World News

>Countries’ leaders should speed up action to shift people’s diets towards more plant-based foods to reduce the risks of future pandemics breaking out, according to a new report by campaigners.

>Global intensive animal farming, in which thousands of animals are kept in close proximity, causing high stress levels, is the perfect breeding ground for more novel viruses to emerge, says the white paper by Humane Society International.

>The document identifies five key “pandemic risks” created by factory farming that it says create a “petri dish” for pathogens to erupt, mutate and spread:

• confining vast numbers of stressed animals indoors creates novel viral strains because their immune systems are weakened so they succumb to viruses easily
  
• expanding farms into previously wild areas brings wild and domestic species together, allowing diseases to jump
  
• concentrating animal farms in an area increases the risk of pathogens spreading
  
• the global live animal trade, in which huge numbers of live animals are transported globally, allows viruses to travel
  
• agricultural fairs and auctions and live animal markets where the public get close to species from different places, let viruses proliferate.
  

>UN experts have previously said that industrial animal farming has caused most new infectious diseases in humans in the past decade – and risks starting new pandemics.

>In addition, some of the world’s leading scientists , from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), have warned that future pandemics are likely to be more frequent, spread more rapidly and kill more people if humanity fails to transform how it is damaging the environment and exploiting wildlife.

>Outbreaks of dangerous new diseases with the potential to become pandemics are on the rise, having become four times as frequent in the past half-century.

>A survey has found that almost half of Britons who eat meat feel hypocritical for loving animals while eating others.

>When asked how strongly they agree with the statement “it’s hypocritical that we eat some animals, such as pigs, while loving others, such as dogs, and keeping them as pets”, 47.8 per cent of respondents either slightly or strongly agreed.

>wannabe school shooter
>typical chud
>$509,000 family inheritance rich kid
>also a pedophile

>The saga of the United States military’s attempts to recruit young people by streaming on Twitch is full of twists and turns. Over the summer, the Army and Navy’s Twitch channels were flooded with messages about America’s copious war crimes, questions that almost always resulted in bans. But since these bans arguably straddled the line of free speech violations, the Navy is asking its streamers to adopt a different tactic when viewers bring up the military’s past atrocities: act like complete fucking babies about it.

>In training documents acquired by journalist Micah Loewinger, the Navy details how it wants its streamers to react to questions about the United States military, specifically the common “What’s your favorite U.S. war crime?” question that continues to plague these channels. I never expected the grunts they put in front of a camera to sell kids on conducting imperialism to have meaningful conversations, but I’m still surprised by how whiny and feckless they come off.

>One response reads, “I am here to hang out with people like me who love gaming. If you want to know more about my life in the Navy, I am happy to discuss. But I will not speak on behalf of others.”

>They are very much not streaming just to meet and chat with fellow gamers. As with military recruitment at esports and other gaming events, these Twitch streams are all about putting a friendly face on an inherently predatory act, not to mention one that overwhelmingly targets those from poor and minority backgrounds.

>Despite the attempts of politicians like congresswoman Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez to keep the United States military from recruiting on Twitch, it seems like channels from the Army and Navy are here to stay. And as with every carefully planned marketing strategy, it’s obvious these organizations are going to want their propagandists to stay on message rather than dispute viewers. It’s almost as if there’s no arguing that our armed forces are a force for evil in this world. It’s almost as if there’s no defense for their presence on Twitch.

>It’s almost as if they plan to continue committing war crimes in perpetuity, hoping that a few streamers shouting, “Poggers!” as they mow down virtual insurgents in Call of Duty can continue to provide grist for the meat grinder.