The 2022 NBA All-Star Game is less than a month away, as the festivities in Cleveland are lined up for February 20 (pushed back a week from usual now that the Super Bowl is a week later with the NFL’s new 18-game schedule).
Over the next few weeks, we’ll learn what players will be making the pilgrimage to northeast Ohio to participate in the various events, from the revamped Rising Stars Game to the Saturday night competitions to the game itself on Sunday. Thursday brought word of the first 10 players who will be heading to Cleveland as the All-Star starters (albeit with at least one likely to be replaced due to injury).
The Inside the NBA crew unveiled the starters (delivered in a fancy locked briefcase to ensure no leaks) on Thursday night and there were few surprises. As a reminder, the starters are determined by the fan vote (50 percent), player vote (25 percent), and media vote (25 percent). We’ve gotten weekly fan voting updates throughout the process, so we were aware of who was in the drivers seat for spots, and there only seemed like one position of real question, with Andrew Wiggins holding the third West frontcourt spot with the fans.
Along with the questions about the final West frontcourt spot behind LeBron James and Nikola Jokic, there was some intrigue regarding potential first-time All-Stars landing spots, namely Ja Morant.
EAST
Kevin Durant (captain)
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Joel Embiid
DeMar DeRozan
Trae Young
WEST
LeBron James (captain)
Nikola Jokic
Andrew Wiggins
Stephen Curry
Ja Morant
Wiggins remained in that third frontcourt spot the fans had him in, as the West frontcourt picture beyond Jokic and James was muddied by injuries to the usual suspects (Anthony Davis, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, etc.) and Wiggins’ career-year on one of the league’s best teams earned him the nod.
Wiggins is joined by fellow first-time All-Star Morant, who has jumped into not just All-Star position but a starting spot with his play this season. Young, meanwhile, earns a second starting nod (after missing out on the All-Star Game last year). The backcourts in both conferences are loaded with talent and securing a spot from the fan/player/media vote is important because there will undoubtedly be a player or two from each conference who felt they belonged as All-Stars this year who will miss out when the reserves are announced.
The Golden Girls icon Betty White passed away on the last day of 2021, a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday. It’s impossible to sum up all of her achievements in an hour-long special — outside of her Emmy-winning TV work, she was also an animal advocate — but NBC will do its best, with some help from the president.
Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl will include tributes from President Joe Biden (who called White a “cultural icon” who “brought a smile to the lips of generations of Americans”), Drew Barrymore, Valerie Bertinelli, Cher, Bryan Cranston, Ted Danson, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, Tina Fey, Ana Gasteyer, Goldie Hawn, Vicki Lawrence, Jane Leeves, Jay Leno, Anthony Mackie, Wendie Malick, Joel McHale, Tracy Morgan, Jean Smart, Mary Steenburgen, and more (like Ryan Reynolds?).
“Co-stars, friends, admirers and those who shared special moments with White recount their favorite memories and reveal untold stories to commemorate the life and legacy of the trailblazing television star,” NBC said in a press release. “The telecast will include clips and never-before-seen footage that best capture White’s irreverent tone, spirit and impeccable comedic timing that are a hallmark of her decades-long career.”
Celebrating Betty White: America’s Golden Girl airs on NBC on Monday, January 31, and will be available the next day on Peacock.
Indie and alt-pop fans are very familiar with the woman that Pitt, 58, is supposedly seeing. Reports from British tabloid The Sun have linked the pair as a couple, citing the fact that Li lives only a three minutes drive from Pitt as how they’ve been able to keep the new romance under wraps. But a source at People insists that they’re just part of the same group of friends, hanging out in a crew that includes Alia Shawkat.
Today, The Daily Mail chimed in on the subjecting, noting that the popular Instagram blog Deux Moi also addressed it and said the pair are only friends. If you want to brush up on your Lykke Li knowledge just in case, please check out her incredible 2014 album I Never Learn, or even 2018’s So Sad So Sexy. Early fans swear by Wounded Rhymes in 2011, or even her debut, Youth Novel from 2008, but I personally believe her latest album is her best.
