Americans have "the right to be stupid": John Kerry (Reuters)

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Exurban residences impact bird communities up to 200 m away

Feb. 25, 2013 ? According to a study by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), impacts to bird communities from a single rural, "exurban" residence can extend up to 200 meters into the surrounding forest. The study also determined that sensitive bird species such as the hermit thrush and scarlet tanager prefer unbroken forests with no houses. Others, like the blue jay and black-capped chickadee, seem to like having, and often thrive with, human neighbors.

As part of the study, scientists sampled the presence of 20 species of birds both near and far from 30 rural residences in the Adirondack Park. Calculating their occurrence at increasing distances from the residences, they determined that "human-adapted" species are 36 percent more likely to occur near the homes than in the surrounding mixed hardwood-conifer forests, and that "human-sensitive" species were 26 percent less likely. Beyond 200 meters, occupancy rates were similar to the surrounding forest.

The report appears in the current online edition of the Journal of Landscape and Urban Planning. Authors of the study are Drs. Michale Glennon and Heidi Kretser of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

Rural exurban development is residential development existing outside of cities and towns, and is generally characterized by larger lot sizes (5-40 acres or more) and lower density than suburban development. Exurban residences exist within an otherwise unaltered ecosystem.

Exurban homes change the environment by bringing vehicles, noise, lights, pets, people, and food sources into the forest, as well as by physically altering and fragmenting habitat. These changes can have myriad impacts, including altered species behavior and composition, increased human wildlife conflicts, new predator-prey dynamics, and decreased biotic integrity (a measure of how pristine a wildlife community is).

"Adirondackers take great pride in their surroundings and try not to unduly disturb the natural setting in which they live," said WCS Adirondack Program Science Director Michale Glennon. "A key finding of the study is that the ecological footprint of development can be much larger than its physical footprint. We found that even a small home and lawn can change bird communities some 200 meters away, which means more than 30 acres of the surrounding landscape, depending on what types of activities are occurring on the residential property. It is important that we learn how birds and other wildlife react to particular kinds of human activities, and find ways to minimize the negative impacts for wildlife in exurban areas."

The study found that species sensitive to human impacts include the black-throated blue warbler, black-throated green warbler, hairy woodpecker, hermit thrush, ovenbird, scarlet tanager and the winter wren. The presence of some species, like the scarlet tanager, are a good indicator of undisturbed forest health.

WCS Livelihoods and Conservation Coordinator Heidi Kretser said, "Some wildlife species are sensitive to exurban development and are less likely to be found near those residences than adapted species. More sensitive and less common species could ultimately be displaced from the area as a result of this kind of development."

The study was modeled after one conducted in a shrub-oak ecosystem in Colorado where scientists calculated a 180-meter ecological effect zone based on their results. Glennon and Kretser believe that the similar results in two different ecosystem types may indicate that human behaviors associated with exurban homes play a larger role in shaping avian community characteristics nearby than do habitat alterations created by construction and clearing.

While breeding bird communities were used to measure the impacts of exurban development in the study, the authors note that birds can serve as valuable indicators of overall biodiversity.

WCS Adirondack Program Director Zoe Smith said, "The Adirondack Park is one of the last large, intact, wild ecosystems in the northeastern United States, and it is becoming increasingly important as we face global threats like climate change. As we strive to find a healthy balance between conservation and the needs of humans within the park, we need to fully understand the impacts of different development patterns. This research is another step toward that understanding and can help inform decisions on development and land-use in this rural landscape."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Wildlife Conservation Society, via Newswise.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Michale J. Glennon, Heidi E. Kretser. Size of the ecological effect zone associated with exurban development in the Adirondack Park, NY. Landscape and Urban Planning, 2013; 112: 10 DOI: 10.1016/j.landurbplan.2012.12.008

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Li8Wee4mNTQ/130225131535.htm

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Paul Russell: Euthanasia's euphemisms

Here's a great summary of the changes in language employed by those who support changes to the law. This is a time-honoured campaigning tool for anyone who has ever tried to win an argument - but when dealing with life and death - it's just not appropriate.

When a social movement must rely on euphemisms to obfuscate its goals, it is a good bet that there is something wrong with its agenda. From the very beginning of the modern movement, euthanasia advocates have euphemistically bent language as a means of convincing society to endorse killing?an accurate and descriptive term that simply means to end life?as an acceptable method of ending human suffering.

