fiat_lux

joined 1 year ago
[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 16 points 4 months ago

I appreciate you

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

For sure, I just get antsy when peer review doesn't come from from external sources

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 133 points 4 months ago (6 children)

Hm, 5 year old journal, with the editor board, funding and half of the authors all from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, but significant hospital contribution. I remain skeptical of the headline but hopeful of the science.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 11 points 4 months ago

It starts before birth. Low socio-economic status affects the health of pregnant people, which in turn has consequences for foetal development. Stress is a big trigger for various latent congenital issues, and that's one reason climate change is going to result in increased rates of disease.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 13 points 4 months ago

Not just a defense witness, a former federal prosecutor. A judge had to tell a former federal prosecutor “And then if you don’t like my ruling, you don’t give me side eye and you don’t roll your eyes.” like he was a pouty teenager.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 1 points 4 months ago

Which kind? We've got bunches. The sulphur crested are the most famous, and they are great but can be vandals

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 3 points 4 months ago

Oh no, i got to see them. This was a decade ago, and I was told even then that there used to be many more. I was happy to see any at all though, I had only ever seen them in movies and they almost seemed mythical. They are pretty magical, it's very sad to hear they're almost gone.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 7 points 4 months ago

Seeing a chipmunk was the same for me. And goddamn are they cute, I had no idea they were so small and precious. Alvin and the chipmunks are monstrosities by comparison.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 13 points 4 months ago (2 children)

The bin chickens are my kin, I'm in the small minority here who appreciate them.

And yeah, the flying foxes are a surprise for most foreigners. They're also pretty big and often fly low at dusk, so they can be slightly startling too, even though they're just adorable fuzzy harmless nectar drinkers. It's a pity they screech too, it might be easier to reassure non-locals that they're not dangerous.

People are also often surprised to see all the other Sydney city wildlife and how much of it there is, especially rainbow lorrikeets. Everyone loves the lorrikeets, but people from the northern hemisphere are especially awestruck when they see them. It's understandably almost a little surreal to have such brightly colored parrots hanging out in the middle of a city, if you're someone who comes from a city that is just pigeons and sparrows.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 9 points 4 months ago

If you want to see a croc, just go walking near the shallow water of the top half of the country's coast. You won't see the croc for long, and it will be the last thing you ever see, but it will be up close and very personal.

Seriously though, you don't go to see salt water crocodiles in the wild or even go near any body of water on the northern coast. If you can see one with the naked eye in the wild, you're already too close. They're extremely fast, extremely aggressive, and the males get up to 6m / 20ft long and 1000kg / 2200lb. They are very much a zoo only thing.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 62 points 4 months ago (17 children)

I was excited to see squirrels, lightning bugs and a racoon in the US.

When people come to Australia they obviously want to see kangaroos, koalas and platypus and quokka. Koalas are very rare to see in the wild, and a visit to a zoo will score you a sleeping ball on a branch. Kangaroos are frequently roadkill if you go outside the city. Quokka require a long trip to a really remote location. You'll also almost never see a platypus, even the ones at the zoo you might catch a water ripple at best.

But if you're headed to Sydney city, guaranteed you'll spot the almighty and much maligned "bin chicken", our Australian white ibis. Often not quite white from the bins. At night they serenade you with their collective honking from their tree, which can be easily spotted by the masses of white poop underneath. And you'll see fruit bats in the evening. Hopefully not the daytime corpses hanging from electrical cables while they slowly rot, but that's not altogether unlikely either, unfortunately.

[–] fiat_lux@kbin.social 9 points 4 months ago (2 children)

There's a person who has been living a mostly normal life with 90% of his brain missing. Perhaps we could just re-examine society's ableism and how we design our systems of government to allow single points of failure instead? RFK Jr. has terrible opinions, but also had them before having a literal brain worm.

 

My feed is filled with bad news, which is my fault for using the fediverse as a news feed, but it made me wonder: Which organisations, groups or individual people in the world are doing the most good for our world? I'm particularly interested in those who manage to do good on a larger impact scale (quantity or quality), but if the unknown person on your street who fosters kittens is a great example, I'd love to hear about them too.

Mr. Rogers told me to look for the helpers in times of trouble. Tell me about your favorite helpers!

 
 
 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a new pact with the low-lying island country of Tuvalu, allowing residents facing displacement from climate change the ability resettle in Australia.

Key points:

  • The deal is the first time Australia has offered residence or citizenship rights due to the threat posed by climate change
  • The US and New Zealand have similar agreements with other Pacific countries
  • Mr Albanese described it as the most significant agreement between Australia and a Pacific island nation ever

I think it's also worth noting that in return they're handing over their foreign policy / security decision autonomy, so colonialism once again manages to mar an otherwise humane decision. The IMF is getting their own policy pound of flesh too, they love a good bit of disaster capitalism.

 

Urine samples collected from wild chimpanzees in Uganda over decades have revealed older female chimps undergo hormonal changes much like those in menopausal humans.

 

Title changed from original for better internationalisation, because the ABC hates assuming you see their articles outside of their specific site categories.

Original linked article title:

"Pride, but also grief': Government to start taskforce following disability royal commission final report

Linked article lead paragraph:

After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change.