Beer is a very wide category. Sure, IPAs, lagers, and stouts dominate the conversation in many ways. But for as long as people have been making beer, they’ve been putting everything under the sun into their kettles to make it taste different and, hopefully, really f*cking good.
Today we’re going to take a deep dive into the odd world of brewing. Or rather the world of brewing odd beers, using ingredients like prairie oysters, squid ink, and super hot peppers, just to name a few. To help you expand your palate with out-of-bounds, experimental, and throwback brews, we asked craft beer experts to tell us the strangest beers they’ve ever tried. Check their answers below and try to track a few of these outliers down for yourself.
The beer that sticks out to me — though I’m not sure how “weird” it is –would be Samuel Adams Utopias. It was the first beer I had that really pushed the boundaries of what I thought beer was at the time. It comes in at 28 percent ABV and is served only slightly chilled, so it drinks more like sherry than a beer.
It’s really something special to have been able to try.
A group of us from the brewery were at the Great American Beer Fest in Denver back in 2014 when we won our Gold Medal for Pop’s Porter, and we tried Wynkoop Brewery’s Rocky Mountain Oyster Stout. I mean, you want to talk about strange, put some Rocky Mountain Oysters in, and you got strange.
I do have to say that it’s a great tasting stout. I personally did not pick up any crazy flavors in the beer that I can recall.
One Barrel Curry Crusher
One Barrel
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
The absolute strangest beer I’ve had was called Curry Crusher. It was a one-off batch from a brewery in Madison, WI. Stylistically, it was a brown ale that they infused with curry, sriracha, and a hint of coconut. It was a heavy savory flavor with hints of turmeric and coconut sweetness. If you love curry, then you’d enjoy consuming this beer.
This beer was a total love or hate beer. There was no in-between as it literally tasted like a curry take-out dinner turned into beer.
Weldwerks Spaghetti Gose
Weldwerks
ABV: 4.8%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Who in their right minds would try to make a spaghetti beer? At the Great American Beer Festival in 2018, I waited in line at the WeldWerks booth to finally try some of their beer. Their IPAs were amazing, but the Spaghetti Gose really caught my eye for being just plain wacky. It was clean and smooth with flavors of ripe tomato and basil.
The strangest part was that it was actually refreshing and enjoyable.
Big Alice Nothin To It
Big Alice
Dave Lopez, co-managing partner at Gun Hill Brewing in Bronx, New York
ABV: 6.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
The all-time strangest beer might actually be a beer we made with Big Alice Brewing called Nothin To It. The beer was a gruit, so it contained no hops. We used chamomile, lemon balm, white sage, lavender, coriander, mugwort, juniper berries, elecampane, rosemary, and then some fruit purees. The chamomile, lavender, rosemary, and coriander really came through, so it was unlike anything else I’d ever had.
Normally, I would never order a gruit, so it was definitely over the top for me.
Ithaca Hot and Sour
Ithaca Beer
Joe Connolly, director of Springdale Beer Co. in Framingham, Massachusetts
ABV: 7%
Average Price: No longer available
Why This Beer?
One of my most vivid Extreme Beer Fest memories was of Ithaca Beer Co’s Hot and Sour, a sour ale aged in a Tabasco barrel. Isn’t it strange that Tabasco is, and has always been, barrel-aged?! Anyhow. Hot and sour are not two flavors that coexist very quietly, so this had to be one of the loudest beers I’ve ever had.
Flying Dog Colonel Mustard IPA
Flying Dog
Cooper Asay, head of quality at BrewDog USA in Columbus, Ohio
ABV: 7%
Average Price: No longer Available
Why This Beer?
Flying Dog made a mustard IPA. Fruity and spicy hops with savory mustard notes were interesting, but I’m probably enjoying only one. Sadly, they don’t make this very strange beer anymore. Maybe they’ll bring it back someday.
Twisted Pine Ghost Face Killah
Twisted Pine
Aaron Uhl, owner of Uhl’s Brewing in Boulder, Colorado
Ghost Face Killah by Twisted Pine is hard to beat when it comes to strange beers. What flavors made it so strange? Don’t get me wrong. I love peppers, spicy and the like. My first sip and I was sold. How much spice can one endure? I was willing to find out.
