Macska Moksha Press

The Widening Gap between Popular Belief & Science on “Invasive Species”

March 24, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

First Dandelion flower of the season where I am

This is just a quick reflection I want to share.

As I’ve been mentioning here, my main winter project has been working on a book with Nikki Hill, tentatively entitled, “Don’t Blame the Messenger: A critique of the ‘invasive plant’ narrative.” As part of that effort, I’ve been reading lots of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals from invasion biology and other fields, and it’s been really eye-opening.

The popular narrative of “invasive plants” is really black and white. These are bad plants. They don’t belong here. They cause harm to native plants. They’re upsetting the balance of nature. They must be eradicated. It’s a scary monster story and a militant call to arms rolled into one.

But the science is far more nuanced. The amount of debate and the lack of consensus within the field is quite striking, actually, and has been growing over time. Invasion biology as a distinct area of study only goes back to the early ’80s and didn’t really take off until the ’90s. Given this short history, it’s possible to get a picture of where it was and where it’s going, and where it’s going is further away from the heroes and villains trope.

As I said, this is just a quick reflection, so I’m not going to provide a bunch of links and citations—that’s what the book is for, after all!—but I want to throw a few things out there that I’ve been reading about lately.

A landscape dammed by beavers, grazed by elk, monitored by wolves and shaped by fire

February 10, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Aerial view of Willamette Valley, Oregon [Oregon Department of Transportation, CC BY 2.0]

An excerpt from the book Nikki Hill and I are working on, working title, “Don’t Blame the Messengers: A critique of the ‘invasive plant’ narrative.”

Let’s picture ourselves in a hot air balloon, floating over a valley. Below us is a patchwork of agricultural fields, encompassed by straight lines and precise angles, crisscrossed by ribbons of asphalt and gravel; a landscape of human geometry continuous except for the wends and bends of rivers and streams. The hundreds of fenced polygons vary in hue over the season as different crops bloom: yellow Canola, Camelina or Mustard; white Meadowfoam; blue Flax; crimson or pink Clover.

Every crop is planted with the goal of maximum density: Wheat is drill–seeded in crowded blocks. Wine grapes hang on trellises hundreds of feet long. Hops climb wires held 15-20’ high by tall pols. Peppermint, purple-stemmed and glossy-leafed, is packed into wide files. Sunflowers stand shoulder to shoulder. Hazelnut orchards are as precisely laid out as military cemeteries. Close rows of Christmas tree march up the slopes where the soil is rockier. Nurseries raise hundreds of species of landscaping plants in thousands of plastic pots set out in the sun, under shade cloth, or in hoop-houses. Animal agriculture is also here, and a few pastures hold cows, goats or sheep, being raised for meat, milk or fiber, and some long sheds cruelly confine chickens and pigs. The feed grain for these unhappy creatures is imported from other regions.

Only here and there do we see plots of vegetables bound for farmers markets and grocery stores, such as Kale, Cilantro, Summer Squash, Beets, Radishes, Sweet Corn, and Pumpkins.

The biggest crop by far in this valley is grass seed, as in grass for lawns and golf courses. Virtually the entire US production of Annual Ryegrass, Perennial Ryegrass, Bentgrass, and Fine Fescue comes from here.ⁱ Over 50% of the total farmland is planted in grass seed.

This is the Willamette Valley in the US state of Oregon, one of the most ideal locations for agriculture in the lower 48 due to its fertile soils, abundant water, mild winters and reasonable summers.

The Desert is Full of Life: Announcing an online botanical guide I made

February 2, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

This post announces the launch of a website I set up, Wildflowers of Joshua Tree Country, a botanical guide for common plants of the Mojave Desert, showcasing my own photography. Feel free to just go look at it now without reading the rest of this if you want! (But hit the thumbs-up before you go.)

The desert is much misunderstood in western culture. Because we are an agriculturally-based civilization, we judge land on how appropriate it is for farming, and in that context, the desert is considered “useless” and by extension, “lifeless.”

This perspective has a long history. An “eremologist” is one who studies deserts, and the word is derived from the Greek eremos — ἐρημία — which means both “desert” and “lonely.” As detailed by photographer and amateur botanist, Michael L. Charters, at his website, “California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations,” forms of eremos signify:

“a lonely place, a place of solitude, a deserted place, solitary, uninhabited” and by extension “of the desert” since a desert is a lonely place that is largely uninhabited.

Uninhabited by agriculturally-civilized humans, that is. But not uninhabited.