Some numbers from the Inquiry itself:

  • 222 recommendations (mostly for federal government)
  • 32 public hearings
  • 7,944 submissions from the public received
  • 17,824 Phone enquiries
  • 1,785 Private sessions held

Some of the findings:

  • There are around 4.4 million people with disability in Australia, or 18% of the total population. Reflecting that disability increases with age, the number of people with disability falls to 2.4 million when we look at people aged under 65 years. This is 12% of this age category.
  • Around 35% of First Nations people under 65 had disability in 2018–19, nearly three times higher than the general population. Children accounted for 24% of all First Nations people with disability.
  • As at 31 December 2022, there were 573,342 participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
  • Across all age groups, people with disability experience considerably higher rates of violence than people without disability. People with disability also experience violence more frequently. This is unacceptable.
  • Rates of violence are particularly high for: Women with psychological or intellectual disability, First Nations women with disability, young women with disability.
  • Neglect of people with disability occurs in multiple forms and across different stages of their lives. We heard of many instances of people being deprived of necessities of life and assistance with daily activities. We also heard of systemic failures to provide an environment for each person to maximise their potential.
  • The data on exploitation of people with disability is limited. However, people with disability shared with us experiences of both sexual and financial exploitation by other individuals.

Some of the recommendations (my summary):

  • A new Australian Disability Rights Act
  • Intersectionality, especially with First Nations peoples
  • Legal obligation to prove 'unjustifiable hardship' as reason for not making accommodations for a person with disability
  • Alter the migration act to prevent systemic disability discrimination, (amongst many other laws)
  • Requiring the government to provide interpreters, both spoken language and sign language
  • Transitioning to non-segregated education settings
  • Transitioning to removal of 'group homes'
  • Creating a National Disability Commission as an independent statutory body to monitor outcomes, with a majority leadership by people with disabilities
  • Legal obligations for guardians to show they're attempting to act in the best interests of their guardee
  • An extra $36 million in funding for disablity advocacy and insurance programs
  • Making a number of restraint techniques and solitary confinement illegal in health, justice and education settings
  • laws to prevent non-therapeutic permanent non-consensual sterilisation of people with disability
  • Increased housing protections for tenants with disability
  • teacher, police and healthcare worker training and requirements, especially around cognitive disabilities
  • a registration system for disability support workers that defines their roles and requirements and gives them benefits like sick leave and retirement savings
  • lots more data and reporting being published by the government
  • way better complaints processes and investigations
  • targets for disability employment at all levels of public service, including executives
  • so many more, ~~read the article or inquiry links if you're keen.~~

Edited to add: A better breakdown of recommendations by category instead of my casual list

 

Title changed from original for better internationalisation, because the ABC hates assuming you see their articles outside of their specific site categories.

Original linked article title:

"Pride, but also grief': Government to start taskforce following disability royal commission final report

Linked article lead paragraph:

After an inquiry lasting four and a half years, the royal commission makes 222 recommendations for change.

Some numbers from the Inquiry itself:

  • 222 recommendations (mostly for federal government)
  • 32 public hearings
  • 7,944 submissions from the public received
  • 17,824 Phone enquiries
  • 1,785 Private sessions held

Some of the findings:

  • There are around 4.4 million people with disability in Australia, or 18% of the total population. Reflecting that disability increases with age, the number of people with disability falls to 2.4 million when we look at people aged under 65 years. This is 12% of this age category.
  • Around 35% of First Nations people under 65 had disability in 2018–19, nearly three times higher than the general population. Children accounted for 24% of all First Nations people with disability.
  • As at 31 December 2022, there were 573,342 participants in the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
  • Across all age groups, people with disability experience considerably higher rates of violence than people without disability. People with disability also experience violence more frequently. This is unacceptable.
  • Rates of violence are particularly high for: Women with psychological or intellectual disability, First Nations women with disability, young women with disability.
  • Neglect of people with disability occurs in multiple forms and across different stages of their lives. We heard of many instances of people being deprived of necessities of life and assistance with daily activities. We also heard of systemic failures to provide an environment for each person to maximise their potential.
  • The data on exploitation of people with disability is limited. However, people with disability shared with us experiences of both sexual and financial exploitation by other individuals.

Some of the recommendations (my summary):

  • A new Australian Disability Rights Act
  • Intersectionality, especially with First Nations peoples
  • Legal obligation to prove 'unjustifiable hardship' as reason for not making accommodations for a person with disability
  • Alter the migration act to prevent systemic disability discrimination, (amongst many other laws)
  • Requiring the government to provide interpreters, both spoken language and sign language
  • Transitioning to non-segregated education settings
  • Transitioning to removal of 'group homes'
  • Creating a National Disability Commission as an independent statutory body to monitor outcomes, with a majority leadership by people with disabilities
  • Legal obligations for guardians to show they're attempting to act in the best interests of their guardee
  • An extra $36 million in funding for disablity advocacy and insurance programs
  • Making a number of restraint techniques and solitary confinement illegal in health, justice and education settings
  • laws to prevent non-therapeutic permanent non-consensual sterilisation of people with disability
  • Increased housing protections for tenants with disability
  • teacher, police and healthcare worker training and requirements, especially around cognitive disabilities
  • a registration system for disability support workers that defines their roles and requirements and gives them benefits like sick leave and retirement savings
  • lots more data and reporting being published by the government
  • way better complaints processes and investigations
  • targets for disability employment at all levels of public service, including executives
  • so many more.

Edited to add: A better breakdown of recommendations by category instead of my casual list

 

I put a bait and switch in your bait and switch so you could bait while you switch.

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