The Nature of Things

A roundup of the week's news of birds and the environment : Bald Eagles are becoming an almost common sight in our area, especially in winter. This one was photographed at Archbishop Fiorenza Park in Houston. ( Image courtesy of HoustonAudubon.com ) *~*~*~* It's not exactly a surprise to learn that 2019 capped the hottest decade in Earth's recorded history . The past five years are also the hottest on record. *~*~*~* The massive wildfires in Australia are fueling the anger of environmentalists there who hold their government at least partially responsible for the disaster because of its climate change denialism and lack of action. The environmental movement has been energized by this anger. *~*~*~* Spain's new government has declared a climate emergency , which is a step toward enacting ambitious plans to combat climate change.  *~*~*~* We tend to think of earthworms as a good thing for the environment, but not necessarily when those critters are an invasive species ....

The House of Representatives voted 240-185 last week to defund Planned Parenthood and any other health care services provided through Title X . The Republicans pretend that this vote was to protect fetuses against abortion, but surely they are intelligent enough to know that Title X specifically prohibits funding for abortions. The bill that became Title X was signed into law in 1970 by President Nixon, and its purpose is to provide contraceptive information and services, cancer screening, STD testing, screening for certain blood disorders, gynecological exams and community outreach. By passing the bill that outlaws funding for all those services, the Republicans are now seeking to actually block access to services that help prevent the need for abortions, thus making an increase in abortions more likely. Just what they say they want to prevent. This is just one skirmish in the GOP's war against women and children. Yes, they've extended their war to include children, also,...

Our new Republican Congress keeps telling us that their number one priority is jobs, but their every action gives the lie to that claim. First, it was revisiting the Affordable Health Care Law. Now they are pursuing their true first priority - seeking to reverse every gain towards equality that women have made in the last hundred years. While Republicans say all the right things, offering empty platitudes about women's equality, their agenda is to legislate women into second-class citizenship. This is true not only at the national level but in state legislatures all across the country. Republicans are seeking to reverse, through legislative action, the protections of the Equal Pay Act. They insist that the law is no longer needed because the pay gap has all but been eradicated. This is blatantly false, but when were these bozos ever guided by facts? The big guns of this Republican war against women, though, are trained at women's health issues, specifically reproductive i...