The elusive meaning of the term, “invasive species”

January 31, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

The following is a draft chapter from the book that Nikki Hill & I are writing, tentatively entitled, “Don’t Blame the Messengers: A critique of the ‘invasive plant’ narrative.” So far, I’ve only been posting these draft chapters for paid subscribers on my SubStack and Patreon, but this one’s for everyone, first because the concepts are important, and second because it makes a good teaser as it refers to so many other chapters in the book. Paid subscribers will be getting more chapters, plus a PDF of the completed draft. (At which point we’ll be seeking a publisher.)

Alien species seem practically designed to excite public concern. Almost by definition they are most abundant, and most visible, in the most highly human-modified habitats, such as towns and cities. Personal encounters with aliens are routine, so everyone has an opinion, and it’s often ‘obvious’ that aliens are actively supplanting natives, even if that isn’t what’s happening at all. It’s equally ‘obvious’ that something must be done, even if it’s not clear what that should be, and even if ill-judged intervention might only make things worse.ⁱ ~Ken Thompson

What is an “invasive plant?” Colloquially, some gardeners call any plant that thrives and spreads with little or no care “invasive.” They will cast the term on both “weeds” (which are often native plants) and ornamental nursery plants that spread outside their apportioned area. Such gardeners are seeking to uphold a particular aesthetic and their impulse to direct and control yields results ranging anywhere from elegant to cloying. If this were the only way that people used the word, “invasive,” it would be harmless, and there’d be no need for this book.

Bernie’s New Video Demonstrates the Price of Hillary’s 2016 Primary Cheating

January 27, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

I watched Bernie Sanders’ recent video on Gaza, and it got me thinking about how different things could be now if he hadn’t been cheated out of the Democratic nomination in 2016 by Hillary and the DNC leadership. To refresh the details in your mind, you can read a bit about it here and here. It was a big enough story that even the New York Times had to acknowledge it, though with their characteristic understatement and obfuscation. The leaked DNC emails (leaked not hacked) revealed an internal plot against Bernie that was immediately overshadowed shoot-the-messenger messaging that turned the spotlight on Julian Assange. We learned that big “D” Democratic doesn’t mean little “d” democratic in the primaries.

I was never a Bernie fan, and I’m not now. One of my most widely read essays to this day is 2019’s “No, Bernie’s Not Antiwar,” though by early 2020 I wrote another piece supporting his candidacy, in part because his following among youth was so strong, and I felt they deserved to get who they wanted. Since then, he hasn’t done much to impress me other than his attempt to stop the killing in Yemen under Trump.

Nevertheless, when a popular video-sharing platform suggested his newest video to me, I gave it a watch, and I was pleasantly surprised.

Someone Must Stop Biden, But Who Will It Be?

January 26, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

UK demonstration against Israel's attacks on Gaza [Alisdare Hickson from Woolwich, United Kingdom, CC BY-SA 2.0]

October demonstration against Israel’s attacks on Gaza [Alisdare Hickson, Woolwich, UK, CC BY-SA 2.0]

The horrific violence being perpetrated on the people of Gaza by the state of Israel has appalled much of the world and mobilized millions to take to the streets in protest, including in the US. That this genocide can only continue with the material assistance of the US is beyond debate. That Israeli and US belligerence is now threatening a regional conflict is also clear. That such an expansion would cause unimaginable suffering is assured and that a world war could subsequently ignite is a real concern.

Biden is the person most responsible for how bad it will get—or how much it could turn around. He’s the man behind the wheel, reputedly more so on this issue than any other of his presidency so far. But two recent news items showcase his severe deficiency, ethically, and in realpolitik.

Announcing a new podcast!

January 22, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

I’m launching a new podcast! “Speaking for the Trees, No Matter Where They’re From.” It’ll feature interviews with nature lovers on plants & ecology, with a special focus on “invasive plant” mythologies & on threats to habitat from “green energy” development. Plus agriculture, wildtending, plant consciousness and more.

The first interview will be released sometime in February, and once a month thereafter. In the meantime, you can already subscribe to it, so you won’t miss that first episode as soon as it comes out. Please do that! To enjoy in the meantime, there’s a fun trailer narrated by the always charming Nikki Hill.

Video versions will be available on my YouTube channel, Radio Free Sunroot, so if you’re not already subscribed there, please do so!

To find it, search for it by name, or follow these links:

Apple podcasts
Google podcasts (still waiting for it to show up)
Spotify
Audible
Amazon Music
IHeartRadio
Listen Notes
Pandora
PocketCasts
PodChaser
RadioPublic
Podcast Republic
JioSaavn

If you can’t find it on your preferred app or service, let me know so I can get it added.

