And I am not going to let my words interfere. Just read this.
ooOOoo
Clear the Needle
Who is she, if she does not even know herself?
Trajectories confuse when forced into linear containers..
Like the cosmos — all spirals and orbits — we spin and dance,
sometimes skillfully, sometimes clumsily.
The vinyl record spinning, fine dust collecting on the diamond needle.
We must stop from time to time and clear it
so that we might perceive sound more accurately, truer to itself.
I have collected more than my share of detritus.
But I have never been granted the grace of someone or something clearing the needle for me.
It remains a reminder to pause.
Stop the music. Lift the arm. Clear the cartridge.
Begin again.
ooOOoo
Not only was Bela’s poem perfect so, too, was the comment left on Bela’s site from Shakti that I am going to share in full.
Hi Bela,
I found in the verse a striking metaphor for the human condition.
We spend so much of life assuming the music has changed, when often it is the dust on our own needle that has altered the sound. Memory, hurt, ego, assumptions, fatigue—each leaves its fine sediment, subtly distorting how we hear ourselves, others, and the world.
The most profound act, perhaps, is not to keep forcing the song forward, but to pause with enough honesty to ask: what in me is creating this static? The verse’s quiet power lies in rejecting rescue—no one may come to clear the needle for us. Self-awareness, then, becomes both responsibility and grace. To stop. To clean. To begin again—not as the same listener, but as a truer one
Shakti
“To begin again—not as the same listener, but as a truer one“
You open a free app to do one simple thing. Before you even start, a full-screen message asks whether you want to try the paid version. The “Start free trial” button is large, bright and hard to miss. The option to keep using the free version is smaller, buried at the bottom. The same prompt appears again tomorrow. And the day after that.
A lot of people look at screens like that and think, “Surely this has to be illegal.” We even have a name for them, “dark patterns.” They feel pushy. They waste time. They seem designed to wear you down. But in most cases, they are perfectly lawful.
“Dark pattern” is not a legal term with a clear boundary. It is a broad label for digital designs that nudge, pressure, confuse or trap users. As a legal scholar who studies consumer protection and digital design, I think the most important thing for readers to understand is that the label “dark pattern” covers a broad spectrum.
Some of that spectrum is just annoying. Some of it is aggressive salesmanship. And some of it crosses the line into deception or coercion. Federal and state consumer protection laws are mostly aimed at that last category. They do not ban every design choice people dislike, only those that trick or coerce.
Annoying isn’t illegal
The ‘X’ in the upper right corner of this ad, for users to click to dismiss the ad, appears after the ad has been displayed for a moment. The ad also has an ‘X’ in the upper left corner, which is part of the image in the ad. Some users might click the ‘X’ on the left to dismiss the ad but instead be sent to the ad’s website. Possibly annoying but not illegal. Screen capture by Gregory Dickinson
That reality may sound unsatisfying, but it is not unusual. Offline life is full of things that are irritating but not unlawful. Think of the cashier who asks whether you want to sign up for the store credit card, then points out the discount you are turning down, then asks again. Most people know exactly what is happening. They roll their eyes, say no and try to shop somewhere else next time.
The same is true online. A repeated pop-up can be obnoxious. A guilt-inducing button can be tacky. But consumers recognize ordinary annoyance for what it is. In many cases, the market answer is simple: Close the app, ignore the pitch or take your business elsewhere.
Similarly, law does not ban persuasive sales pitches just because they are effective. A car salesperson who keeps steering you toward the upgraded model is trying to influence your choice. So is the airline clerk who offers travel insurance. So is the restaurant server who asks whether you want dessert. Salesmanship is nothing new. Digital design often borrows from familiar techniques.
That helps explain why lawmakers cannot simply outlaw “manipulation.” And so many interfaces are built to persuade, openly and lawfully.
What crosses the line
What the federal FTC Act and analogous state consumer-deception statutes usually care about is not whether a design is annoying. They focus on whether the design is likely to mislead a reasonable consumer. That is the core idea in modern consumer protection law.
So a design is likelier to be unlawful when it hides key facts, makes an optional choice look mandatory or tricks people about the effect of the button they are pressing. A fake countdown timer, a disguised ad, a misleading one-click purchase button or a cancellation path that looks finished when it is not are all different from ordinary hard selling. Those designs do not just pressure users; they can deceive them.
