to ignore copyrights in datasets used for AI training (from the blog technomancers.ai, “Japan Goes All In: Copyright Doesn't Apply to AI Training”) is surprisingly bold for that nation, which moves cautiously by consensus. The new Japanese law allows AI to use any data “regardless of whether it is for non-profit or commercial purposes, whether it is an act other than reproduction, or whether it is content obtained from illegal sites or otherwise.” Other governments will probably follow suit. This is a land-grab or a gold rush: India cannot afford to sit on the sidelines.India has dithered on a strict Data Protection Bill, which would mandate Indian data to be held locally; indirectly, it would stem the cavalier capture and use of Indian copyright. The Implications are chilling; in the absence of economic incentives, nobody will bother to create new works of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, music, film, or art. New fiction and art produced by generative AI will be Big Brother-like. All that we would be left with as a civilisation will be increasingly perfect copies of extant works: Perfect but soulless. The end of creativity may mean the end of human civilisation.With AIs doing ‘creation', will people even bother? Maybe individual acts of creation, but then they still need the distribution channels so that they reach the public. In the past in India, kings or temples supported creative geniuses while they laboured over their manuscripts, and perhaps this will be the solution: State sponsorship for creators.Indian Large Language Models: too few yet, while others are moving aheadDiverse datasets will reduce bias and ensure equitable Indic representation to address the concerns about generative AI. Another way is to use more rigorous training methods to reduce the risk of data poisoning and AI hallucinations.Progressive policy formulations, without hampering technological developments, are needed for safe and responsible use to govern the use of LLM's across disciplines, while addressing issues of copyright infringement and epistemological biases. Of course, there is the question of creating ‘guardrails': some experts call for a moratorium, or strict controls, on the growth of generative AI systems. We must be alive to its geopolitical connotations, as well. The Chinese approach to comprehensive data-collection is what cardiologists refer to as a ‘coronary steal phenomenon': one segment of an already well-perfused heart ‘steals' from another segment to its detriment. The Chinese, for lack of better word, plunder (and leech) data while actively denying market access to foreign companies. Google attempted to stay on in China with Project Dragonfly, while Amazon, Meta, Twitter were forced to exit the market. Meanwhile, ByteDance, owner of TikTok, is trying to obscure its CCP ties by moving to a 'neutral jurisdiction' in Singapore, while siphoning off huge amounts of user data from Europe and the US (and wherever else it operates) for behavioural targeting and capturing personal level data, including from children and young adults. The societal implications of the mental health 'epidemic' (depression, low self-esteem, and suicide) remain profound and seem like a reversal of the Opium Wars the West had unleashed on China. India can avoid Chinese exclusivism by keeping open access to data flows while insisting on data localisation. The Chinese have upped the ante. Reuters reported that “Chinese organisations have launched 79 AI large language models since 2020”, citing a report from their Ministry of Science and Technology. Many universities, especially in Southeast Asia, are creating new data sets to address the spoken dialects. West Asia, possibly realizing the limitations of “peak-oil”, have thrown their hat in the ring. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) claims to have created the world's “first capable, commercially viable open-source general-purpose LLM, which beats all Big Tech LLMs”. According to the UAE's Technology Innovation Institute, the Falcon 40B is not only royalty free, but also outperforms “Meta's LLaMA and Stability AI's StableLM”. This suggests that different countries recognise the importance of investing resources to create software platforms and ecosystems for technological dominance. This is a matter of national security and industrial policy.“We have no moat” changes everything: welcome to tiny LLMsChiranjivi from IIT Bombay, IndiaBERT from IIT Delhi and Tarang from IIT Madras are a few LLMs from India. India needs to get its act together to bring out many more LLMs: these can focus on, and be trained on, specialised datasets representing specific domains, for instance, that can avoid data poisoning. The Ministries concerned should provide support, guidance, and funding. The obstacle has been the immense hardware and training requirements: GPT-3, the earlier generation LLM, required 16,384 Nvidia chips at a cost of over $100 million. Furthermore, it took almost a year to train the model with 500 billion words, at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars. There was a natural assumption: the larger the data set, the better the result with ‘emergent' intelligence. This sheer scale of investments was considered beyond Indian purview. A remarkable breakthrough was revealed in a leaked internal Google memo, timed with Bard's release, titled "We have no moat, and neither does OpenAI," a veritable bombshell. It spoke about Meta's open sourcing its algorithmic platform, LLaMA, and implications for generative AI research.  Although there is no expert consensus, the evidence suggests smaller datasets can produce results almost as good as the large datasets.This caused a flutter among the cognoscenti. Despite Meta releasing its crown jewels for a wider audience (developers), there was an uptick in its stock value, despite failures in its multiple pivots beyond social media. To understand this better, Geoffrey Hinton, the ‘godfather' of deep learning, explains in detail: All large language model (LLM) copies can learn separately, but share their knowledge instantly. That's how chatbots know more than an average person. The performance trajectory of different LLM's has skyrocketed; for example, consider this: Using LLaMa as a base, researchers were able to quickly (in weeks) and cheaply (a few $100) produce Alpaca and Vicuna that, despite having fewer parameters, compete well with Google's and openAI's models. The graph shows that the answers from their chatbots are comparable in quality (per GPT-4). A fine-tuning technique called LoRA (Low Rank Adoption) is the secret behind this advance.This abruptly levels the playing field. Open-source models can be quickly scaled and run on even laptops and phones! Hardware is no longer a constraint. Let a thousand Indian LLMs bloom!  The way forwardGiven the astonishing amounts being invested by venture capitalists and governments in generative AI, there will be an explosion in startup activity. There are already a few in India, such as Gan, Kroopai, Peppertype.ai, Rephrase.ai, TrueFoundry, and Cube. Still, TechCrunch quoted Sanford Bernstein analysts who painted a gloomy picture: “While there are over 1500 AI-based startups in India with over $4 billion of funding, India is still losing the AI innovation battle”. Without exaggeration, it can be argued that this is an existential threat for India, and needs to be addressed on a war-footing. The AIforBharat initiative at IIT Madras is a start, but much more is needed. A sharply focused set of policies and regulations needs to be implemented by the government immediately that will both prevent the plunder of our intellectual property and data, and also encourage the creation of large numbers of models that make good use of Indian ingenuity and Indic knowledge.2245 words, 4 June 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" as well as Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Conservation Areas Canada Adds Federal Protection To Indigenous-Declared Marine Refuge https://thenarwhal.ca/bc-marine-refuge-rare-corals/ China designates conservation area for Beijing Central Axis https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-02-01/China-designates-conservation-area-for-Beijing-Central-Axis-1h42TdiZgmk/index.html Wildlife Monarch butterfly population reaches highest number in decades https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/monarch-populations-rebound-but-its-still-a-long-journey-to-recovery/ Critically Endangered Horse Species Born to Surrogate Using Cloned DNA https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/critically-endangered-species-horse-born-225355397.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZWNvc2lhLm9yZy8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKN3rdSC34zQBclXXhzTeAvmr4lpPNjs6jlD7iaeteIdciMy1Fq8nI0U4x4BlRZ8rTkwiXqt3tO98tA8gRiJE1VciCu1YMClSUP5gx3tuVx-m4_MSSsmv-xZaHduxxe-w6zKfs7TPSSLi0vqsGjCXJEd7hisu-CZ3fCsTF6xNV5g Drawdown "Maine Regulators Allow Wind, Utility Project To Move Forward" https://apnews.com/article/maine-state-government-massachusetts-business-climate-and-environment-e205650e8a16875636a041221e834cd0 "E.P.A. Bans Disposal of Mine Waste in Bristol Bay" https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/31/climate/pebble-mine-epa-decision.html?action=click&module=Well&pgtype=Homepage§ion=US%20News

