Prairie strips in fields of corn or soybeans can protect the soil and allow wildlife to flourish. This strip was established in a field near Traer, Iowa, in 2015. Omar de Kok-Mercado, Iowa State University Lisa Schulte Moore loves nature. To stand in an old-growth forest, she says, "I can only describe it as healing." When she moved to Iowa to teach ecology at Iowa State University, she didn't get that same feeling when she found herself amid acres of corn. She wasn't hearing birds or seeing many bugs. "All I can hear are the leaves of the rustling corn," she says. "Not one biological noise. You know, they call it the green desert." This is, in fact, the central environmental problem with agriculture. This year, corn and soybeans cover an area of the United States equal in size to all the East Coast states from New York to Georgia. It has displaced wildlife and left the soil more vulnerable to water and wind erosion. But Schulte Moore says that it doesn't have to be a green desert. She

Over the last three months, Delta Air Lines lost nearly $6 billion as the company's CEO said a slow, brief recovery in air travel has now stalled amid a big resurgence in coronavirus infections. Delta is the first U.S. airline to report second-quarter financial results; it is the first full quarter since the pandemic began, and the results are worse than anticipated. Delta flew 93% percent fewer passengers in April, May and June than it did in the second quarter last year. Revenue fell 91% compared with the same three-month period last year as the airline said it was losing close to $100 million a day at the start of the pandemic. Atlanta-based Delta said it is still burning about $27 million a day. Delta CEO Ed Bastian called the losses "staggering," adding that "it could be two years or more before we see a sustainable recovery." Bastian noted that in June and early July, there was "a small but welcome uptick in passenger volume, driven almost entirely by domestic leisure travelers

Where is the best place to hide from destruction in these last days? Will an underground bunker keep you safe from the wrath to come? Pastor Doug examines when we should seek shelter during earth’s final events.

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST: A bipartisan delegation of Congresspeople is just back from Ukraine. It was a trip designed to strengthen the U.S.-Ukraine alliance, and it was planned before news broke of the whistleblower complaint against President Trump involving that same country. Congressman John Garamendi led the delegation as a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee. And the Democrat from California joins us now. Welcome, Congressman. JOHN GARAMENDI: Good to be with you. SHAPIRO: One central question in the impeachment inquiry is whether President Trump demanded help investigating a political rival in exchange for U.S. aid to Ukraine. And I know that aid was a central topic on your trip, so what did you learn about Ukraine's reliance on American assistance? GARAMENDI: Well, first of all, Ukraine is an extraordinary country. These citizens of that country are determined to be independent. They have been fighting a war against Russia for the last five years. They've lost 13- to 14

Pastor Doug Batchelor takes you on a fascinating, faith-building exploration of the greatest and deepest of mysteries—the triune nature of our Creator God.

This song, Caterpillar, is the first single from "Apocalypse Pickin' Party" by The Great Disappointment. I think the central theme/metaphor is pretty obvious. We have also released a lyric video here. CONTENT WARNING: there is no graphic violence shown but it sure is implied.

Little loop with some programmed drums, playing with waveshape

Quantized random sequence, teletype as drum machine, serge voice with a high/low pass split going to different fx

I feel like I've seen MeFites say they have a printshop, for yard signs, tee shirts, swag, etc. We may order signs (Harris Walz, Obviously) and I'm happy to support a member with a business and competitive pricing.

Signups for the 2024 MetaFilter Gift Swap are now open! The Metafilter Gift Swap takes place annually from roughly November - December. Each participant sends a gift to an awesome Mefite; each participant receives a gift from an awesome Mefite. Awesomeness and gifts abound.