Euthanasia, from the Greek, literally means ?good death.? As the historian Ian Dowbiggin has noted, the term once described ?a calm and easy? natural death at home, ?so family members and friends could say their farewells.?

That changed after an 1870 essay by a teacher named Samuel D. Williams was published arguing that the value of human life depends on whether it is ?worthwhile??an idea known today as the ?quality of life ethic??and moreover, that mercy killing and assisted suicide should be allowed for those who are ?hopelessly suffering.? The essay went viral?to use today?s terminology?and within a few years, the word euthanasia had taken on its modern meaning. The euthanasia movement has been coining new definitions and idioms ever since.

The movement?s latest euphemistic phrase is ?aid in dying,? promoted most prominently by the (euphemistically) named assisted suicide advocacy organization Compassion and Choices (which came into being after a merger with the more descriptively named Hemlock Society). According to C&C, when a terminally ill patient swallows an intentionally prescribed lethal overdose of barbiturates, it isn?t really suicide. Why? Because the word ?suicide? has negative connotations, and C&C wants people to feel positive about some self-killings.

Here?s the idea: A terminally ill patient doesn?t really want to die, but has no choice. Hence, taking an intentionally prescribed lethal overdose of ?medication??another euphemism, since the purpose is not to treat but to poison oneself?doesn?t constitute suicide. Thus, in a C&C press release from a few years ago boosting use of ?aid in dying,? the (late) Peter Goodwin, a prominent assisted suicide-participating doctor, said, ?As a physician, I resent the term ?physician-assisted suicide.? I never felt I was assisting a suicidal patient, but rather aiding a patient with his or her end of life choice.? Since then, ?aid in dying? has become ubiquitous in media stories and assisted suicide advocacy.

Note that Goodwin?s complaint had nothing to do with accuracy and everything to do with emotions. He ?feels? rather than ?thinks.? And that?s how C&C wants listeners and readers to react?emotionally rather than rationally?toward the end that people are more likely to approve of legalizing assisted suicide if it isn?t called what it actually is.

But surely, accurate language must still mean something in public policy debates. Suicide is defined as ?the act or an instance of taking one?s own life voluntarily and intentionally especially by a person of years of discretion and of sound mind.? Thus, under C&C?s reckoning, if the distraught owner of, say, a failed business intentionally takes an overdose of prescribed sleeping pills, it?s suicide. But if the same man takes the pills because he has cancer, and the doctor prescribed the pills for that purpose, it isn?t suicide. That?s nonsensical.

Assisted suicide proponents claim that changing the lexicon is necessary to avoid furthering a supposed stigma associated with suicide. I am not sure whether that stigma exists anymore. But if some suicidal people don?t kill themselves because they worry what others might think, why is that so bad? I mean, the outcome is a saved or extended life. Indeed, many once-suicidal terminally ill people later come to be glad that they didn?t do the deed. Aren?t their lives worth protecting?

I want to make it very clear that I don?t think we should judge or condemn anyone who is suicidal or commits suicide. None of us knows what our own emotional limits might be. Given sufficient despair, fear, or pain, any of us might be attracted to the siren song of self-destruction. The good news is that such causes of despair can often be treated and overcome?including in the dying.

The real issue, then, is how we react to our brothers and sisters who have fallen into a darkness sufficient to make them want to end it all. Should we engage in suicide prevention for all, or only for some? I believe that the dying deserve to have their suicidal desires treated just as seriously as the despairing widow or the troubled teen.

That?s certainly the hospice philosophy, the truly compassionate approach to terminal illness. In contrast to assisted suicide?which is about dying?hospice is about living. Hospice does not seek to simply ?extend life? but maintain its quality to the natural end, and that explicitly includes suicide prevention.

Assisted suicide is suicide.The term is descriptive and accurate. When legalized, it amounts to state-approved suicide, an issue too culturally consequential for us to allow gooey euphemisms to serve as the sugar that helps the bitter hemlock go down.

Wesley J. Smith is a senior fellow at the Discovery Institute?s Center on Human Exceptionalism. He also consults for the Patients Rights Council and the Center for Bioethics and Culture. His previous ?On the Square? articles can be found here.?

