Another “quick takes” on items where there is too little to say to make a complete article, but is still important enough to comment on.
The focus this time: There’s nothing you can do that a stone can’t, allegedly.
First, a little mood music:
Carrying on…
When you are owned by your co-author, the co-author goes first, especially if it’s a river.
“Poelina is connected to the river through her matrilineal heritage — her mother’s people are the Nyikina First Nation. The Nyikina’s traditional territory, or Country, lies in the river’s watershed, as do those of nine other Indigenous communities. (Country is the term that Aboriginal Australian people use to refer to their ancestral lands, its meaning is similar to the Western concept of nature.)
“Poelina explains that “in terms of property rights, the river owns me. So, I have a duty of care and the fiduciary duty to protect this river’s right to life.” Because Poelina works with the river to produce fresh knowledge and assimilate ancient wisdom, she decided to recognize its contributions formally. In 2020, she started including the Martuwarra River of Life as the first author on her publications.
“Poelina says, ‘Country is a first author for Indigenous people in the Northern Territory of Australia. So, I just did it.” Whether the journal to which she submitted her first paper assumed “that the name was human or not, I don’t know’, she adds.”
Why stop at co-authorship when you can marry the river!
“A woman is celebrating her third wedding anniversary after marrying a river.
“Mrs. Meg Avon, 29, was blessed in holy matrimony with the River Avon in the South West of England.
“The Bristol-born researcher, activist, and writer explains how she and her ‘darling’ still keep their romance alive as they celebrate their third anniversary.
“She married the River Avon in a ‘joyful’ ceremony to protect it and raise awareness of water pollution on 17 June 2023.
“Meg – née Trump – says she and the river are still ‘very much in love’ three years on.”
When some legislatures try to stop you from having rights, you can count on the Governor of Wisconsin to protect you… if you are nature.
“Wisconsin Democrat legislators … [filed] a resolution in support of granting nature ‘inherent rights, including the right to exist, flourish, regenerate, and be restored.’
“The Republican bill ultimately passed, and as I suspected he would, Governor Tony Evers just vetoed it. In his veto message, he claimed (laughably, in my view) that it was to protect the prerogatives of local governments. But here is the core reason. From the governor’s veto message:
“‘Climate change is affecting our Wisconsin way of life, from crops and products to outdoor recreation to flooding and drought. I am also vetoing this bill to because I object to the legislature’s ongoing efforts that fail to acknowledge this basic fact, or worse, make it even harder for Wisconsin to respond to and mitigate the effects of our changing climate.’”
“Never mind that granting rights to nature would be more likely to impede mitigation efforts–such as flood control projects that interfere with a river’s supposed “right to flow.” Moreover, most such laws grant anyone who believes nature’s rights to have been violated standing in court to bring suit, opening the door to extreme lawfare and making it almost impossible to obtain liability insurance. Talk about bringing development to a screeching halt!”
TTFN.
