Bad climate news (as usual), magical stingray baby, less-valued human babies

It sucks how email newsletters are intended for regular email marketing. If you don’t do the whole constant mass email thing, you’re at risk of losing accounts/access/emails. It’s really stressful for me now that I don’t publish all that often and don’t want to abuse my email list. But I need to keep the email list. I have to have something. And that means remembering to check in so I don’t lose stuff. Really frustrating.

I had a big stress meltdown today because my account got shut down at my mailing list provider. My credit card expired and they decided to get rid of the free version of accounts around the same time. They sent a couple warning emails to an email I normally have no reason to check. This is also when I’m rehabbing to become Sober-Sober, so I’m mostly focusing on myself anyway. And I haven’t looked at anything related to that in…a long time.

It’s not that it isn’t my fault, really. And I can’t blame the provider all that much. I won’t blame them at all if they can hook me back up with all my emails and stuff.

Luckily I did have a recent backup of that list. Once I found that, my blood pressure regained normality. But I don’t know what I’m going to go for mass emails in the future. I seriously only need to send like twenty thousand emails once or twice a year, at most. It’s been less lately. But without that, I do not have a publishing business at all, period.

This business could kill me with the pulses of panic, I tell you.

~

Siblingito Rory has been reading the magnum opus of my 30s lately (Atop the Trees, Beneath the Mountains) and they’re literally the only audience I care about. I’m so pumped.

~

NYTimes talks about the impact of covid lockdowns on wildlife populations.

Carnivores, such as wolves and bobcats, appeared to be highly sensitive to people, showing the largest drop-off in activity when human activity ramped up. “Carnivores, especially larger carnivores, have this long history of, you can say, antagonism with people,” Dr. Burton said. “The consequences for a carnivore of bumping into people or getting too close to people often has meant death.”

On the flip side, the activity of large herbivores, such as deer and moose, increased when humans were out and about. That could be because the animals simply had to move more to avoid the throngs of people. But if people help keep the carnivores at bay, that could also make it safer for the herbivores to come out and play.

“Herbivores tend to be a little less fearful of people, and they may actually use them as a shield from carnivores,” said Dr. Tucker, who praised the study’s authors for being “able to disentangle all these different human impacts.”

~

Charlotte the Stingray’s Immaculate Conception has spurred business activity in the town. Everyone wants to see Charlotte’s baby. (NPR)

~

The original creator of The Crow does not approve of the remake. He wants it to remain Brandon Lee’s legacy. (Variety)

A lot of people aren’t keen on this remake. I am neutral, with respect for how emotionally complicated it must be for the people originally involved. Grief is so complicated. I wonder if the crew and cast ever got the support they needed to move through the trauma — or if it’s even possible to move through such a thing.

My thought with remakes is always like, if you don’t want the remake, don’t watch it? It won’t touch the original. You can just ignore it. It’s gotta be way more difficult for people directly impacted though.

~

The Mongolian winters have become much worse. Livestock is dying off at horrifying rates. (AJE) The Red Cross has issued an appeal.

At least 2,250 herder families have lost more 70 percent of their livestock, as this year’s dzud blankets grazing lands in deep snow and ice, according to the Red Cross, and there are predictions many more animals will be unable to survive the next few weeks.

In other climate news, we’re looking at a record-hot summer. (AJE)

Also, more than 150 trees in Washington DC have to go thanks to rising water levels. (NPR)

~

In a tale of two countries within America — where healthcare rights are somewhat accessible, and where it is not — Louisiana is having a rising crisis in pregnancy care. (NPR)

~

Steam is adding more helpful features to the family sharing options. (Engadget) We’re a big gamer family so this helps.

~

Eric McCormack talks about being a straight guy playing gay. He uses the line about how actors always play people who aren’t themselves. (Deadline)

Not to respond to him directly — this is an attitude across the industry — but I feel this always misses the point. It’s not about who plays what. It’s about who has opportunities. Marginalized groups should be able to play characters depicting that marginalization; they do not get cast equally across all roles. Aside from a single sketch, I don’t see Bowen Yang getting cast as straight guys, for instance. Eric McCormack can play gay OR straight, you know?

He did do a fine job with the character; I’ve got no complaints. The conversation from this angle just feels painfully clueless, and I keep hearing it again, and again, and…