The dates this year are: Signups: Now (10/21) - Nov 9 Assignments: Nov 10 - 15 Send-by: Dec 8 As in the past, the standard gift guidance is $20 USD. Signing Up There will be a link at the end of this post. Follow it! We need an actual MeFi username, an email address you check, your name & mailing address, and some good guidance for the person who draws your name. You will get a confirmation email that will show you the information you submitted. It will come from Google Forms and it will look like the form you just filled out. Please check your spam/junk mail folder. If you do not get this confirmation within 48 hours, send an email to the swap Gmail account (metafiltergiftswap@gmail.com). If you have not gotten a confirmation email, you may not be signed up or you entered the wrong email address. We can fix that. Fun Fact: Every year, several people accidentally typo their own email addresses, which leads to confusion and consternation, and sometimes no gift for someone until late in the season. You will get your draw via email. It will contain key information about the person you will be gifting: MeFi username, a real world name, mailing address, and hopefully helpful guidance from the person you drew. It should allow you to get off to a running start. If you are having trouble putting together your guidance section, ocherdraco put together a list of questions to help you focus. You don't have to answer all (or any of) the questions, but this is a good place to start if you are stumped by the Guidance section. We will not share, abuse, or sell any of your information. The person who draws your name will not get your email address. We will delete all emails sent and received at the end of the exchange season, as well as all personally identifiable information. The Rules 1) Email us or use the gift trackinator when you mail your gift out, along with the tracking number(s) if available. 2) Email us when you receive your gift, even if you're going to wait to open it. 3) Please either post in the main gift exchange thread when you open your gift, or contact your gifter directly. We get a LOT of emails from people who put time, energy, and a great deal of care into selecting and mailing gifts, and they want to make sure it gets to you okay. Please help us ensure that's as smooth as possible. =) If you failed to send your giftee a gift last year without working it out with us, you're ineligible to participate this year. If you do try to sign up, your name will be removed from the swap. You can try again next year, but two strikes and you will be out. If you find that you can't participate after signing up but before the draw, after all, send an email to the swap Gmail account (metafiltergiftswap@gmail.com). We'll remove your entry. If you find that you can't participate at all after the draw, please send an email to that same Gmail account as soon as possible so we can contact the folks who drew you and whom you drew and redirect or reassign as appropriate. If you do not think you can mail a gift in a reasonable amount of time, please do not participate. It's not OK to plan now on finding and sending your gift after your life calms down in January or late December or on Valentines Day. Hey! You have a question! We're happy to serve as anonymizing middlepeople if you have a question for your recipient, to send messages to your recipient on your behalf, to find out if a package has been sent or has been received. Send us an email at our Gmail address (metafiltergiftswap@gmail.com), and we'll see what we can find out for you. A Note About the Swap Groups If we do not get enough people to do a swap in a group, we will contact folks in the underpopulated swap groups to see what can be done before the swap. In 2022, we removed the International Spirit group due to low participation and reverted back to a single International (Physical) group; that remains in effect this year. A Note about International Shipping We STRONGLY recommend mailing as early as possible if you are going to send anything internationally, especially if the US is involved. Customs holds up lots of packages for varying amounts of time (with some, it seems forever). If you sign up for the International option, please be aware that shipping times may stretch out longer than you'd prefer. Signing up for the international swap does not guarantee that you will get a gift from and/or will send a gift to someone outside of the country in which you live (particularly if you live in the USA). If you specifically do want to send/receive internationally, please note that at the end of the sign-up form and we'll do our best to accommodate. A Note About Data Collection The organizers have access to all of the information submitted, including names, addresses, and email communications. We promise that none of this is saved or shared outside of this group. At the end of the exchange (generally sometime in February when we're sure everything that's going to ship/arrive has done so), all of this information is deleted; no personal information is carried over year-to-year. Communicating with Us Unless you need to contact us specifically about one of the organizers, please use our Gmail account, metafiltergiftswap@gmail.com. This will help us make sure we don't overlook anything and can be as efficient as possible. Who we are This year, the organizers are rhyspenbras and okayokayigive. If you drew one of our names and need information about your giftee without spoiling the surprise, contact the other one for answers. =) Gift Swap funding help As in previous years, we have a pool of funds to assist members who would like to participate in the swap but doing so would be financially difficult for them. If you'd like to take advantage of this, please complete the sign-up link and then contact the team at metafiltergiftswap@gmail.com with your username and the best way to get funds to you (Paypal or Venmo are easiest, but other options are available). These are first-come, first-serve. You won't be asked to justify or explain your situation; if you say you could use the help, we trust you. Most Importantly, Sign Up Here Happy gifting!