Financial supporters on Substack and Patreon will get early access to the interviews in a raw, mostly unedited form, as a kind of “behind the scenes” thing.

Read More…

Will Gaza be to Biden what Vietnam was to LBJ?

January 9, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Vietnam War protest, 2/1/66. [The Tribune / SEARCH Foundation, CC BY 4.0]

In March 1968, President Lyndon Baines Johnson (aka LBJ), declined to run for re-election after a near loss in the New Hampshire primary to antiwar candidate, Eugene McCarthy. Johnson was a strong supporter of the increasingly unpopular conflict in Vietnam.. The nomination contest that followed was waged among McCarthy and Hubert Humphrey, the Vice President, and Robert F. Kennedy, brother of the recently assassinated JFK. After RFK himself was assassinated, Humphrey won the Democratic nomination handily, and lost the election to Nixon. It wasn’t a clean win; Nixon secretly sent Henry Kissinger to talk to the Viet Cong, urging them not to make a peace deal with the Johnson administration because they’d get a better deal from Nixon. This turned out badly for everyone all around.

Fast forward to 2024, and we have an increasingly unpopular war in Gaza that is enthusiastically supported by the current Democratic president, Joe Biden. The Democratic party apparatus is striving to avoid any embarrassing near losses in the primaries by downplaying the contests and refusing to hold debates with other candidates. It’s arguably the least democratic process the party has held since 1968 (which had ended up leading to reform).

It’s impossible to know what would have happened in 1968 if LBJ had reversed his position on Vietnam. He still would’ve had to deal with the Southern backlash against his Civil Rights legislation and white resentment of the urban race riots. If RFK had not been killed, he would faced the same challenges. But if Nixon had been denied, it’s a fair wager that the Vietnam War would have ended sooner, and certainly would not have included the secret bombing of Laos and Cambodia that Nixon and Kissinger orchestrated, which was one of the most heinous war crimes of the century (in a century full of heinous war crimes).

This year is a similar inflection point.

My Focus in 2024: Two “Environmental” Narratives that Threaten Living Ecology

January 1, 2024 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Mariposa Lily (Calochortus sp.). A traditional first food of the US West.

As a plant advocate, I am concerned with the health and well-being of the botanical world. My scope encompasses both living ecology—individual plants, plant species, plant habitat, and cross-kingdom plant relationships (with animals, fungi, etc.)—and also human culture, namely, how we relate to plants individually and institutionally, and what narratives define those relationships.

A “narrative” is a story we tell about a subject. Narratives are mixes of facts, omissions, misinformation, disinformation, conventional wisdom, common sense, beliefs and biases. Narratives are products of culture, and as such, though they are sometimes passed off as scientific, this is never true in whole.

In contemporary industrial society, narratives invariably include corporate or political “messaging” intended to shape public opinion in favor of establishment interests. (From the perspective of the capitalist west, such messaging is called “public relations” when it’s homegrown but “propaganda” when it’s produced in the east or the global south.)

Narratives tend to misrepresent complex issues or events through gross oversimplification and by manipulating sentiment or, at their worst, appealing to prejudice. Dueling narratives are the bread-and-butter of what passes for mainstream political discourse in the US, with the truth being not “somewhere in between” but simply absent from the discussion.

Two misleading “environmental” narratives are of great interest to me, and will be the focus of much of my effort this upcoming year in my writing and other media projects (which might include a new podcast!). In my estimation, both narratives are dangerous because they propose to address environmental destruction with… further environmental destruction.

Following the News in Gaza

December 29, 2023 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

The purpose of this article is to share podcasts I follow for news about Gaza and Palestine. But first, a few comments about news, media, facts and narrative, ideology, and what makes a source “alternative.”

I’ve been writing about political issues since the year 2000 but have never mentioned Palestine, in large part because the subject seemed “complicated.” But current events show that it’s not complicated, not for me anyway. To me, what’s going on there is a total horror show, full stop.

At the same time, I understand why other people do not share that assessment. By “I understand” I don’t mean that I comprehend their arguments and have respect for them as a a simple difference of opinion—I don’t—but that I know why they have other ideas.

It’s simple. In this digital age, our beliefs about events and issues are primarily products of the digital media that we consume. We are conditioned by media, whether we want to admit it or not, so it’s important to choose our media wisely. (With a perfectly valid option being no media.) This includes not only news media but also entertainment media, which arguably plays a larger role in shaping our worldviews and cultural norms, but for this essay I’m focusing on news media.

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