Chytrid is an introduced fungus that has driven over 90 species of frog to extinction and decimated hundreds more. It’s not often that we hear good news in the fight against chytrid, but today is one of those days.
After disappearing from mainstream science for almost 30 years and thought to perhaps be lost to chytrid, the so-called “starry night” toad has been “rediscovered” by a team of scientists.
I say lost to mainstream science, because I feel it’s very important to acknowledge that the indigenous Arhuaco people who live in and manage the forest never lost track of this species. It was only after years of negotiation with the Arhuaco that scientists were allowed to enter their land and document the toads’ continued existence.
Harlequin toads, of which the “starry night” toad is one, have been particularly badly hit by anthropogenic factors like chytrid fungus, climate change, and habitat loss. Of the 96 known harlequin toad species, a full 80 are either critically endangered or extinct.
The “starry night” toad is still considered critically endangered, but that it exists at all (and exists within land protected and managed by the Arhuaco) is a huge dose of good news.
my head is hurting from this Facebook post does no one understand Hendrix played a distorted version of Star Spangled Banner to protest the Vietnam War and not as some act of great patriotism, it’s like the boomers who lived through this event rewrote the history and purpose of Woodstock to fit with their nationalism, the 1960s saw some of the worst acts of American imperialism and racism….these “hippies” were not just anti-establishment, they wanted civil rights and they wanted America to stop killing people in east Asia simply because they were a threat to American wealth
not only was it distorted, he played his guitar in such a way that it sounded like bombs, missiles, and gunfire. the music wailed and screamed with anguish. it was meant to express the horrors of the vietnam war in the most raw way possible. take a listen, it’s really an amazing piece of art and should in no way be erased to further fascist rhetoric!
Also, around the 2:33 mark, he plays the opening notes to Taps, a song typically reserved for funerals of dead soldiers and the like.
You ABSOLUTELY CAN trust COVID data coming out of your state tho, generally speaking. The feds punted responsibility in managing this crisis to the states early on, so most states managed to develop individual, fairly sophisticated reporting systems for tests, infections, and hospital data. Some are an absolute mess, but generally, states have the reliable info. The ones you should be wary of are the ones you always should’ve been wary of - Texas, Florida, spots where the governors are Trump lackeys, and even they haven’t been able to hide from the reality that they’re getting it bad right now.
Always use the Johns Hopkins University dashboard for nationwide (and worldwide; WHO’s reporting lags sometimes) information, as they’ve been tracking COVID data reported by individual counties for months.
