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Greetings Earthlings. Yes, it's a distress call but also the European festival Beltane of ancient Pagan origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on May 1. Also, May 1st was International Workers’ Day which began as a commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Riot in Chicago. The day is officially recognized in much of the world, but not the United States 'cuz you know, "commies"? Hence, Labor Day falling on the first Monday in September so everyone must go shopping. Lots of distress to cover there but we'll stick with the present MAGA shitshow and the Pagans. Laura Wildman-Hanlon, Author & Wiccan Priestess returns to the show to delve into the Craft and the times. As always, we will also introduce you to this week's Fool-on-the-Hill, Those Whose Brains Were Small, Who Left the Door Open and more but first it's time for Revenge of the Critters! Another Fungus Among us! Go HERE....if you dare!
This week's Fool-on-the-Hill is Representative Bruce Westerman (Repug of Arkansas) whose bill, the Endangered Species Act Amendments Act (H.R. 1897), would gut the strongest law we have for preventing extinction and protecting the wildlife and wild places future generations deserve. He is "an American forester and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Arkansas's 4th congressional district.......Westerman has a 4% lifetime score from the League of Conservation Voters. In January 2025, Westerman introduced the Fix Our Forests Act". Another vile duplicitous oxymoronic congressional lie we must confront NOW!
BREAKING NEWS! This Earth Week, Together We Saved the Endangered Species Act! Read all about it HERE and pass it on. Of course, we'll have to remain vigilant 'cuz The War Against Nature is ongoing. Good work y'all.
From trashing the planet to more trashing the planet we have to ask: "Who left the door open" and let these monsters in?? "A major study published in Science finds that the global wildlife trade is dramatically increasing the risk of dangerous diseases jumping from animals to humans. Researchers found that 41% of traded wild mammals carry diseases that can infect people, making this industry a major driver of future outbreaks." So now we're paying attention when humans are being endangered? Surprise! Civic Shout continues: "But beyond the threat to human health, the wildlife trade is also a crisis of cruelty. Wild animals are torn from their natural habitats, often enduring extreme stress, injury, and suffering as they are captured, confined, and transported across the globe. Many die before ever reaching their destination. Those who survive are frequently kept in inhumane conditions or sold into exploitative industries. This trade is not only dangerous — it is deeply inhumane. Despite this clear threat, the U.S. government still lacks a coordinated strategy to monitor and control the wildlife trade. Meanwhile, the United States remains one of the world’s largest importers of wildlife products." More HERE. Sadly, Civic Shout asks us to petition His Malignancy to come to the rescue. You've GOT to be kidding. Maybe those whose job it is?
On to our Doublespeak of the Week which is attributed to another MAGA freakshow candidate, Texas Repugnican Rep Chip Roy. Recently Roy displayed his "hateful, bigoted" cred by "introducing a new immigration bill that would make noncitizens who advocate for—or are affiliated with—socialist, communist, Marxist or Islamic fundamentalist movements inadmissible, deportable, denaturalizable and ineligible for naturalization." Roy, "has dubbed his bill the "Mamdani Act" after New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist." Time to play Find the Doublespeak in Roy's ploy: ""Why do we continue to import people who hate us? Not just for the last six years, but for the last 60 years, our immigration system has been cynically used to disadvantage American workers' competitiveness in favor of mass-importing the third world. This has not just led to higher crime and lower wages, but also the promulgation of hostile ideologies fundamentally opposed to American values. By targeting the Red-Green Alliance, this legislation deploys new tools to fight back against the Marxist and Islamist advance that has devastated Europe and has now arrived on our doorstep, especially in my home state of Texas." Send us your scorecard, Enviro Show listeners.