I’ve certainly had some strange brews over the years, but one that springs to mind is the Chapeau Banana, a banana lambic beer from Belgium. The combination of the sourness from the base, lambic-style, and the banana flavoring clashed for me in a big way. The irony is that I love the banana characteristics found in German-style wheat beers, but not with this sour/funky lambic.
It’s not classically ‘strange’ but it uses a strange process in production. While it’s a smoky beer, it’s not a smoked beer. What they do is that they use the yeast from their smoked beers in a helles-style lager. There are absolutely no smoked malts in the recipe, but it still has a light smoky note from the yeast that is used in the other beers and the boiling of the malts in the same kettles that boil their smoked beers. It’s a really interesting process that they started in the last ten years or so, which is a relatively modern invention for a very old brewery.
Jade Mountain Brewery in Aurora, Colorado made Player 456, a Squid Ink Gose. The aroma of it was accurately described by their team as “briny”, the squid ink gave it an off-black color with a bright white head, and when drank the flavor profile was that of a great gose.
Writer’s Pick: Sheetz Project Hop Dog
Sheetz
ABV: 5.5%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Back in the spring of 2020, Sheetz, a convenience store chain known for its over-the-top beer collaborations, paired with Neshaminy Creek Brewing to drop a beer that had a very strange ingredient: hot dogs. This citrusy, floral, highly crushable IPA was dry-hopped with Centennial and Nuggets hops and gets its name from the addition of Sheetz hot dogs added to the brew kettle.
Writer’s Pick: Evil Twin Midtown DEW
Evil Twin
ABV: 6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
Why This Beer?
Take one look at this beer’s can and you can guess why it’s on this list of strange brews. Brewed with milk sugar and actual Mountain Dew Syrup, it’s loaded with nostalgia, lemon, lime, and tropical fruit flavors. It feels like it shouldn’t work, but it totally does.
It tastes much better than the time we mixed Mountain Dew and vodka. That’s for sure.
In Uproxx circles, Denver is known for its panoramic Rocky Mountain views, the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre, access to incredible National Parks, and being early adopters of legal weed and mushrooms. But while these aspects of Denver certainly all ring true, it was the restaurant and bar scenes in the Mile High City that really stood out on my first visit. Every food and drink spot I went to seemed to have its own unique theme, decor style, menu selection, and overall vibe.
More importantly, the standard of dishes was exceptionally high, and that’s coming from someone who is spoiled by the eclectic LA scene. Each location added more character to the already vibrant city. In fact, exploring the different dining and bar options turned out to be my favorite part of the entire trip. It was totally worth the extra few pounds and two-day-long hangover I came home with.
If you’re planning a trip to Denver and want to fill your itinerary with food and drinks that you’ll be thinking about for weeks (or months) after your visit, keep reading my guide below. I’m sharing the best Denver restaurants and bars that every first-time visitor needs to try.
Brunch is the most important meal of the day, especially when it involves bottomless mimosas and boozy morning cocktails. Root Down is a local Denver favorite, and for good reason. Walking into the restaurant feels like stepping back into a classic ’60s diner adorned with garage sale vintage finds. I’m not sure there’s any real theme to Root Down, but that’s what I loved about it. From a wall full of rainbow dial-up phones to the old school photographs hanging in the dining area, Root Down’s ambiance makes for an eclectic start to the day.
As for the actual food and drinks, Root Down offers exactly the kind of fare that I personally always look for and appreciate. The restaurant uses responsibly-grown, veggie-forward ingredients to curate a diverse menu that includes a number of organic and vegan items. All animal proteins used in the non-vegetarian dishes are certified humane, pasture-raised, and vegetarian fed, so you can trust that what you’re actually putting in your stomach is good for you (or at least free of chemicals and hormones). I ordered the Tofu “Paneer” Scrambled — made with harissa, carrots, eggplant, kale, goji berries, chili paneer sauce, tomato, and cilantro chutney. The tofu and veggie medley was surprisingly flavorful and gave me that full belly satisfaction without feeling totally gluttonous.