That is also why the app maker’s intent is not always the key question. In many consumer protection cases, a company does not get a free pass just because no one said, “Let’s trick people.” The legal question is often about effect: What would a reasonable user likely understand from this screen?
Research on dark patterns reinforces that concern. Even relatively mild designs can push people into choices they would not otherwise make. And regulators have increasingly focused on subscription flows, hidden fees and cancellation obstacles for exactly that reason.
The instructions for this web form and the pop-up box that appears when users click ‘Continue’ indicate that the form has required fields. The form uses the word ‘mandatory,’ which could lead some users to believe that the form itself is required in order to continue when it is instead optional. Possibly annoying but not illegal. Screen capture by Gregory Dickinson
Why it feels like dark patterns are everywhere
One reason people might think there are no laws against dark patterns is that they see them so often. But that frequency reflects that the term covers a wide range of conduct, from lawful nagging to outright deception.
It also reflects enforcement limits. Regulators cannot chase every irritating screen on every app and website. They have to prioritize the worst cases. That leaves a lot of borderline conduct in the wild, which makes the whole problem feel bigger and murkier to ordinary users.
So when people ask why there is not a law against dark patterns, the best answer is that there already is, but the law does not prohibit every annoying or high-pressure design. It targets lies, misleading cues and coercive obstacles.
That line can be fuzzy. But the fuzziness is not a mistake. It is what you get when the law tries to separate persuasion from deception in a world full of both.
Jean and I were taken to our regular humanist meeting last Saturday morning. The topic was Christian Nationalism.
Today, I want to explain what these commitments are. Then on Sunday I will post some images.
ooOOoo
Ten Commitments
Guiding Principles for Teaching Values in America’s Public Schools
Altruism
Altruism is the unselfish concern for the welfare of others without expectation of reward, recognition, or return. Opportunities for acts of altruism are everywhere in the family, the classroom, the school, and the wider community. Think of examples of altruistic acts in your experience. What person-to-person and group projects, classroom and school-wide activities, and community service projects might you and your students undertake?
Caring for the World Around Us
Everyone can and ought to play a role in caring for the Earth and its inhabitants. We can directly experience the living things in our homes and neighborhoods like trees, flowers, birds, insects, and pets. Gradually we expand our neighborhood. We learn about deserts and oceans, rivers and forests, the wildlife around us and the wildlife elsewhere. We learn that we are dependent on each other, on the natural world, and all that lives in it for food and shelter, space and beauty.
Critical Thinking
We gain reliable knowledge because we are able to observe, report, experiment, and analyze what goes on around us. We also learn to raise questions that are clear and precise, to gather information, and to reason about the information we receive in a way that tests it for truthfulness, accuracy, and utility. From our earliest years we learn how to think and to share and challenge our ideas and the ideas of others, and consider their consequences. Practice asking “what next?” and “why?” and “how do I/you/we know that?”
Empathy
We human beings are capable of empathy, the ability to understand and enter imaginatively into another living being’s feelings, the sad ones and the happy ones as well. Many of the personal relationships we have (in the family, among friends, between diverse individuals, and amid other living things) are made positive through empathy. With discussion and role-playing, we can learn how other people feel when they are sad or hurt or ignored, as well as when they experience great joys. We can use stories, anecdotes, and classroom events to help us nurture sensitivity to how our actions impact others.
Ethical Development
Questions of fairness, cooperation, and sharing are among the first moral issues we encounter in our ethical development as human beings. Ethical education is ongoing implicitly and explicitly in what is called the “hidden curriculum” that we experience through the media, the family, and the community. Ethics can be taught through discussion, role-playing, storytelling, and other activities that improve analysis and decision-making regarding what’s good and bad, right and wrong.
Global Awareness
We live in a world that is rich in cultural, social, and individual diversity, a world where interdependence is increasing rapidly so that events anywhere are more likely to have consequences everywhere. Much can be done to prepare the next generation for accepting the responsibility of global citizenship. Understanding can be gained regarding the many communities in which we live through history, anthropology, and biology. A linguistic, ethnic, and cultural diversity are present in the classroom and provide lessons of diversity and commonality. We help others reach understanding about the interconnectedness of the welfare of all humanity.