We may as well continue with the bottom dwelling here and go straight to His Malignancy The Mad King (#NoKings) himself. Shall we begin with him thinking he's Jesus? Wait, isn't that what certifiably crazy folks do? Why yes! How about his war on Iran? "The conflict between Iran and the United States and Israel is creating the worst energy crisis ever faced by the world, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said....This is indeed the biggest crisis in history," Birol told France Inter radio in an interview broadcast.." We haven't seen the waiting lines at gas stations like back in the '70s but stay tuned! Ofcourse, the needless loss of life, especially in bombed out schoolrooms full of young girls is a war crime and His Malignancy has threated, outloud in public, more of the same. And don't get us started with his crusader "Secretary of War", Pete Hegseth. This from The Nation magazine: "Pete Hegseth isn’t facing impeachment over a single mistake—he’s facing it over a growing pattern of lawlessness that lawmakers say puts lives at risk and ignores the Constitution. Tell Congress: Launch a full investigation and move forward with impeachment proceedings against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth." And, "As U.S. and Israeli bombs began to fall in Iran — igniting a war that has embroiled more than a dozen countries, killed thousands, and triggered global energy and economic crises — traders were cashing in." Some reports indicate His Malignancy's own may be inside trading for blood money. Surprise! Let's not forget The Mad King (#NoKings) & company's War on Nature: "The.. administration wants to take an ax to the East’s last great forests" reports Grist. "Since his return to office last year, [the] President has pushed federal agencies to intensify timber production, an effort that includes making it easier to use legal loopholes to fell trees. With the Department of Agriculture aiming to overturn the roadless rule this year, the debate is shifting from Washington to the woods — and to the communities living alongside some of the last protected forests in the East." That includes two National Forests just north of us here in the so-called Commonwealth.
How about we cap off the bad news with a visit to "Their Brains Were small and They Died"? Isn't it fitting to nominate Big Oil for this one? After all, dinosaurs and their surroundings were Big Oil's origin story, yes? Back then, giant reptiles probably did a lot of damage blundering around the landscape, something Big Oil has inherited as Bill McKibben explains in his commentary "Big Oil Brakes Everything". Bill opens with this: "When I started writing about the climate crisis in the 1980s I was in my twenties, and I didn’t fully comprehend that there could be a force on this planet so steeped in greed and power that it would sacrifice the earth and its inhabitants for its own narrow interests. But there is, and it’s Big Oil." The piece gets into the details we've been talking about on this show for decades. It's a tough read. Suffice it to say, Big Oil has more in common with the dinosaurs and their fate than Big Oil seems to realize. Sadly, life on Earth gets to participate as well.
In The Enviro Show Echo Chamber we replay our regional media operation's Reduce/Reuse/Recycle publication HERE. They publish it periodically with updated info on ways to confront the waste stream. You can get the printed copy at news stands or as inserts in the dailies this time of year. Speaking of regional news, The Daily Hampshire Gazette covered a protest recently that may upset local foodies. "Northampton - Animal rights activists protested in front of the Provisions wine store at Thornes Marketplace Sunday afternoon, calling for the retailer to pull foie gras, a French goose liver dish some believe is made inhumanely, off the store’s shelves. Protesters from the animal rights groups For Animals Inc. and Western Mass Animal Rights Activists held signs reading “may our hearts overcome our habits,” and others bearing pictures of geese being forcibly fed with a metal pipe which read “birds are force-fed and tortured for foie gras,” as they encouraged passersby to sign a petition ending the sale of the goose liver delicacy." Speaking of birds, there's a new effort by the Center for Food Safety to challenge neonic pesticides: "Pesticide giants like Monsanto-Bayer have been selling neonicotinoid-coated seeds with no safety testing and inadequate regulation for decades. Now, almost half of all U.S. crop land is planted with these toxic seeds, and birds are paying the price." Petitions in the past haven't moved these corporados away from business-as-usual. Perhaps a shake-up in Congress this coming November might help?
On the lighter side, Our Critter of the Week is the rambunctious Magpie, both black & yellow billed. The latter were the model for The Heckle and Jeckle Cartoon Show [which] premiered on CBS Saturday mornings on October 14, 1956 much to the enjoyment of d.o. when he was a kid in New York. "The characters [were] a pair of identical anthropomorphic yellow-billed magpies who usually cause problems to others and for themselves with their bizarre antics. Heckle speaks in a tough New York style manner, while Jeckle has a more polite British accent". No longer a fan of anthropomorphic renderings, d.o. still enjoyed watching Black Billed Magpies when he lived out west in Colorado. They are highly intelligent critters and prone to mischief around human habitations. "A common folk belief is that magpies will wound cows to eat their flesh or drink their blood. Magpies will, in fact, stand on the backs of cows to probe and peck. However, the goal is typically not to eat the cow itself, but the parasites on the cow, such as ticks, that are doing just that. Cows are not the only beneficiaries of this behavior — magpies will eat ticks off of other large mammals, including bison, moose, elk, and deer." So, they often get a bad rap from cowboys & ranchers. Furthermore, "Despite their adaptability, magpies are sensitive to habitat loss, particularly of the riparian areas where they nest. Pesticides can also impact magpie populations, and they still face persecution and lack protection in some places." Wake-up, stupid humans.