Since the coronavirus pandemic battered China's economy, tens of millions of urban and factory jobs have evaporated. Some workers and business owners have banded together to pressure companies or local governments for subsidies and payouts. But many of the newly unemployed have instead returned to their rural villages. China's vast countryside now serves as an unemployment sponge, soaking up floating migrant workers in temporary agricultural work on small family plots. "Say a factory used to hire 1,000 temporary workers; now, without new orders, these business owners can't afford to hire this many people," Yan Xiyun, a labor intermediary, told NPR. "The factory I usually go to in previous years could easily hire 2,000 people. Now there is scarcely anyone [on the factory floor]." Ten years ago, Yan left her own village near the small city of Zhumadian in Henan province for the first time and joined the migrant workforce. Now, she's a headhunter working on commission, placing thousands

Ever wonder if a podcast could go to space ? Or ask why a $60,000 bag is always out of stock ? Or want to learn the secrets of snack vendors at a baseball game ? Do you want to find connections between a huge IPO and a Greek new age keyboardist ? Are you the kind of person who finds delight in a report from the Federal Reserve ? Are you a meticulous (and speedy) fact checker? Do you have ideas for improving our Twitter , Instagram and TikTok ( yes ) game? We are looking for TWO interns this fall: One to work on Planet Money , and one to work on The Indicator from Planet Money . You will be working remotely, like all of us. But you'll be part of our daily meetings, regularly scheduled edits, and weekly happy hour. This moment is unusual, we know. We consider it an opportunity. We are especially interested in candidates who might not otherwise be able to move to NYC for an internship, or people who might not usually apply at all. We still expect you to be a fan of the show, be eager to

In which I write about Islam, spirituality, my Hajj pilgrimage in the summer of 2024, living as a USian in southern Spain, and change both voluntary and unwilled.

Example of what I write about: I just added a post about how fear of Satan, which was encouraged by the Catholic church and pop culture, scared me off from belief in ANYTHING Unseen (including God) for decades.

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Today, we hear from a group helping neighbors prepare for future wildfires. Then, a new anthology of love letters to San Francisco. And, ArtSpan's Open Studios celebrates 50 years.

Residents in Richmond’s District 5 are calling for investment in arts and culture from their city leaders. And, in a new episode of Book It, the power of stories in medicine.

SFUSD's handling of potential school closures is raising concerns. And, Cafe du Nord has brought us local music for over 100 years. Then, a new film about a trailblazing ballet dancer.

Today, we hear how states can begin to repair fractured histories around slavery. Then, local experts weigh in on Kamala Harris’s track record. And, we consider the power of Black immigrant voters.

Today, we hear from unhoused people in the East Bay on their role in the presidential race. Then, photos and voices from the lives that are swept up when an encampment is cleared.

Today we go inside San Quentin’s mock elections. Then, we hear about comic books and mental health — for veterans. And, the passionate mix of music and movement of Flamenco.

Pastor Doug Batchelor takes you on a fascinating, faith-building exploration of the greatest and deepest of mysteries—the triune nature of our Creator God.

A new photo ID requirement is the latest in a Republican-controlled state. The law also does away with the state’s presidential primaries in favor of a series of caucuses.