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with Reverse the Red called "The Possibilists" as well as Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Wildlife New museum in Mexico spotlights endangered axolotl salamander https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/science/new-museum-mexico-spotlights-endangered-axolotl-salamander-2023-01-26/ San Clemente Island Bell's Sparrow Flies Off Endangered Species List https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/san-clemente-island-bells-sparrow-flies-off-endangered-species-list-2023-01-24/ Endangered Sierra Nevada red fox discovered in national park https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/endangered-fox-seen-california-park-17742033.php Drawdown Renewables Soon To Be One-Fourth of US Electricity Generation https://insideclimatenews.org/news/19012023/inside-clean-energy-us-renewables-generation/ A Golden Solution to Pollution? Scientists Have Developed a New Method of Reducing Carbon Dioxide https://scitechdaily.com/a-golden-solution-to-pollution-scientists-have-developed-a-new-method-of-reducing-carbon-dioxide/

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with The Smithsonian's Earth Optimism "The Possibilists" and our new Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Drawdown Germany generated a historical amount of electricity from wind energy this week https://www.greenmatters.com/renewables/germany-wind-energy Korean Solar Company Plans to Build $2.5 Billion Plant in Georgia https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/korean-firm-plans-25b-new-solar-panel-plants-96358836 Wildlife Oregon Zoo awarded $2 million to help California condors https://www.oregonzoo.org/news/2022/12/zoo-awarded-2-million-help-save-california-condors Healing UN Says Ozone Layer Slowly Healing - Hole To Mend By 2066 https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ozone-layer-slowly-healing-hole-mend-2066-96313492

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with The Smithsonian's Earth Optimism "The Possibilists" and our new Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Wildlife World's Most Endangered Species: 2 Young Javan Rhinos Seen in Indonesia National Park https://www.natureworldnews.com/articles/54719/20221224/worlds-endangered-species-2-young-javan-rhinos-seen-indonesia-national.htm Legal Victory: Court Rules EPA's Registration of Bee-Killing Insecticide Unlawful https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/legal-victory-court-rules-epas-registration-of-bee-killing-insecticide-unlawful-citing-failure-to-assess-risks-to-endangered-species-2022-12-21/ Nearly every country signs on to a sweeping deal to protect nature https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html Brazil's Lula picks Amazon defender for environment minister https://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/brazils-lula-picks-amazon-defender-environment-minister-95930581 Tech New technology could tap into a virtually limitless supply of fresh water https://www.sciencealert.com/new-technology-could-tap-into-a-virtually-limitless-supply-of-fresh-water Biotech chestnut tree poised to restore lost ecosystems and biodiversity https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2022/12/22/biotech-chestnut-tree-poised-to-restore-lost-ecosystems-and-biodiversity-but-it-needs-your-help/ 3M to phase out ‘forever chemicals' in 2 years https://www.cbsnews.com/news/3m-pfas-end-production-forever-chemicals/

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with The Smithsonian's Earth Optimism "The Possibilists" and our new Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Drawdown DOE National Laboratory Makes History by Achieving Fusion Ignition https://www.energy.gov/articles/doe-national-laboratory-makes-history-achieving-fusion-ignition World Will Gain Enough Renewable Energy In 5 Years To Power China, Says IEA https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/06/energy/iea-renewable-energy-turning-point/index.html Wildlife A Town in Washington Recognizes the Rights of Southern Resident Orcas https://insideclimatenews.org/news/06122022/rights-of-nature-southern-resident-orcas/ 36 new Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) approved! https://iucn.org/story/202211/36-new-important-marine-mammal-areas-immas-approved Indigenous rights Trudeau announces $800M for Indigenous-led conservation initiatives https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-conservation-protetion-cree-inuit-firstnations-1.6677350

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All our podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with The Smithsonian's Earth Optimism "The Possibilists" and our new Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Water conservation China's water conservation investment exceeding 900 billion yuan in Jan-Oct, a record high https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202211/1279390.shtml Policy Decisions "In a First, Rich Countries Agree to Pay for Climate Damages in Poor Nations" https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/climate/un-climate-damage-cop27.html EU agrees to increase carbon removals https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/news/european-green-deal-eu-agrees-increase-carbon-removals-through-land-use-forestry-agriculture_en Wildlife "'Landmark Vote' Gives Boost To Threatened Sharks" https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63670072 Record number of species to be regulated by CITES after CoP19 https://cites.org/eng/news/record-number-of-species-to-be-regulated-by-cites-after-cop19 Feds to study bringing back endangered grizzly bears in Washington state https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/11/12/grizzly-bears-washington-cascades-restoration/