Humility
We must always remember that there’s a lot we don’t know about the universe. There’s still so very much to learn. Science will help us. But sometimes scientists discover surprising things that tell us how some of our old beliefs are false. So we need to be willing to change when our knowledge changes. A good humanist doesn’t try to be sure of things that science can’t show are true.
Peace and Social Justice
A curriculum that values and fosters peace education would promote the human rights of all people and understanding among all nations, cultural and religious groups. Students should have opportunities to learn about the United Nations’ role in preventing conflict as well as efforts to achieve social justice in the United States. They should learn about problems of injustice including what can be done to prevent and respond to these problems with meaningful actions that promote peace and social justice and that protect the inherent human rights of everyone both at home and abroad.
Responsibility
Our behavior is morally responsible when we tell the truth, help someone in trouble, and live up to promises we’ve made. Our behavior is legally responsible when we obey a just law and meet the requirements of membership or citizenship. But we also have a larger responsibility to be a caring member of our family, our community, and our world. Stories and role-playing can help students understand responsibility and its absence or failure. We learn from answering such questions as: What happens when we live in accordance with fair and just rules? What happens when we don’t? What happens when the rules are unjust?
Service and Participation
Life’s fulfillment can emerge from an individual’s participation in the service of humane ideals. School-based service-learning combines community service objectives and learning objectives with the intent that the activities change both the recipient and the provider. It provides students with the ability to identify important issues in real-life situations. Through these efforts we learn that each of us can help meet the needs of others and of ourselves. Through our lifetime, we learn over and over again of our mutual dependence.
ooOOoo
My mother was an atheist and, consequently, I have been an atheist all my life. With the above values, as they are taught in schools, there is no need for a God.
I make no apologies for providing little of my own words and just going straight to this video and the accompanying text.
ooOOoo
What if the deepest human drive isn’t happiness, survival, or even love, but the need to matter?
Philosopher and MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein joins Michael Shermer to discuss The Mattering Instinct, her argument that the desire to feel significant lies at the core of human behavior. That drive helps explain our greatest achievements, from creativity and moral courage to scientific and artistic excellence. It also helps explain some of our darkest outcomes, including extremism, violence, and ideological fanaticism.
Goldstein examines why people will give up comfort, status, and sometimes even their own lives to feel that they matter. She questions why meaning cannot be captured by happiness metrics or self-help formulas, and why the same psychological force can produce saints, scientists, athletes, cult leaders, and terrorists. The conversation moves through free will, entropy, morality without God, fame, narcissism, and the crucial difference between ways of mattering that create order and those that leave damage behind.
Rebecca Newberger Goldstein is an award-winning philosopher, writer, and public intellectual. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University and has taught at Yale, Columbia, NYU, Dartmouth, and Harvard. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, her work has been supported by the MacArthur “Genius” grant and fellowships from the Guggenheim, Whiting Institute, Radcliffe Institute, and the National Science Foundation. She is the author of ten books of acclaimed fiction and non-fiction. Her latest book is The Mattering Instinct: How Our Deepest Longing Drives Us and Divides Us.
An incredible fact, as in the truth, that almost nobody will accept.
Until the 22nd November, 2025, that is last Saturday, I believed this lie. A lie that spoke of the dangers, the hazards, the imminent end of the world as I believed it; as in Climate Change!
Very few of you will change your minds, of that I’m sure.
Nonetheless, I am going to republish a long article that was sent to me by my buddy, Dan Gomez.
ooOOoo
Latest Science Further Exposes Lies About Rising Seas
By Vijay Jayaraj
It’s all too predictable: A jet-setting celebrity or politician wades ceremoniously into hip-deep surf for a carefully choreographed photo op, while proclaiming that human-driven sea-level rise will soon swallow an island nation. Of course, the water is deeper than the video’s pseudoscience, which is as shallow as the theatrics.
The scientific truth is simple: Sea levels are rising, but the rate of rise has not accelerated. A new peer-reviewed study confirms what many other studies have already shown – that the steady rise of oceans is a centuries-long process, not a runaway crisis triggered by modern emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2).