Source: http://blog.noeuthanasia.org.au/2013/02/euthanasias-euphemisms.html

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Oscars' Five Funniest Moments: Seth MacFarlane, Halle Berry's 'Pussy Galore'

By Ryan J. Downey

Seth MacFarlane at the 2013 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1702558/oscars-funniest-moments-2013.jhtml

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'Amour' wins Oscar for best foreign language film

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Michael Haneke's brutal depiction of an aging couple, "Amour," has won the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

It's the second time an Austrian film has won the best foreign language film award, following "The Counterfeiters" in 2008.

Though "Amour" was Austria's submission, it was a multinational production. The film's German-born director is Austrian, but it's in French and stars two French film legends, Emmanuelle Riva and Jean-Louis Trintignant.

They play a loving, elderly Parisian couple, one of whom has a stroke. "Amour" won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, and received a total of five Oscar nominations, including best picture.

The other nominees Sunday night were Norway's "Kon-Tiki," Chile's "No," Denmark's "A Royal Affair" and Canada's "War Witch."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amour-wins-oscar-best-foreign-language-film-025334688.html

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UFC 157 results: Ronda Rousey worried about sports bra as much as Liz Carmouche

UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey had more than opponent Liz Carmouche to worry about in their UFC 157 bout. She was also worried about a possible wardrobe malfunction.

Ronda Rousey proved to UFC fans that she's a force to be reckoned with by pulling off a first-round armbar victory over Liz Carmouche late in the first round of their UFC 157 main event fight. Rousey was in a bit of trouble early in the bout for a couple of reasons though. One was the fact that Carmouche was on her back hunting for a choke. The other was a the threat of a wardrobe malfunction. Rousey explained the situation to Ariel Helwani on Fuel's UFC 157 post-fight show:

"I was thinking about my bra, actually. I kept thinking, I didn't order this one myself, so they gave me my weigh in bra for the fight. If you look back, I was adjusting myself at one point while she was on my back. Multitasking!"

She also went into more detail about the whole UFC experience, and the fight itself:

"I was trying just to ignore everything until I was out there. It was weird. I was in there just yesterday so it felt like a familiar place. It didn't seem odd at all. I think I was less nervous. I think I was most nervous for the Julia Budd fight, way back, I don't know why I was so nervous for that one. On the ground I feel so comfortable. I don't ever feel like I'm in danger, so I don't mind taking a lot of risks. I felt fine with her on my back, I was thinking more about keeping my sports bra up while she is trying to choke me. I felt very safe and in control even though it didn't look like that."

Rousey (7-0) is expected to face the winner of the Cat Zingano-Miesha Tate bout for her next title defense.

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Source: http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2013/2/24/4023638/ufc-157-results-ronda-rousey-sports-bra-liz-carmouche

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North Korea warns U.S. forces of 'destruction' ahead of war drills

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea on Sunday warned the top U.S. military commander stationed in South Korea that his forces would "meet a miserable destruction" if they go ahead with scheduled military drills with South Korean troops, North Korean state media said.

Pak Rim-su, chief delegate of the North Korean military mission to the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom, gave the message by phone to Gen. James Thurman, the commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, KCNA news agency said.

It came amid escalating tension on the divided Korean peninsula after the North's third nuclear test earlier this month, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, drew harsh international condemnation.

A direct message from the North's Panmunjom mission to the U.S. commander is rare.

North and South Korea are technically still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command is holding an annual computer-based simulation war drill, Key Resolve, from March 11 to 25, involving 10,000 South Korean and 3,500 U.S. troops.

The command also plans to hold Foal Eagle joint military exercises involving land, sea and air manoeuvres. About 200,000 Korean troops and 10,000 U.S. forces are expected to be mobilized for the two month-long exercise which starts on March 1.

"If your side ignites a war of aggression by staging the reckless joint military exercises...at this dangerous time, from that moment your fate will be hung by a thread with every hour," Pak was quoted as saying.

"You had better bear in mind that those igniting a war are destined to meet a miserable destruction."

Washington and Seoul regularly hold military exercises which they say are purely defensive. North Korea, which has stepped up its bellicose threats towards the United States and South Korea in recent months, sees them as rehearsals for invasion.

North Korea threatened South Korea with "final destruction" during a debate at the U.N. Conference on Disarmament on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Sung-won Shim; Editing by Nick Macfie)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/north-korea-warns-u-forces-destruction-ahead-war-071306123.html

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