In this episode of Conservation Conversations we talk with Alex Wells and Derek Cossaboon of the Denver Zoo about Boreal Toad conservation in the Rocky Mountains. In collaboration with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, Denver Zoo is taking two conservation actions to bring boreal toads back from the brink, a Breeding + Release program as well as a Community Science program to get the community involved in saving this species. https://denverzoo.org/boreal-toad-conservation-team/ Thank you so much for tuning in, enjoy our conversation with Alex and Derek! Host and producer for this episode is Austin Parker Music was provided by A Picture Book Studios Photos provided by Denver Zoo, credit to Jenna Dockweiler, Kristi Odom, Rylee Borellis, Stefan Ekernas This episode is brought to you in part by our sponsor Tidal Influence, a Californian ecological consulting firm who proudly supports environmental education and all of the diverse conservation efforts that Pelecanus works to highlight. Visit their website at www.tidalinfluence.com to learn more about what they do to conserve our coastal resources and how you can get involved This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at https://projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu

Check out these awesome headlines from the last few weeks! All podcasts can be found at Pelecanus.org, iTunes, Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher, Amazon Podcasts, and Google Podcasts. Long form podcasts including our series with The Smithsonian's Earth Optimism "The Possibilists" and Pelecanus Deep Dives can also be found on YouTube! This podcast is sponsored by Project Dragonfly, a master's degree program offered by Miami University dedicated to ecological and social change. Project Dragonfly offers a part-time Master of Arts in Biology degree, focused on conservation, or a Master of Arts in Teaching for teachers. The program is designed for working professionals and can be completed from anywhere in the United States. Learn more at https://projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu. Regeneration Endangered species: More than 6000 baby turtles are released in Peru https://phys.org/news/2022-10-baby-turtles-peru.html Mangrove forest loss is slowing toward a halt, new report shows https://news.mongabay.com/2022/11/mangrove-forest-loss-is-slowing-toward-a-halt-new-report-shows/ Politics Lula Cheered For New Climate Policies After Brazil Election https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2022-10-31/lula-cheered-for-new-climate-policies-after-brazil-election New York Voters Approve $4.2 Billion Environmental Bond Act https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/new-york-voters-approve-4-2-billion-climate-bond Drawdown Feds Pick Gulf's First Two Zones For Offshore Wind Off Louisiana, Texas https://www.nola.com/news/environment/article_7a78c562-5951-11ed-b9c8-7780c79d2a18.html "EU Approves Ban On New Combustion-Engine Cars From 2035" https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-approves-ban-combustion-engine-cars-2035-92272100

သြဂုတ်လ ၁၀ ရက် ဗုဒ္ဓဟူး ညချမ်း ဘီဘီစီမြန်မာပိုင်း အစီအစဉ် - လေကြောင်းပစ် စီမံချက် PROJECT DRAGONFLY ရန်ပုံငွေတွေကို စတင်အသုံးပြုနေပြီလို့ NUG ထုတ်ပြန်၊ - ကချင်ပြည်နယ် ဖားကန့်က ဆယ်ဇင်းမှာ စစ်ကောင်စီက လေကြောင်းနဲ့ထိုးစစ်ဆင်နေ၊ -နိုင်ငံရေးအကျဉ်းသားတွေကို ထောင်ပြောင်းရွှေ့ နေ၊ - ရုရှားအကျဉ်းထောင်တွေမှာ စနစ်တကျလုပ်တဲ့ ဆိုးရွားတဲ့ လူ့အခွင့်အရေး ချိုးဖောက်မှုတွေ ရှိနေ၊ စတဲ့ သတင်းတွေ အပြင် နိုင်ငံတကာထိပ်တန်းသတင်းတွေ ----- ဘီဘီစီရဲ့ ရေဒီယိုအစီအစဉ်တွေကို အင်တာနက်ဝက်ဘ်ဆိုက်နဲ့ ပေါ့ဒ်ကတ်စ်တွေ ကနေလည်း နားဆင် နိုင်ပါတယ်။ အသံလွှင့်နေစဉ် တိုက်ရိုက်နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/bbc_burmese_radio/liveradio ----- ညပိုင်း ထုတ်လွှင့်မှု နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/bbc_burmese_radio/w3csxs4j ----- မနက်ပိုင်းအစီအစဉ် ပေါ့ဒ်ကတ် နားဆင်ရန် - https://www.bbc.com/burmese/media-45625862

In this bonus episode we highlight our 2022 recipient of the Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship, Morgan Buehlmann. Morgan is a school teacher in St. Louis MO, as well as a grad student with Project Dragonfly and an everyday conservation hero that the world needs. Carrie R. Wilson was a staple of the community of San Diego for the last 50+ years. Carrie believed in community inspiration through direct and intentional action. Pelecanus would never have come to fruition without Carrie, and the same can be said for so many people throughout San Diego. As the Dean of Students of the University of San Diego Law School, she was able to make a lasting impact on thousands of students' lives. Carrie asked us to let anyone looking to honor her memory know that she hopes they would make a "heartfelt gift to make the world a better place." She simply hoped for her legacy to be one of paying it forward. We aim to award this scholarship to students who embody the Pelecanus mission of demonstrating optimism through science and align with Carrie R. Wilson's passion for education, charity and service. The Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship will be open for applications for project dragonfly students again in the Spring of 2023, check our Pelecanus.org scholarship page for more information. Pelecanus is a 501C3 non-profit organization that takes tax deductible donations. You will also find a link to the donate button on our website if you'd like to contribute to the Carrie Wilson memorial programs or to Pelecanus in general.