I paired this with a blood orange mimosa, which was refreshingly delicious, but the menu also serves more eccentric morning cocktails. The Dark Side of the Moon is made with citrus vodka, blackberry liqueur, hibiscus cinnamon syrup, cranberry, and lime juice. That’s one way to start your morning on the right foot.
Check out the full Root Down brunch menu here and make a reservation here.
Barcelona Wine Bar
Barcelona Wine Bar
Barcelona Wine Bar is a Spanish tapas bar and restaurant that feels like a piece of New York City in the middle of Denver. With dim lighting and an industrial design, the elegant restaurant is the perfect place for a date night or celebration. The dinner menu features more than 30 sharable tapas, as well as charcuterie boards, a few large plate options like paella and pimientos, and desserts. My favorite tapas items I tried were the patatas bravas, crispy brussels sprouts, and roasted delicata squash. For how nice the restaurant is, Barcelona Wine Bar’s menu is surprisingly affordable since every plate is easy to split among the table.
Of course, the wine list is the real selling point. It offers an award-winning selection of wines from Spain and South America. Not only that, but Barcelona Wine Bar has one of the largest Spanish wine programs in the U.S. If you’re in the mood for a nice glass of pinot or chardonnay, there really is no better place. I ordered one of the wine flights, which is a great option if you want to try a few different variations without stumbling out of the restaurant.
If you’re not sure exactly what you’re in the mood for when hunger strikes, head to Avanti. It’s a modern-day food hall inspired by European-style marketplaces. Here, you’ll find seven different restaurant concepts housed in modified shipping containers, along with a couple of different bars. From pizza and burgers to fresh poke bowls and arepas, Avanti has something for everyone to enjoy.
Overall, Avanti is affordable, diverse, and casual, making it a great spot to grab lunch and a beer in between activities. It’ll give you the energy you need to explore all the wonders of Downtown Denver.
Learn more about Avanti’s rotating marketplace and stay updated on what’s being served here.
The Corner Office
Chloe Caldwell
If you’re looking for a hearty breakfast, mimosas, and efficient service, book a table at The Corner Office. The popular breakfast joint is a part of The Curtis Hotel, and the entire property is full of quirky color and character. This is the kind of place you want to go on a Sunday morning after a late night out of one too many drinks.
The menu is packed with classic brunch items like steak and eggs, breakfast burritos, breakfast sandwiches, and omelets. I was tempted by the Boston Cream Pie Pancakes, but I ended up going with the Chilaquiles. I devoured my Mexican breakfast that consisted of corn tortilla chips, eggs, salsa verde and guajillo, pepper jack, roasted corn pico de gallo, and crema Mexicana. It was the spicy, carb-loaded concoction I needed to cure the next-day headache. Make sure to order a side of “Office Browns” — AKA, breakfast potatoes. I’m not exaggerating when I say these were some of the best potatoes I’ve had. They’re spiced and deep-fried to crispy perfection. I honestly could have just eaten two plate fulls of these and been happy with my meal.
To drink, you can order mimosas, breakfast cocktails, or a full-on glass of wine first thing in the morning if you really wanted to (I’m not judging!). The brunch drink menu even offers a selection of signature martinis, such as the Morning Meeting, made with New Amsterdam gin, lime juice, house raspberry syrup, and house ginger syrup, or the Flight Delay, made with Knob Creek bourbon, Aperol, Amaro Nonino, and lemon juice.
Check out The Corner Office’s full menu here, and book a room at The Curtis here.
Terminal Bar
Terminal Bar
Whether you just arrived in town by train or you’re on your way out, the Terminal Bar is well worth a visit. Located within Downtown Denver’s Union Station, which is a 100-year-old historic landmark, Terminal Bar offers a chic place to grab lunch, sip on a libation, and people-watch the hurried travelers pass through. For an appetizer, you need to order the Roasted Butternut Squash Hummus. Made with sage oil, pomegranate, feta crumble, and toasted pumpkin seeds, and served with warm pita bread and vegetables, this sharable dish tastes like everything you love about fall. I also ordered the Harvest Farro salad, which was refreshing, nutritious, and filling. As for the main course, you can’t go wrong with the Crispy Fish Tacos or one of the burgers (classic or veggie).
