Author Archives: StaceyWinburn

Is Obama Already Buckraking on Wall Street?

Mother Jones

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Matt Yglesias is pissed:

Former President Barack Obama’s decision to accept a $400,000 fee to speak at a health care conference organized by the bond firm Cantor Fitzgerald is easily understood….

Wait. Obama is raking in $400 grand for a Wall Street keynote address? Really?

There’s something funny here. The report comes from Fox Business Network, and I guess it’s true. But it hasn’t been confirmed or reported by any mainstream outlet. Just lots of conservative sites, who are naturally hooting and hollering about it.

Yglesias makes lots of good points about why Obama shouldn’t do this, and normally I’d sign on. But I want to wait a bit. I wonder if there’s more going on here that we don’t know yet?

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Is Obama Already Buckraking on Wall Street?

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Climate change could wipe out the internet’s favorite animal

Spoiler alert!

Climate change could wipe out the internet’s favorite animal

By on 17 Aug 2015 4:06 pmcommentsShare

Internet dwellers, unite! The red panda, lord of all things cute, is in danger, and only we can help it.

That’s right — the smiling, red-faced stuffed animal that puts your most adorable kids and kittens to shame — is not doing so great these days, thanks to an expanding human population and all the deforestation, disease, and testy domestic dogs that come with it, The New York Times reports. Oh, and SPOILER ALERT — climate change, too.

If you’re unfamiliar with the red panda, this is all you really need to know:

Marshmallowbunnywabbit

It’s a (very) distant relative of the more familiar raccoon. The two parted ways on the old evolutionary road about 26 million years ago, and boy did our trash-loving night crawlers get the short end of the genetic stick:

Steve

There are currently about 10,000 wild red pandas living in the mountains between China and Nepal, and about 500 being raised in zoos around the world. And while plenty of dangers face what the 19th century French zoologist Frédéric Cuvier once called “quite the most handsome mammal in existence,” climate change could be the final nail in the panda’s cute little two-foot-long coffin.

Here’s how Elizabeth Freeman, a conservation biologist at George Mason University, explained it to The Times:

“I think down the road what may actually do them in is climate change,” Dr. Freeman said. “Because they are in such a small niche in the Himalayas, and as climate change warms that area and moves that population higher in elevation, they’re going to lose habitat probably faster than they can accommodate to climate change.”

She added, “I see them as being a critical indicator species for the health of the Himalayan ecosystem, probably more so than giant pandas.”

It’s important to note that the red panda is also a keystone species in the listicle and meme ecosystem that has come to define online animal pic culture, and it’s unclear what would happen if red pandas went extinct. Kittens could become the dominate species, sure, but puppies seem like an equally strong contender. And then, of course, there’s the possibility of a non-native species getting a foothold. People could start to think that centipedes are cute, and then what? Is that the kind of world we want to live in? Is that the kind of world we want our children to live in? Addressing climate change is now more important than ever; we have to do something — if not for the children, then for this li’l guy:

BrunswykSource:
Red Pandas Are Adorable and in Trouble

, The New York Times.

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Climate change could wipe out the internet’s favorite animal

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