Missouri native Emily Hemeyer fuses her passions for art, teaching and the natural world. She is in a graduate school program through Project Dragonfly, and teaches classes everywhere she can about foraging for plants and mushrooms in Missouri. She is working on some pretty amazing stuff extracting dye from mushrooms! Want to take a class with her? Follow this link! https://www.sporeprojects.com/classesCheck out these links and handles to see more info on Emily and her graduate program, as well as the books she referenced in our discussion. https://projectdragonfly.miamioh.edu/https://www.facebook.com/groups/538010973438174/?ref=shareInsta: @wildseedfieldmuseum Books:"Mushrooms For Color" by Miriam RiceAlissa Allen, who runs the “Mushrooms For Color” Facebook page, is another wonderful resource and has her own website here: https://www.mycopigments.com/"Rainbow Beneath My Feet" by Arlene Rainis Bessett and Alan Bessett

In this bonus episode we highlight our inaugural recipient of the Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship Hope Nye. Hope is a teacher in Wisconsin and a graduate student in Biology in the Global Field Program, part of Project Dragonfly at the University of Miami Ohio. Hope is an everyday conservation hero that the world needs and we had a great time talking with her about her work, research, and personal interests! Carrie R. Wilson was a staple of the community of San Diego for the last 50+ years. Carrie believed in community inspiration through direct and intentional action. Pelecanus would never have come to fruition without Carrie, and the same can be said for so many people throughout San Diego. As the Dean of Students of the University of San Diego Law School, she was able to make a lasting impact on thousands of students' lives. Carrie asked us to let anyone looking to honor her memory know that she hopes they would make a "heartfelt gift to make the world a better place." She simply hoped for her legacy to be one of paying it forward. We aim to award this scholarship to students who embody the Pelecanus mission of demonstrating optimism through science and align with Carrie R. Wilson's passion for education, charity and service. The Carrie Wilson Memorial Scholarship will be open for applications for project dragonfly students again in the Spring of 2022, check our Pelecanus.org scholarship page for more information. Pelecanus is a 501C3 non-profit organization that takes tax deductible donations. You will also find a link to the donate button on our website if you'd like to contribute to the Carrie Wilson memorial programs or to Pelecanus in general.

With Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart of Project Dragonfly, Ecoteach, Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist program, and Boardman Glenwood Junior High You can push students beyond their comfort zones by taking them abroad to work in a rustic biological station tucked into dense rainforest. You can also do it at your nearby creek just by implementing an inquiry-based teaching method in an outdoor setting. Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart honed their craft at Miami University's Project Dragonfly and they apply their innovative teaching method daily with their 8th-grade students. In this layered discussion, Laura and Scott share their insights about making distant places locally relevant, pushing the limits of comfort, learning local, and engaging with community members.    Guests: Laura Frost and Scott Lenhart have been teaching 8th-grade science together at Boardman Glenwood Junior High School in Boardman, Ohio since 2013. They both earned Master's degrees from Miami University's Project Dragonfly as part of the Global Field Program. Laura and Scott have also completed the Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist program through Ohio State University. In 2017, they began taking select students on excursions to Costa Rica with EcoTeach. They are currently developing and implementing an outdoor-based curriculum called Project STREAM in collaboration with the Environmental Collaborative of Ohio. Their goal is to connect students to their local environment and professionals in the STEM field.

On Episode 33, Rachel tells us the tale of King Henry VIII - a beheading-happy king who married anything with a uterus. Then, Emily talks about the kidnapping and murder of Dorothy Jane Scott - and the very creepy phone calls that plagued her and her family. Hopefully, you're horrified.Content/Trigger Warnings: sexual assault, miscarriage, stillbirth, beheadingContact Us:Instagram: @horriblehistorypodTikTok: @horriblehistorypodEmail: horriblehistorypodcast@gmail.comSupport Your Hosts:Learn all about your options on our website!Sources:Visit London History Extra Visit LondonBritannica  Biography Visit London Murder MurderBugged Space Crime TravellerTalk Murder with MeSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/horriblehistory)

Remso went and broke his rule about recording angry, so expect a doozy! From reporters ignoring real stories, pundits acting as PR firms, and politicians stringing people along for a bumpy ride, Remso takes you one year back in time to show you how the web of lies, deception, and connections you see now didn't just occur- they were done by design. What does Google, China, Bill Weld and the media have to do with America in what seems to be a state of disarray? Listen and learn... Mentioned in this episode: -Remso confronts Google (AND Magazine) (https://andmagazine.com/talk/2019/01/22/exclusive-google-rep-plays-coy-about-future-of-project-dragonfly/) -Remso discusses Big Tech's attack on libertarians (The Brian Nichols Show) (https://briannichols.fireside.fm/social-media-censorship-of-libertarians-and-conservatives) -Remso discusses Project Dragonfly on The System Is Down (https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-yz4xv-a5657d) -Fear and Loathing at LibertyCon 2019 (AND Magazine) (https://andmagazine.com/talk/2019/01/21/fear-loathing-at-libertycon-2019/) Support the show! Support the show with the links below! Robinhood Get your free stock just for signing up with Robinhood and start investing today. Click here (https://join.robinhood.com/remsom) Libertarian Country Order the hottest and most humorous liberty themed clothing on the market. Click here (https://www.libertariancountry.com/?rfsn=392344.93653) Cash App The best way to send and receive money, as well as get discount boosts for the places you love to shop and eat. You can even trade Bitcoin and stocks! Get $5 just for signing up with the link below. Click here (https://cash.app/app/PMKWTJT) Dosh Get instant cash back from thousands of stores everyday! Get $5 when you sign up with Dosh when you link your credit or debit card. Click here (https://link.dosh.cash/REMSOM1) Books “Stay Away From the Libertarians!” by Remso W. Martinez (foreword by Logan Albright) Click here (https://www.amazon.com/Stay-Away-Libertarians-Remso-Martinez-ebook/dp/B07DYDTZQP/) “How to Succeed in Politics (and Other Forms of Devil Worship) by Remso W. Martinez Click here (https://www.amazon.com/Succeed-Politics-Other-Forms-Worship-ebook/dp/B07XVFY9F8/) Consulting Email Remso today at remso@rwmartinez.com with the subject line “Book” to get a 15 minute free authors consultation. Watch “the Witching Hour” on-demand Watch available episodes of the Indie Series Awards winning show “the Witching Hour” with Remso and the paranormal investigators of Argos Paranormal with the link below. Click here (https://www.argosparanormal.com/tvshows.html)

Eva and Tom have been looking into the development around "Project Dragonfly". Why has Google's interest in China increased lately and what's their potential on the world's largest Internet market? Will they actually be able to enter China after 8 years of "absence"?Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback by emailing us at podcast@digitallychina.com.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China is powered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles.