There’s no shortage of drink options on the menu, either. The Terminal Bar’s extensive draft beer collection features craft beers from many local Colorado breweries and microbreweries. Many of the bar’s selection of spirits are distilled in Colorado as well, so you’ll also want to try one of the signature cocktails. I’m not much of a beer gal, so I ordered the Jalisco Sunset, a combination of Volcan Blanco Tequila, turmeric, lemongrass, ginger, orange juice, lime juice, and beet juice. The mix of bitter and fruity ingredients gave a tart kick that complemented my meal.
To peruse the full Terminal Bar food and drink menu, click here.
Improper City doubles as a coffee bar and a taproom, so you can check it out any time of the day. The property features large-scale, beer garden-like seating areas both inside and outdoors, so you can savor your beer no matter what the unpredictable Denver weather might bring while you’re in town. With 36 taps, a full bar selection, and a seasonally rotating menu of specialty cocktails, every kind of drinker will be satisfied. When the drunchies kick in (drunk munchies), head to the food trucks outside for a bite of local fare.
This is the perfect place to kick off a Denver bar crawl, although you may end up wanting to stay here the whole night.
Learn more about Improper City’s beer selection, property, food selection, and events here.
Honey Elixir
Honey Elixir
For an intimate setting infused with good energy, make your way to Honey Elixir — but get there early, as the property is small and the line builds up fast! The bar’s ambiance is immediately compelling, with a luxury funk-inspired aesthetic, sage scents dancing through the air, and crystals eloquently placed throughout the bar.
Honey Elixir’s carefully crafted collection of unique and obscure beverages are, “intended to elevate and enhance the human experience.” That’s a lofty goal for a cocktail, but the beverages I had really did challenge my palate in a good way. I ordered the RiNo Shrub, made with Blanco tequila, ancho cherry shrub, lime, clover honey, and black lava sea salt. The eccentric mix of flavors was confusing and intensely satisfying at the same time.
If you want to skip the booze, order one of Honey Elixier’s non-alcoholic “Potions.” These elixirs are intentionally crafted with “energetic and vibrational” ingredients like flowers and crystals to evoke deeper thoughts and feelings. Not sure if there’s anything to it, because I was already buzzed by the time I tried one of these.
Learn more and browse the full Honey Elixir cocktail and potion menu here.
Sports Column
Sports Column
This is the sports bar I got dragged into to watch the first round of the NFL Playoffs. Fortunately, Sports Column turned out to be a really cool spot, and anyone who wants to catch a game while in town will enjoy their time here. The main area is filled with all the flat-screen TVs, athletic memorabilia, and casual atmosphere you’d expect from a classic sports bar. What makes it stand out is the indoor basketball hoop, the rooftop seating area (a great photo-op spot during sunset), and the live DJ that plays during commercial breaks.
The food and drink menu doesn’t disappoint either, especially if you’re in the mood for some greasy comfort food. Between the loaded tots, wings, burgers, and fried pickles, you’re sure to find something deliciously unhealthy to snack on during the game. You’ll also find a decent selection of draft beers and classic cocktails on the menu. Plus, Sports Column has special happy hour deals during football games.
To browse the full Sports Column menu, click here.
Beer lovers definitely need to make a stop at Ratio Beerwoks during their stay in Denver. It’s a local microbrewery with a state-of-the-art 20 barrel system. You can get a taste of the Ratio Beerworks brew in the property’s main taproom, which welcomes a crowd of punk and indie enthusiasts, as well as anyone who just appreciates great beer. No matter your style preference, it’s a great casual gathering place to drink a few beers with friends.
On occasion, the taproom features live music by local Denver bands, so you might also get a taste of the city’s music scene while you sip your cold one. If you plan to hit up Barcelona Wine Bar for dinner, Ratio Beerworks is a great post-dinner hangout spot, as they’re right next door to each other.