This interview was originally conducted for inclusion in our “accessibility” theme. The topic for the month is accessibility. I turned to Nikola Simikic and John Creed in Los Angeles for some perspective on the topic. Nikola is a sound designer and re-recording mixer at Gypsy Sound, and John is a dialogue editor for Gypsy Sound […]

This interview was originally conducted for inclusion in our “Sound Art” theme. Jeff Jacoby is a Sound Designer and Sound Artist with over 40 years of experience. With an Emmy to his name plus two other Emmy nominations, 2 Cine´ Golden Eagles, 2 Crystal Radios, 2 Benjamin Franklins, and 5 BEA Best of Competition awards, […]

This interview was originally conducted for inclusion in our “experimentation” theme. Mac Smith is a Sound Designer and Supervising Sound Editor at Skywalker Sound, who has been working on films since 1999. Mac has worked on Toy Story 3, Tron: Legacy, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Little Evil, and Transpecos, as well as […]

Aaron Glascock is a supervising sound editor, sound designer, and re-recording mixer with a long list of films behind him. To date he has received the MPSE Golden Reel for his work on War of the Worlds, an Oscar nomination for Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), and has received several other nominations. More […]

Korey Pereira: Johnnie, thanks for taking the time to talk to me and the designingsound.org readers about the sound of Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest film, The Favourite. This is the third of Yorgos’ films you have worked on; how did that relationship begin? Johnnie Burn: Hi Korey! Thanks so much for your time. I’ve got […]

The topic of the month is hibernation.  As the winter weather comes in and things get cold, many animals go to sleep for the winter.  I decided to turn to Tony Orozco for some help. Tony Orozco is a supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer and has worked on shows such as Steven Universe, Adventure […]

What do Herod, Herodias, Salome, and John the Baptist have to do with end-time Bible prophecy?

Rafael Nieto habla sobre la problematica ambiental en la Macarena

Laura Gallego habla sobre los estereotipos de género

Dirige y conduce Diana Calderón

Panelistas creen que espectro político tiene matices y que no debería ser blanco o negro. Otros creen que el “centro” puede ser antitécnico.

Tres escritoras colombianas y un escritor hablaron de cómo la literatura está abordando asuntos de género; también se refirieron al futuro del libro en Colombia.

Panelistas debatieron la necesidad de implementar pronto la alternancia; creen que son varios los retos por delante. Sostienen que pandemia debe dejar lecciones en la educación.

Panelistas analizaron el papel de China y Rusia en la política internacional de Joe Biden. También hicieron un balance de los diez años de la Primavera Árabe.

Panelistas creen que pensar en cierres totales es imposible; sostienen que avance en vacunación y énfasis en prevención son la clave.

Expertos consideran que se deben fortalecer estrategias como Prass; que las oleadas se seguirán presentando y que se debe mejorar ritmo de vacunación.

Panelistas consideran que argumentos de sindicatos no son suficientes. Critican el momento de la protesta y la falta de un marco regulatorio en la materia por parte del congreso.

Tres escritores reflexionaron sobre las protestas, el estallido social y el papel de la violencia. También hablaron de la necesidad del diálogo y de la radicalización.

Panelistas consideran que es necesario fortalecer el seguimiento y apoyo a exmilitares en el país

Panelistas plantean que es el inicio del fin del rol de Estados Unidos como potencia; algunos consideran importante mantener el papel de instituciones internacionales para consolidar sistemas democráticos.

Panelistas plantearon que hace falta planes de intervención y estudios que demuestren dónde atacar la criminalidad; creen que desarticular eslabón de mercados ilegales es clave.

Panelistas analizaron un eventual ascenso de la socialdemocracia al poder; los retos del gobierno de Alberto Fernández y la polémica España-México por el perdón por la conquista.

Panelistas consideran que son lejanas las oportunidades de un diálogo Maduro-Duque, pero celebraron apertura nivel comercial y humanitario.

Panelistas creen que los intereses van más allá de América Latina al cobrar importancia el papel de Rusia, China e Irán en las relaciones con Estados Unidos.

Panelistas creen que es necesario mayor diálogo entre Bogotá y Caracas para trabajar en restablecer servicios consulares y flujo comercial

Cuatro importantes escritores hablan de lo que leyeron en el 2021; de las tendencias en literatura, de la primera persona y de las obras que acaban de escribir.