There's a movement building within tech. Workers are demanding higher standards from their companies — and because of their unique skills and talent, they have the leverage to get attention. Walkouts and sit-ins. Picket protests and petitions. Shareholder resolutions, and open letters. These are the new tools of tech workers, increasingly emboldened to speak out. And, as they do that, they expose the underbellies of their companies' ethics and values or perceived lack of them. In this episode of IRL, host Manoush Zomorodi meets with Rebecca Stack-Martinez, an Uber driver fed up with being treated like an extension of the app; Jack Poulson, who left Google over ethical concerns with a secret search engine being built for China; and Rebecca Sheppard, who works at Amazon and pushes for innovation on climate change from within. EFF Executive Director Cindy Cohn explains why this movement is happening now, and why it matters for all of us. IRL is an original podcast from Firefox. For more on the series go to irlpodcast.org Rebecca Stack-Martinez is a committee member for Gig Workers Rising. Here is Jack Poulson's resignation letter to Google. For more, read Google employees' open letter against Project Dragonfly. Check out Amazon employees' open letter to Jeff Bezos and Board of Directors asking for a better plan to address climate change. Cindy Cohn is the Executive Director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. EFF is a nonprofit that defends civil liberties in the digital world. They champion user privacy, free expression, and innovation through impact litigation, policy analysis, grassroots activism, and technology development.

Where you can travel in space depends on how much propellant you've got on board your rocket and how efficiently you can use it. But there's a source of free propellant right here in the Solar System - the Sun - which is streaming out photons in all directions. You just need to catch them. And right now, the Planetary Society's new LightSail 2 spacecraft is testing out just how well it'll work. Light Sail 2 Photos: http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-team-continues-tweaks-tests.html Episode on Breakthrough Starshot https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FWcEtXgK2g&list=PLbJ42wpShvml6Eg22WjWAR-6QUufHFh2v&index=146 Episode on Project Dragonfly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=598UtgxFd1E&list=PLbJ42wpShvml6Eg22WjWAR-6QUufHFh2v&index=23 Audio Podcast version: ITunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/universe-today-guide-to-space-audio/id794058155?mt=2 RSS: https://www.universetoday.com/audio What Fraser's Watching Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbJ42wpShvmkjd428BcHcCEVWOjv7cJ1G Weekly email newsletter: https://www.universetoday.com/newsletter Support us at: http://www.patreon.com/universetoday More stories at: http://www.universetoday.com/ Twitch: https://twitch.tv/fcain Follow us on Twitter: @universetoday Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/universetoday Instagram - http://instagram.com/universetoday Team: Fraser Cain - @fcain / frasercain@gmail.com Karla Thompson - @karlaii / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEItkORQYd4Wf0TpgYI_1fw Chad Weber - weber.chad@gmail.com References: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-maximum-speed-a-chemical-rocket-can-achieve http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-has-launched.html http://www.planetary.org/blogs/jason-davis/lightsail-2-team-continues-tweaks-tests.html https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/abs/10.2514/6.2014-4435 https://www.nasa.gov/content/nea-scout https://www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/lpsc2018/pdf/1406.pdf http://www.planetary.org/blogs/guest-blogs/2017/20170925-solar-sail-dsg.htmlSupport Universe Today Podcast

Today, I interview Frank Blake, who as CEO brought Home Depot through a massive data breach. Frank is a former co-clerk of mine; a former deputy secretary of energy; and the current host of Crazy Good Turns, a podcast about people who have found remarkable, even crazy, ways to help others. In addition to his insights on what it takes to lead an organization, Frank offers his views on how technology can transform nonprofit charitable initiatives. Along the way, he displays his characteristic sense of humor, especially about himself. In the News Roundup, I ask Matthew Heiman if Google could have had a worse week in Washington. First Peter Thiel raised the question of whether it's treasonous for the company to work on AI with Chinese scientists, not the U.S. Defense Department, and then Richard Clarke, hardly a conservative, says he agrees with the criticism. Inevitably, President Trump weighed in with a Thiel-supporting tweet. Meanwhile, on the Hill, Google's VP says the company has “terminated” Project Dragonfly, an effort to build a search engine that the Chinese government would approve. But that doesn't prevent conservatives from lambasting the company for bias against conservatives and an unfair subsidy in the form of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The only good news for Google is that, despite all the thunder, no lightning has yet struck. Or so we thought for about five minutes, at which time Gus Hurwitz noted that Google is likely to face multimillion-dollar fines in a Federal Trade Commission investigation of child Internet privacy violations, not to mention a rule-making designed to increase the probability of future fines. Speaking of which, European lightning struck Amazon this week in the form of new competition law scrutiny. Gus offers skepticism about the EU's theory, over my counter-skepticism. Nick Weaver is astonished at the way Julian Assange managed to turn the Ecuadorian embassy into a fist-fighting, feces-smearing, election-meddling command post. Nick also predicts that Kazakhstan will lose its war with Silicon Valley browser makers over a man-in-the-middle certificate the Kazakh government is forcing on its citizens in order to monitor their Internet browsing.  And in short hits, Gus questions whether $650 million is a harsh settlement of Equifax's data breach liability; Nick closes the books on NSA hoarder Hal Martin's 9-year prison sentence; and Nick explains the latest doxing of an intelligence agency—this time a contractor for the Russian FSB.   Download the 273rd Episode (mp3). You can subscribe to The Cyberlaw Podcast using iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, Pocket Casts, or our RSS feed!  As always, The Cyberlaw Podcast is open to feedback. Be sure to engage with @stewartbaker on Twitter. Send your questions, comments, and suggestions for topics or interviewees to CyberlawPodcast@steptoe.com. Remember: If your suggested guest appears on the show, we will send you a highly coveted Cyberlaw Podcast mug! The views expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and do not reflect the opinions of the firm.