For a late night of live music, classic dive bar vibes, and partying, you’ll want to check out Larimer Lounge. The 1890s cocktail lounge, music venue, and outdoor patio space is in the heart of Denver’s RiNo District (River North Art District), which is known for its happening bar scene. Larimer Lounge mostly puts on punk rock and alternative shows, which are always packed to the brim on weekends.
If you find yourself in town during a concert, you’re sure to be in for a fun time. Aside from the live music, you can also check out Larimer Lounge for daytime drinks, happy hour deals, and chilling out on the outdoor patio.
With the massive (and slightly unexpected) success of Peacemaker on HBO Max, The Suicide Squad director James Gunn has confirmed that they are “working on something else” that is connected to the DC Universe.
Gunn was on the most recent episodes of Deadline’s podcast Hero Nation, where he seemingly confirmed that there was another series in the works. According to Deadline, HBO asked Gunn to move forward with an idea for another series set around one of the main characters from TheSuicide Squad.
“I can’t say anything,” the director said, adding that it would look quite different than Peacemaker. “It won’t be as much a comedy as Peacemaker, but it will be in the same universe.”
Speaking of Peacemaker, there was also the question of whether the John Cena series, would be picked up for a second season. The series premiered earlier this month. “There’s a really good chance of that,” Gunn said. “The show is doing extraordinarily well, and we’re excited, we all like doing it, we just need to cross some Ts and dot some Is, which is basically me,” the director added. “[Peacemaker] got more subscribers for HBO, billions of people saw it on HBO; for Peacemaker it worked out really well.”
The National Butterfly Center is located in Mission, Texas, a short distance from the border between the Lone Star State and Mexico. The 100-acre preserve is home to hundreds of types of butterflies, but that didn’t stop former-president Donald Trump from wanting to desecrate the grounds with a border wall between the countries.
“[The border wall] directly impacts the health of the ecosystem and the abundance of breeding and feeding areas for our native wildlife,” Marianna Trevino-Wright, executive director of the National Butterfly Center, told Valley Central.
The butterfly haven is also being threatened by MAGA cultists, who believe the site is being used to smuggle sex traffickers across the border. For the safety of its employees, the center is closing from January 28-30 ahead of the “We Stand America” event.
“We are writing to let you know the National Butterfly Center will be closed Friday, Jan. 28 – Sunday, Jan. 30, due to credible threats we have received from a former state official, regarding activities planned by the We Stand America event, taking place in McAllen, TX,” the NBC wrote in a message. “This MAGA, mid-term election rally, hosted by Trump’s former National Security Advisor and pardoned-criminal, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn, is the national, kick-off event for what they are calling their ‘Take Action Tour.’ You may visit the website to see the rogue’s gallery of featured speakers and presenters at what is sure to be an inflammatory exercise in free, hate-speech.”
The center learned of the event after a congressional candidate from Virginia allegedly attempted to run over Treviño-Wright’s son:
We were alerted to this event on Friday, Jan. 21, following a visit by a congressional candidate from Virginia. She appeared with a friend, who claimed to be a Secret Service agent, and demanded access to the river so they could “see the rafts with the illegal crossing” our property… When asked to leave, they attempted to film Marianna, while reiterating the malicious and defamatory lies of Steve Bannon and Brian Kolfage, whose concerted, public attacks against the North American Butterfly Association, the National Butterfly Center, and our director, Marianna, remain the subject of the lawsuit we have brought against their “dark money” fundraising organization, We Build the Wall.
As the Virginia candidate fled the center, she tried to run over Marianna’s son, who was filling in at the visitor’s pavilion. Nick was trying to close the front gate to prevent the candidate and her friend from leaving with Marianna’s phone, which they had taken from her after knocking her to the ground outside the pavilion. All of this was caught on our security cameras, and the visitor who witnessed the attempted aggravated assault with a deadly weapon on Nick called 9-11. It took Mission Police Department more than an hour to respond…
Treviño-Wright made the decision to close for the upcoming weekend when she was told to “be armed at all times or out of town this weekend” because the We Stand America events include a Trump Train-style caravan to the border, and the center “would likely be a stop on this ‘take action tour,’ and she and the center are targets.” Very normal stuff for a BUTTERFLY CENTER to have to worry about.