For the past 12,000 years, during our current warm epoch known as the Holocene, sea levels have risen and fallen dramatically. For instance, during the 600-year Little Ice Age, which ended in the mid-19th century, sea levels dropped quite significantly.
The natural warming that began in the late 1600s got to a point around 1800 where loss of glacial ice in the summer began to exceed winter accumulation and glaciers began to shrink and seas to rise. By 1850, full-on glacial retreat was underway.
Thus, the current period of gradual sea-level increase began between 1800-1860, preceding any significant anthropogenic CO2 emissions by many decades. The U.S. Department of Energy’s 2025 critical review on carbon dioxide and climate change confirms this historical perspective.
“There is no good, sufficient or convincing evidence that global sea level rise is accelerating –there is only hypothesis and speculation. Computation is not evidence and unless the results can be practically viewed and measured in the physical world, such results must not be presented as such,” notes Kip Hansen, researcher and former U.S. Coast Guard captain.
New Study Confirms No Crisis
While activists speak of “global sea-level rise,” the ocean’s surface does not behave like water in a bathtub. Regional currents, land movements, and local hydrology all influence relative sea level. This is why local tide gauge data is important. As Hansen warns, “Only actually measured, validated raw data can be trusted. … You have to understand exactly what’s been measured and how.”
In addition, local tide-gauge data cannot be extrapolated to represent global sea level. This is because the geographic coverage of suitable locations for gauges is often poor, with the majority concentrated in the Northern Hemisphere. Latin America and Africa are severely under-represented in the global dataset. Hansen says, “The global tide gauge record is quantitatively problematic, but individual records can be shown as qualitative evidence for a lack of sea-level rise acceleration.”
A new 2025 study provides confirmation. Published in the Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, the study systematically dismantles the narrative of accelerating sea-level rise. It analyzed empirically derived long-term rates from datasets of sufficient length – at least 60 years – and incorporated long-term tide signals from suitable locations.
The startling conclusion: Approximately 95% of monitoring locations show no statistically significant acceleration of sea-level rise. It was found that the steady rate of sea-level rise – averaging around 1 to 2 millimeters per year globally – mirrors patterns observed over the past 150 years.
The study suggests that projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which often predicts rates as high as 3 to 4 millimeters per year by 2100, overestimate the annual rise by approximately 2 millimeters.
This discrepancy is not trivial. It translates into billions of dollars in misguided infrastructure investments and adaptation policies, which assume a far worse scenario than what the data support. Because we now know that local, non-climatic phenomena are a plausible cause of the accelerated sea level rise measured locally.
Rather than pursuing economically destructive initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on the basis of questionable projections and erroneous climate science, money and time should be invested in supporting coastal communities with accurate data for practical planning to adapt to local sea level rise.
Successful adaptation strategies have existed for centuries in regions prone to flooding and sea-level variations. The Netherlands is an excellent example of how engineering solutions can protect coastal populations even living below sea level.
Rising seas are real but not a crisis. What we have is a manageable, predictable phenomenon to which societies have adapted for centuries. To inflate it into an existential threat is to mislead, misallocate, and ultimately harm the communities that policymakers claim to protect.
This commentary was first published by PJ Media on September 10, 2025.
Vijay Jayaraj is a Science and Research Associate at the CO₂ Coalition, Fairfax, Virginia. He holds an M.S. in environmental sciences from the University of East Anglia and a postgraduate degree in energy management from Robert Gordon University, both in the U.K., and a bachelor’s in engineering from Anna University, India.
ooOOoo
I shall be returning to this important topic soon. Probably by republishing that 2025 Study referred to in the above article.
This world of blogging opens up incredible connections!
Recently I had a ‘Like’ from someone that I hadn’t come across before. As is my response to such events, I went across to their blog site to thank them by adding a ‘Like’ to their blog site. Then I found it was about street dogs and I started reading their posts. I was blown away by the integrity of the author and he was blogging from Kabul!
I am only going to republish three of the stories today but will be coming back with more.
Panagah Amn
A humanitarian project in Kabul dedicated to building a safe shelter for stray and injured animals.