Google says Project Dragonfly is dead, Apple might be producing its own original podcasts, the Switch regular gets a refresh, and two long-time interesting companies: Neuralink and Boston Dynamics are ready for the spotlight. Sponsors: Castro SVB.com/next Links: Antitrust: Commission opens investigation into possible anti-competitive conduct of Amazon (The European Commission) A Google VP Told The US Senate The Company Has “Terminated” The Chinese Search App Dragonfly (BuzzFeed News) Apple Plans to Bankroll Original Podcasts to Fend Off Rivals (Bloomberg) New Nintendo Switch model will have much better battery life (Polygon) Microsoft wins multibillion-dollar cloud deal from AT&T (CNBC) Elon Musk’s Neuralink Takes Baby Steps to Wiring Brains to the Internet (NYTimes) BOSTON DYNAMICS’ ROBOTS ARE PREPARING TO LEAVE THE LAB — IS THE WORLD READY? (The Verge) Education publisher Pearson to phase out print textbooks (BBC News) Get a podcast classified of your own. CLASSIFIED: Should users be allowed to gain value from the location data their friends share with them? Even if it's non-monetary value? If not, why not? We have created an experiment to probe into these questions. Our experiment is an app that allows users to collect and analyze hundreds of location data points that are currently being shared with them by their friends, but are not collected. When this data is collected and analyzed properly, users can gain insights on their friends' behavior, much like companies gain insight on everyone else's behavior by collecting or buying this data in bulk. We are looking for one journalist to cover this exclusively, and we figured the Techmeme ride home would be our best bet. We intend to shed some more light on privacy inconsistencies. If you are interested in this, please email us at press@whosintown.app, that is press @ whosintown dot app

The question of the day is..... What is the cost of convenience? How far are we willing to let crony corporations go in removing our freedoms in exchange for "free" services? Today's episode is my conversation with podcaster, journalist, author, and good friend of the show, Remso Martinez from the Remso Martinez Experience. Remso has been actively doing his part to expose corrupt crony corporations like Facebook and Google and shed light on the ways that they are subtly devaluing and removing our liberties little by little. On January 19, 2019, Google employee Max Pappas, manager of Google’s External Outreach and Public Policy Partnerships, gave a speech at LibertyCon 2019 titled “Why Permissionless Innovation Needs to be Defended” in front of a crowd of libertarian students and other attendees in order to paint Google as a defender and advocate for access to the beneficial world of opportunity the internet provides. During Pappas’ Q & A session after his speech, Remso asked him publicly whether Google reflected on the backlash they received as a result of the exposure of Project Dragonfly, Google's now open secret, in which they planned to assist the Chinese authoritarian government and report citizens with harmless controversial browser history. Unsurprisingly, Pappas played dumb and denied any knowledge of Project Dragonfly.  If Google is willing to flat-out lie in the faces of it's customers in attempt to sweep it's nefarious actions under the rug, what else is going on behind the curtain of your friendly neighborhood search engine?  All that and more on today's episode of The System is Down: Exposing Project Dragonfly w. Remso Martinez.   Question Everything. Stay Uncomfortable. Let’s get weird! Call in. Leave a voicemail. We'll play it on the show. 309-716-3818 Remso's Article on Project Dragonfly: http://andmagazine.com/talk/2019/01/22/exclusive-google-rep-plays-coy-about-future-of-project-dragonfly/ Remso Martinez: https://rwmartinez.com/  The Remso Martinez Experience: https://anchor.fm/the-remso-martinez-experience  Blast Off: http://blastoffshow.com TSID Forum: http://tsidpod.com/forum The System is Down: http://tsidpod.com The Downers Club: http://patreon.com/thesystemisdown AntiNews: http://antinewslive.com Open Discussion: http://tsidpod.com/forum Buy Some SWAG: http://tsidpod.com/shop Facebook: http://facebook.com/thesystemisdown Twitter: http://twitter.com/tsidpod  

In this episode of the Orange Outlaw, I share with you guys some information/reports on leaked documents detailing Google creating a censored search engine app for China and its users within the communist country You can click on the links to these articles that I found on my personal instagram account @elgee_94 in the latest post. Hope you guys enjoy.

The internet has changed marketing and sales forever. I’m here to make sense of this chaos. I want companies to feel confident in their marketing. To be confident, businesses have to know what has changed, what has stayed the same, and what they can do about it.

The distances between stars are so vast, it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Even our far flung Voyagers have barely reached interstellar space, and would take tens of thousands of years to get to even the nearest star. But scientists and engineers are considering what it would actually take to send a spacecraft to another star. It's called Project Dragonfly, and would use existing or near future technologies to send a 3,000 kg spacecraft to Alpha Centauri within 100 years. Support Universe Today Podcast

The distances between stars are so vast, it’s hard to wrap your mind around it. Even our far flung Voyagers have barely reached interstellar space, and would take tens of thousands of years to get to even the nearest star. But scientists and engineers are considering what it would actually take to send a spacecraft to another star. It’s called Project Dragonfly, and would use existing or near future technologies to send a 3,000 kg spacecraft to Alpha Centauri within 100 years.

Hallo und herzlich Willkommen zum KREWKAST! Ein wöchentlicher Podcast mit viel Gelaber über die KREW, Technik, YouTube, Abenteuer und vor allem was Julian und Felix so interessiert. In der dreiundvierzigsten Folge haben wir uns zum ersten mal vor ein Live-Publikum gewagt und gemeinsam mit euch das Theater K in Aachen gerockt. Viel Spaß! Die heutigen Themen sind: 0:00 Anita macht ne Ansage 1:52 So funktioniert der Live-Krewkast 6:48 Würden wir auf den Mars ziehen? 16:50 Youtube Premium Shows werden kostenlos 21:31 Elektroauto-Startups: Haben sie eine Chance? 29:58 Google's Project Dragonfly vs. Moralische Werte 38:27 Unsere Kindheitsträume 56:12 Julians verlorene Wette 1:07:12 Der Jungfernflug der BFR-Rakete 1:16:10 Selbständigkeit direkt nach der Schule 1:33:43 Project Dragonfly, die Zweite! 1:51:28 Der Pokemon-Film 1:57:20 Sollte e-Sport gefördert werden? 2:10:56 Digitalisierung in der Schule -------------------------------------------------------------- Hier sind wir sonst noch im Internet vertreten: Youtube Hauptkanäle: Felix: http://www.youtube.com/felixba Julian: http://www.youtube.com/owngalaxy Twitter: Felix: http://www.twitter.com/felixba Julian: http://www.twitter.com/julianvoelzke Instagram: Felix: http://www.instagram.com/felixba Julian: http://www.instagram.com/julianvoelzke -------------------------------------------------------------- Die Amazon-Links (http.amzn.to/????) in der Videobeschreibung sind Afilliate-Links. Wenn ihr über die Links etwas kauft, bekommen wir eine kleine Provision, ohne dass sich der Preis für euch ändert. Danke für den netten Support!