You can find out more here:
URGENT NOTICE! National Butterfly Center CLOSED Jan 28-30 due to credible threats. Please read more & SHARE here: https://t.co/joMfYz4Zya
imagine being so morally bankrupt that you threaten the lives & safety of people who work at a *butterfly sanctuary.* these unhinged lunatics need to be arrested for making terroristic threats. https://t.co/gFTsIuexex
Steve Bannon & Michael Flynn are a national threat. They are going to get the employees of a butterfly sanctuary killed from the conspiracies these two produce. They have already been assaulted by GOP candidates. We have to put a stop to these conspiracy theorists & their grifts. https://t.co/1WUWfqOyha
Trump’s goons are harassing and threatening a butterfly refuge in TX, convinced it’s a hub of human trafficking. Their statement here says one of these psychos tried to run over the refuge director’s son https://t.co/JaZ6CH05Ia
Thanks to their cultish devotion to pushing Donald Trump‘s election fraud claims, Mike Lindell, Rudy Giuliani, and Sidney “The Kraken” Powell are staring down the barrel of billion dollar defamation suits for accusing voting software companies like Dominion of conspiring with foreign countries to help Joe Biden “steal” the 2020 election. To the surprise of no one, the three of them are not faring well.
During a recent discovery report, Giuliani and Powell have been reportedly stalling through various bizarre tactics, according to Above the Law. While Giuliani has essentially tried to claim that the FBI raid on his office last Spring caused him to lose sensitive documents, Powell is still trying to conduct on Dominion in an effort to prove that its software systems is vulnerable to foreign intervention. In other words, she’s still going strong on the Big Lie.
As for Lindell, well, he’s just straight up making up his own legal rules as he goes along and threatening to go to the Supreme Court at every turn. Essentially, Lindell is arguing that he’s going to appeal everything, so he shouldn’t have to participate in discovery. (It doesn’t work like that.) He’s also renegotiating agreements on the fly, with no one else involved, which you also cannot do. Via Above the Law:
Lindell’s actual position here appears to be that, if you retroactively decide that it wasn’t a Rule 26(f) discovery conference, then you can refuse to comply with discovery forever.
GALAXY BRAIN.
According to the other parties, Lindell promises that “if this Court orders Lindell and MyPillow to participate in discovery before their appeal is fully resolved, they will also appeal that order” and that “they are seriously taking appeals from both orders all the way to the United States Supreme Court, if need be.”
In short, the legal proceedings is exactly the kind of circus you’d expect from having Lindell, Guiliani, and Powell in the same room. Minus anyone oozing dye from their skull, so far.
It’s true that much of our wildlife is in danger. Like, an alarmingly large amount. In 2021 alone, 22 species were declared extinct in the United States.
And globally, Earth is facing what scientists refer to as its “sixth mass extinction,” primarily thanks to human activity. You know, deforestation, climate change, overconsumption, overpopulation, industrial farming, poaching … the usual suspects.
It sounds like dystopian science fiction, but sadly, it’s the reality we are currently living in.
But today, there is a silver lining. Because the World Wildlife Fund recently reported 224 completely new species.
From a snake who channels David Bowie to a monkey with ivory spectacles, there are a lot of newly discovered creatures here to offer a bit of hope to otherwise bleak statistics.
WWF’s report, released on Jan. 19, covered the rich, biodiverse habitats of the Greater Mekong region, which includes China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Myanmar.
Mekong is home to many species both strange and peculiar. Among the 163 species reported in 2016 were the rainbow-headed snake of Laos, noted for its similarity to Ziggy Stardust, and a Klingon newt, pleasing Star Trek fans everywhere … including me.
Mekong is also where you might find the extremely rare saola, otherwise known as the Asian unicorn (oddly enough, it doesn’t only have one horn).