The shelter is in its early stages, and with your support, we can bring it to life.
Our goal is to provide food, medical care, and protection.
Panagah Amn is a small but passionate initiative dedicated to helping stray and injured animals in Kabul, Afghanistan. Our shelter was born from a deep sense of compassion and responsibility toward the many dogs and cats suffering in the streets without food, medical care, or shelter.
We welcome support from individuals and organizations who share our vision. Together, we can build a safer world for all living beings.
Staying with their website, I want to share these pictures with you.
He Died Waiting for Kindness
He had no name… Perhaps because no one had ever paused for even a moment to ask him: “What is your name, silent little angel?” The cold of the night had settled over the road, and the car lights passed one after another beside his blood‑stained body… No one slowed down. No one turned their head to see his pain. As if he were invisible — like a dry leaf pushed aside by the wind. But he was not invisible… He felt the pain, he felt the fear, and with every fading breath, he swallowed the loneliness. His body lay on the gravel, his eyes half‑open, as if he was still waiting… Waiting for someone who, just once, would look at him with kindness. When I arrived, the blood was still fresh… If I had reached just 20 minutes earlier, maybe… Maybe I could have saved him. Maybe I could have whispered: “You are not alone… I am here.” But it was too late. He had already chosen to leave the pain of this earth and return to the sky… To the arms of the angels — where no cars would ever drive past his heart again. No one was even willing to lift his tiny body from the road… As if he had no worth. As if a life filled with silence and waiting meant nothing. But to me, he mattered. I lifted him from the road… Not as a stray dog, but as a soul who deserved to be farewelled with dignity. I buried him… With shaking hands, yet with a heart that wanted — at least once — for someone to be kind to him. In that moment, he taught me something… Despite his wounds, despite his pain, his eyes were still full of kindness. His gaze seemed to say: “I wish everyone were like you…” But the truth is: I wish everyone were like him non‑judgmental, gentle, with a heart that remained free of hatred, even in the final breath.
If this story touched your heart… please don’t stay silent. For him, it’s already too late… But there are still hundreds of “him” breathing on our streets, and each one needs just one kind human for their life to change. Please…
Be the voice of these silent angels.
oooo
I wish everyone was like you.
It was Friday… As every week, I set out with an 8-kilogram bag of food to visit those whom the world has forgotten, yet I have never been able to forget them… From afar, the scene I saw made my heart tremble. Little puppies ran toward me with excitement and hope, so happy as if the entire world had become kind to them with just this one meal. Some were so hungry they could barely run, yet with shining eyes, they looked at me, as if saying: “You came… today we are saved.” Amid all the sounds, joy, and excitement, my eyes fell on one—a gaze silent yet screaming a thousand cries… A dog, thin, wounded, and trembling… standing in the middle of the road, afraid, yet hopeful. Fear kept him from approaching… as if he had come close to kindness many times before, only to be met with stones, kicks, and cruelty. And he had every right to be afraid… truly. As I stepped closer, I saw something no animal lover ever forgets: his ears were gone… both torn off. The scars on his head were still visible… and his leg was injured, probably struck by stones multiple times. Yet… despite all this pain, despite all the suffering… he was still calm. He didn’t bark, growl, or attack… he just looked. He had been hurt by humans… yet he still had hope in them. I gently placed the food on the ground. He took a step back… fearful, hesitant. Then, with utmost caution, he came forward, took a bite, and stepped back again, as if saying: “Forgive me… I’m not used to someone treating me kindly.” I wished I could approach, clean his wounds, and show him that not all humans are cruel. But he ran away… not from me, but from memories that resembled “me.” But that gaze… that final look that still lingers in my heart like a dagger… eyes full of tears, untold words, gratitude, and fear… as if saying: “Thank you… for a meal. Maybe today is not my last day.” As he walked away, his legs trembled… not only from hunger, but from life… from loneliness… from being forgotten. On my way back, this question kept turning in my mind like a painful melody: Until when? Until when must voiceless animals suffer from human cruelty? Until when will every meal be their only hope for survival? Until when will we just watch? In Kabul, there are hundreds of animals like him. Some die from hunger, some from stones thrown by children and adults, and some like him… with wounds never healed, yet when they see a morsel of food, gratitude shines in their eyes. I am alone… but my dream is big. I want to build a shelter: a place where no animal dies from hunger, cold, disease, or violence. A place where they can learn once more that humans can be kind. But this is impossible without your support. We need a sponsor, a foreign donor, or a compassionate organization to take the first step. Perhaps you know someone… perhaps your introduction could save a life. If you can help, collaborate, or want to get in touch with us, please contact us via the email on our website. You can be the hope for an animal’s tomorrow… with a subscription, a referral, or a small step of support. Sometimes, saving the world is impossible… but saving “a world” for one animal is possible. And perhaps today, it is our turn to change the world for one of them.