Our Quote of the Week is in keeping with the above:
He who is cruel to animals becomes hard also in his dealings with men. We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.
After our conversation with Laura we move on to the Bus Stop Billboard:
First Here's Indivisible Northampton — Swing Left Western Mass's complete daily listing of all the pro-democracy events in WMass: https://in-slwm.org/wp-content/uploads/Calendar/cal.html. If you're looking for an easy weekday way to jump into the climate movement, you'll love the State House Stand Out! We gather at the Massachusetts State House in Boston between 10 am and 2 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Volunteers stand together for 2-hour "shifts," either outside or inside depending on weather, and talk with visitors and State House staff about the Climate Crisis. Wednesdays and Thursdays, 3 – 4pm.: Indivisible's What's the Plan with Leah and Ezra. Go HERE. Fridays, 1:30 to 3pm: De-ICE Hanscom Airfield Stand Outs, Hanscom Rotary, Lincoln, MA. Go HERE. Saturdays, 11am to 1pm: No Fear w/Street Theatre, Burlington ICE Facility, Burlington Mall Rd. @ District Ave., Burlington, MA Go HERE
Wednesday May 6, 7 to 9pm. Rep. Jim McGovern Town Hall. Greenfield High School, 21 Barr Avenue, Greenfield, MA. A discussion of his visit to the ICE detention center in Burlington, MA is probable. Bring your questions & support.
Saturday, May 9, noon to 2:00 p.m. (Rain date May 23). Guided Walk in Masson Ridge, a Protected Forest in Northfield, MA. Space is limited to 20 people - registration required and carpooling encouraged. To register write to wildlandscampaigncan@gmail.com Upon registration you we will send you detailed instructions about the walk. Please note that this walk is of moderate difficulty with some short steep climbs and descents, and uneven ground.
Tuesday May 12, Noon to 4:30pm. Love Your Mother Lobby Day With Mass Power Forward. Together we will advocate for the strengthening of Mass Save in H.5175, the House's energy affordability bill. Massachusetts' signature energy efficiency program, Mass Save, is facing a $1 billion cut, despite the program earning $2.91 in economy-wide benefits for every $1 invested. State legislators are looking in the wrong place for energy bill savings. Instead, the legislature must rein in the corporate profiteering and fossil fuel expenditures of the profit-driven utilities to reduce our skyrocketing energy bills. Go HERE.
Tuesday May 12, 7pm. We invite you to join us for a special community meeting next month on the topic of data centers. Noah Berman, Senior Policy Advocate at the Acadia Center, will join us via Zoom to give a brief presentation on the risks and climate implications of data centers. Following his presentation, there will be a short Q&A. We hope you can join us in person or on Zoom! : Register here to receive the Zoom link.
Tuesday May 12, 7 to 8pm. Meet the Franklin First District Candidates. Montague Common Hall, 34 Main Street, Montague, MA. There are 5 candidates running for the seat vacated by former State Rep Natalie Blaise. Come meet them.
Tuesday May 19, 5pm - 7:45. Greenfield Public Library Community Room. You're invited to the Franklin County Premiere-Preview of journalist-filmmaker Abby Martin’s powerful new film Earth’s Greatest Enemy. It documents the many dangerous impacts of the Pentagon on our planet, making a strong case for coordinated peace, social justice and climate action. As seating is limited this invitation includes a form for a seat reservation -- we especially hope that area activists will attend this event and be inspired to organize future local showings. Doors open at 5 pm, with refreshments available; please claim reservations by 5:15. The film is 2 hours long, so discussion will be limited that evening, but can follow.
Tuesday May 19, 6:00 - 7:30pm. Public Meeting on the Future of New England Roadless Areas, and a chance to testify on the proposed rescission of the 2001 Roadless Rule. Church of Christ at Dartmouth College, 40 College St., Hanover, NH (Note: This event is now in-person only. We plan to hold a separate online event on a different date - please stay tuned for an announcement!). Go HERE.
Wednesday May 27, 8:15 to 5pm. WMass contingent to the Burlington MA ICE detention center. FCCPR bus meets at the S. Deerfield Park & Ride, Intersection of Rt. 5 & 116. Important note: Everyone who is going from Western MA should register, please, regardless of whether you're going by bus, driving, or being a passenger in someone else's car!! Go HERE.
OK until next time BUT please do remember to listen to your Mother!