And let’s not forget the dementor wasp, a vicious insect named after the soul-sucking specters in “Harry Potter.” These gnarly creatures inject a paralyzing venom into their prey before gobbling them up alive.
If that’s not nightmare fuel, I don’t know what is.
The latest list includes a monkey with ghostly white circles around its eyes, dubbed the Popa langur, named after Myanmar’s once active Mt. Popa volcano.
The Popa langur also carries the title of “Only New Mammal Discovered.” It’s a bit of a mouthful, but still noteworthy.
In addition, there’s the bright orange twin slug snake, which consumes, you guessed it, slugs. You are what you eat, after all.
Plus a new ginger plant called the stink bug for its pungent odor, which wasn’t found in a jungle at all, but rather at a plant shop in northeastern Thailand.
Though these findings are extraordinary, K. Yoganand, regional lead of wildlife and wildlife crime for WWF-Greater Mekong, told Reuters that these plants and animals still face “intense threat,” saying that “many species [will be] going extinct even before they are described.”
The Popa langur, for instance, is already a candidate for extinction, as only 200-250 are estimated to survive in the wild, CBS reported.
That is a sobering reminder. But luckily there are ways our species can help.
On its website, WWF offers two options. Under the “Action Center,” you’ll find different ways you can actively join in on particular campaigns, like repealing oil and gas programs in the arctic.
Alternatively, under the “adopt an animal” section, you’ll find gift and apparel items available for purchase, where proceeds go toward helping those animals facing the threat of extinction. I’m personally eyeing the adorable plush black jaguar.
These amazing creatures provide so much beauty, awe and wonder to the planet. No action toward their preservation is too small.
A new program from Norway shows that when you educate people and give them the ability to make sustainable choices, many will do the right thing.
Oda, the most popular online grocer in Norway (formerly known as Kolonial.No), wanted to cut its CO2 emissions in half by 2025. To reduce its carbon footprint, the company switched from plastic bags to paper boxes and upgraded its delivery vans to electric. But those changes weren’t drastic enough to hit its goal.
The company then took a hard look at its biggest source of carbon emissions, its own products. It knew that the only way it could make a real impact would be by changing the food its customers purchase and consume.
“Our customers told us that they find it close to impossible to know what is climate-friendly. We thought it was an important challenge to solve so we started looking for easy ways to communicate emissions,” Louise Fuchs, sustainability director at Oda, said according to Yahoo News.
“We do not want to point fingers and tell our customers what to buy and what to avoid,” she added. So the company decided to create climate receipts that not only show the food’s cost in kroners but CO2 emissions, too.
Oda rated the CO2 emissions of its products and grouped them into four different categories: low, medium, high and very high. Here’s an example of the carbon footprint of various foods that Oda sells.
The graph is eye-opening because it shows the high price that we pay as a species for our reliance on eating red meat. Conversely, it shows why eating fruits and vegetables is a better choice for the planet.
According to The Guardian, meat production is responsible for 57% of all food production emissions. While only 29% comes from the cultivation of plant-based foods.
After checking out, customers now can see how their grocery shopping affects their carbon footprint.
Oda’s new program has been a resounding success because its customers have made huge changes in their shopping habits after realizing how they affect the planet. “Our customers buy more than 50 per cent more fruit and veg than the average consumer and meat substitutes are growing 80 percent year-on-year since we added the carbon receipts,” Fuchs said.
“Lentil soup was one of our top ten sold recipes last year – the previous years it was nowhere near the top ten,” she added.
Oda’s simple, but effective plan to educate its customers is a great way to encourage people to make planet-positive choices. It’s also commendable because the company is clearly putting the planet before profit by prioritizing sustainability.
It looks like the idea is catching on.
“We were the first in Norway to create the climate receipt and a year after we have seen examples of other grocers following the trend. This is great news for the consumers and we hope more will follow,” Fuchs said.
There are a lot of people that want to do more to help the planet, but they’re not sure how. Oda’s receipts empower the average person by giving them the information they need to make climate-friendly choices on a regular basis. Let’s hope this idea catches on in other countries so that more people are encouraged to shop and eat more sustainably.
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