Joseph Kane: The Impact of Automated Vehicles on Your White Collar Job (Ep. 165) Brookings' Joseph Kane joined Joe Miller to talk about how automated vehicles could impact your white collar job--not just those of drivers. Bio Joseph Kane (@jwkane) is a senior research associate and associate fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program. Kane’s work focuses on a wide array of built environment issues, including transportation and water infrastructure. Within these areas of research, he has explored infrastructure’s central economic role across different regions as well as its relationship to opportunity and resilience. Across several projects, he has concentrated on the use of innovative datasets, combining them with other qualitative measures to better assess current and future infrastructure needs. From the exploration of metropolitan freight trends to the first-ever analysis of infrastructure jobs at a metropolitan level, he has coordinated the production of new metrics and developed other interactive content to better inform decisions by policymakers and practitioners across the country. Prior to Brookings, Kane was an Economist at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. He holds a master’s degree in urban and environmental planning from the University of Virginia and a bachelor’s degree in economics and history from the College of William and Mary. Resources Metropolitan Policy Program @ Brookings How big could the AV industry be? 9.5 million workers and counting by Joseph Kane and Adie Tomer Why the Garden Club Couldn't Save Youngstown by Sean Stafford News Roundup Consequences Facebook’s poor engagement with people of color taking root The consequences of Facebook’s poor engagement over the years with people of color began to take hold last week. On Tuesday, USA Today’s Jessica Guynn reported on a former black Facebook employee – Mark Luckie – who says the company has a deep seated race problem both internally and on the platform. Luckie wrote an internal blog post on Facebook earlier this month—to management and employees—that later went public—saying the platform itself actively works against black people. He says that Facebook works against attempts by black users to create safe spaces on Facebook, amplifies some users over others using class-based criteria, which effectively dilutes black voices, and fails to hire a workforce that reflects the demographics of its user base. Color of Change CEO Rashad Robinson met with Sheryl Sandberg on Thursday. Politico reported that it was a victory, but then went on to talk about all of the ways in which it really wasn’t. For example, Facebook hasn’t committed to release records on its work with Definers Public Affairs to engage in promoting far right, anti-Semitic attacks against George Soros. It was a campaign that also targeted Color of Change. Robinson also told Politico that Sandberg defended Joel Kaplan. Apparently Sandberg, according to Politico’s account of the meeting, offered a sincere apology and Mark Zuckerberg popped his head in. But really, who cares. Sandberg did agree to a civil rights audit that Color of Change would conduct and agreed to have a public debate on the results of the audit. But that’s really non-negotiable since they have to do something to prevent a boycott. Also, a New York Times report out the same day Robinson met with Sandberg suggested that Sandberg directed the communications team in their research of George Soros’s financial interests and actually sent an email asking if Soros had  shorted Facebook’s stock. A lot of people are just sort of wondering why Sheryl Sandberg, Mark Zuckerberg and Joel Kaplan should keep their jobs. But would that solve Facebook’s race issues? Mattis says Russia interfered in midterms Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said over the weekend during an interview at the Ronald Reagan Public library that Russian operatives attempted to interfere with the U.S. election. He said the Trump administration’s relationship with Russia has deteriorated. Mattis’ remarks came a couple of days after Trump canceled his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit amidst Michael Cohen’s guilty plea for making misstatements to Congress in the investigation into the Trump administration’s business dealings with Russia during the 2016 presidential election. Marriott hack affects 500 million guests Marriott reported a hack that apparently affected some 500 million of its Starwood guests, exposing personal information including home addresses, passport numbers, drivers’ license numbers, names, and other personal details. New York State Attorney General Barbara Underwood is investigating the breach. The company has known about the breach since early September. Nexstar to acquire Tribune Nextstar has announced plans to acquire Tribune Media for $4.1 billion, making it the largest tv station owner in the U.S. The merger would add 42 stations to Nexstar’s portfolio bringing its total number of stations to 216 in 118 markets, just under the FCC’s 39% ownership threshold. The deal comes after Sinclair failed in its bid for Tribune earlier this year. Delrahim for AG? CNN reports that President Trump may be considering Makan Delrahim to replace Jeff Sessions as US Attorney General.  Currently, Delrahim is the Assistant Attorney General who sued AT&T to stop its acquisition of Time Warner—he lost. That deal went through. Some are still debating whether the president directed Delrahim to stop the merger. Delrahim denies this. But if he did act at Trump’s behest, the Attorney General job would be a big reward—ya think? FBI Charges 8 in Ad-fraud scheme The FBI charged eight individuals last week in an ad fraud scheme. The men face 13 charges for allegedly scheming to infect 1.7 million computers and drive traffic to counterfeit websites serving up ads. Craig Silverman has a detailed report in BuzzFeed News. DOJ Indicts 2 Iranians for Ransomware Attacks The Department of justice indicted 2 men in connection with an alleged Iranian ransomware plot since 2015 that has caused some $30 million in financial damage to city universities, governments and hospitals, including the City of Atlanta. Officials say the scheme, known as SamSam, affected more than 200 victims and led to some $6 million in ransom payments. Brian Fung has the story in the Washington Post. Google employees pledge $200k to help striking employees Some Google employees have banded together to create a $200k fund to help striking engineers who are opposing Google’s work on a censored search engine in China. The project is known as Project Dragonfly and hundreds of engineers oppose the effort and signed a letter to that effect last week.  

Andy and Flo spill the beans on what they spent all their hard-earned cash on over the Black Friday "holiday." After the break, Andy walks us through Project Fi's new offerings, as well as some of its caveats. Andy and Flo also discuss the latest crop of Pixel Slate reviews that have hit the web, and why Google employees are petitioning for their employer to drop Project Dragonfly.

The United States has reportedly "slammed the brakes" on the UN resolution which calls for a limited ceasefire and increased humanitarian aid in Yemen, according to CNN. Citing sources close to the negotiations, CNN reports the latest decision is the opposite of what US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley has been promising since she supported the resolution weeks ago. The White House has declined to comment further. Many say the delay is due to the White House's concern of angering Saudi Arabia, which strongly opposes the resolution. What's really going on here?Three US soldiers are dead in Afghanistan after a Taliban bombing Tuesday. The fatal incident happened when a roadside bomb went off near Ghazni City, in the southeastern province of the same name, killing special forces soldiers three months after they were sent to save that city from falling to the Taliban. This latest incident brings up the question: why is America still in Afghanistan? The Pentagon declared an end to American combat operations in Afghanistan in 2014, so why are we still losing American soldiers in a land we were supposed to have "liberated?" Is Afghanistan the Achilles' heel for America?Google employees have renewed their public protests toward the company's Chinese search engine project, named Project Dragonfly. It aimed to reintroduce a censored version of the Google Search app to the Chinese market. A group of over 170 employees have teamed up with Amnesty International and written a letter on Medium entitled, “We are Google employees. Google must drop Dragonfly.” Part of it states: "Our opposition to Dragonfly is not about China: we object to technologies that aid the powerful in oppressing the vulnerable, wherever they may be. The Chinese government certainly isn't alone in its readiness to stifle freedom of expression and to use surveillance to repress dissent. Dragonfly in China would establish a dangerous precedent at a volatile political moment, one that would make it harder for Google to deny other countries similar concessions ... We join with Amnesty International in demanding that Google cancel Dragonfly. We also demand that leadership commit to transparency, clear communication and real accountability. Google is too powerful not to be held accountable. We deserve to know what we're building, and we deserve a say in these significant decisions." Do employees have that much power to shut things down?GUESTS: Elisabeth Myers — Editor-in-chief of Inside Arabia.Dr. Marvin Weinbaum — Scholar-in-residence and director of the Middle East Institute's Center for Pakistan and Afghanistan Studies.Chris Garaffa — Web developer and technologist.

Eva och Tom har grävt i utvecklingen kring Google's "Project Dragonfly". Varför har Google's intresse för Kina ökat på sistone? Har de verkligen en potential att slå igenom på världens största internetmarknad efter åtta års frånvaro?Medverkande: Tom Xiong och Eva Xiao.Producent: Jacob LovenMusik licenserad från Epidemic Sound.Har du funderingar eller tips på ämnen som vi ska ta upp? Kontakta oss i sociala medier eller på digitaladraken.com. Den Digitala Draken är en subjektiv men oberoende skildring av utvecklingen av digitala tjänster i Kina och dess aktörer. I produktionen används ljudklipp från exempelvis nyhetssändningar. Dessa har ej förvrängts ur kontext och innehar relevans för skildringen samt skall anses användas under "fair use”. Podformatet "Digitally China" produceras tillsammans med Radii, kolla in dem på radiichina.com. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Eva and Tom have been looking into the development around "Project Dragonfly". Why has Google's interest in China increased lately and what's their potential on the world's largest Internet market? Will they actually be able to enter China after 8 years of "absence"?Thoughts on the episode? Do not hesitate to give us your feedback by emailing us at podcast@digitallychina.com.Hosts: Eva Xiao and Tom Xiong.Production: Jacob Loven.Digitally China is a subjective but independent depiction of the tech scene in China. Audio clips used in the podcast have not been distorted nor taken out of context and are included for commentary and educational purposes and thus shall be considered “Fair Use”. Digitally China is powered by RADII (www.radiichina.com), an independent media platform exploring China from all angles. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In an effort to tap China's 750 million internet users, Google has secretly developed a search engine for the Chinese government that incorporates tight censorship and blacklists. Yet under pressure from free speech advocates, Google says the custom search engine may never be used.

Alex Jones caught watching transexual porn https://youtu.be/y7UMsftR_90 Feds Scramble after Las Vegas Shooter’s Girlfriend Lists FBI as Place of Employment on Loan Application; ‘She Might have Been an Asset’ https://truepundit.com/feds-scramble-after-las-vegas-shooters-girlfriend-lists-fbi-as-place-of-employment-on-loan-application-she-might-have-been-an-asset/ Bowing to Beijing? Google’s Project Dragonfly https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/listeningpost/2018/08/bowing-beijing-google-project-dragonfly-180825081915503.html Florida candidate for Congress: Alien abduction doesn’t define me http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/os-florida-candidate-alien-abduction-20180823-story.html Washington Abduction Turned Out To Be An ‘Escape The Room’ Style Prank https://wsrz.iheart.com/content/2018-08-24-washington-abduction-turned-out-to-be-an-escape-the-room-style-prank/ Not a joke: “Ecosexual” college professors enjoy having sex with trees https://www.naturalnews.com/2018-08-23-not-a-joke-ecosexual-college-professors-enjoy-having-sex-with-trees.html My first day at work was a sex toy-filled nightmare: lawsuit https://nypost.com/2018/08/23/my-first-day-at-work-was-a-sex-toy-filled-nightmare-lawsuit/ Were These Michael Jackson Songs Actually Sung By an Imposter? https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/music/a22824412/michael-jackson-fake-songs-imposter/ J.J. Abrams casts old Lost buddy Dominic Monaghan in Star Wars: Episode IX https://news.avclub.com/j-j-abrams-casts-old-lost-buddy-dominic-monaghan-in-st-1828591549 Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. ▀▄▀▄▀ LINKS ▀▄▀▄▀ ► Phone: 614-388-9109 ► Website: http://obdmpod.com ► Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/obdm ► YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ourbigdumbmouth ► YouTube 2nd Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrj4SPfo5ySkEnyaQAW5zvA ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/obdmpod ► Instagram: obdmpod ► RSS: http://ourbigdumbmouth.libsyn.com/rss ► iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/our-big-dumb-mouth/id261189509?mt=2 ► Twitter: https://twitter.com/obdmpod ► Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/obdmnews ► Everything we do could be considered performance art

Things get spooky as Andrew and Apoorva talk about horror classic "The Blair Witch Project" and the future of the found footage genre. They also visit the Minneapolis-St. Paul Film Festival to watch the experimental Chinese film "Dragonfly Eyes." Subscribe for free, review us at Apple Podcasts, and follow us on Twitter: @PoTCPodcast. Main segment: "The Blair Witch Project" Foreign Film of the Week: "Dragonfly Eyes" Intro VHS sound effect by MrAuralization; outro VHS sound effect by tim.kahn

If you and your team dream of winning a Markie someday, here's the podcast for you! Rhonda Wunderlin from Penton stopped by to talk about the journey her team made into marketing automation greatness. Find out what "Project Dragonfly" is and why it led Rhonda's team to win two Markies in 2015 and be nominated for three more in 2016.