oooo
ooOOoo
Dogs are so precious. What some humans do is beyond Jean and me, and, thankfully many thousands of other people.
But that doesn’t alter the fact that stray street dogs exist.
I won’t pontificate but the message is clear.
Thank you, Dr. Mateullah Abrahemi.
Let me copy some more text about the founder:
Dr. Mateullah Abrahemi, the founder of Panagai Amn in Kabul, is a committed and compassionate advocate for stray animals, especially street dogs. With a deep belief in the right to life and welfare of these vulnerable beings, he strives to provide them with a safe shelter, food, medical care, and kindness.
His efforts are not limited to dreams and ideas; rather, he takes practical, well-planned steps to improve the living conditions of these animals. With valuable experience in animal care, Dr. Abrahemi has now launched the Panagai Amn project, aiming to expand his efforts into a comprehensive support center.
He meticulously handles financial and logistical planning, designs a multilingual website via WordPress, manages resources, produces video content, and builds international communication bridges to attract more support for the cause.
Throughout this challenging journey, when many of his requests for assistance from organizations remained unanswered or were met with rejection,
As previously mentioned, I am going to share these images on, I hope, a weekly basis.
Anyone proposing to offer a master class on changing the world for the better, without becoming negative, cynical, angry or narrow-minded in the process, could model their advice on the life and work of pioneering animal behavior scholar Jane Goodall.
Goodall’s life journey stretches from marveling at the somewhat unremarkable creatures – though she would never call them that – in her English backyard as a wide-eyed little girl in the 1930s to challenging the very definition of what it means to be human through her research on chimpanzees in Tanzania. From there, she went on to become a global icon and a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
Until her death on Oct. 1, 2025 at age 91, Goodall retained a charm, open-mindedness, optimism and wide-eyed wonder that are more typical of children. I know this because I have been fortunate to spend time with her and to share insights from my own scientific career. To the public, she was a world-renowned scientist and icon. To me, she was Jane – my inspiring mentor and friend.
Despite the massive changes Goodall wrought in the world of science, upending the study of animal behavior, she was always cheerful, encouraging and inspiring. I think of her as a gentle disrupter. One of her greatest gifts was her ability to make everyone, at any age, feel that they have the power to change the world. https://www.youtube.com/embed/rcL4jnGTL1U?wmode=transparent&start=0 Jane Goodall documented that chimpanzees not only used tools but make them – an insight that altered thinking about animals and humans.
Discovering tool use in animals
In her pioneering studies in the lush rainforest of Tanzania’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve, now a national park, Goodall noted that the most successful chimp leaders were gentle, caring and familial. Males that tried to rule by asserting their dominance through violence, tyranny and threat did not last.
I also am a primatologist, and Goodall’s groundbreaking observations of chimpanzees at Gombe were part of my preliminary studies. She famously recorded chimps taking long pieces of grass and inserting them into termite nests to “fish” for the insects to eat, something no one else had previously observed.
It was the first time an animal had been seen using a tool, a discovery that altered how scientists differentiated between humanity and the rest of the animal kingdom.
Renowned anthropologist Louis Leakey chose Goodall to do this work precisely because she was not formally trained. When she turned up in Leakey’s office in Tanzania in 1957, at age 23, Leakey initially hired her as his secretary, but he soon spotted her potential and encouraged her to study chimpanzees. Leakey wanted someone with a completely open mind, something he believed most scientists lost over the course of their formal training.
Because chimps are humans’ closest living relatives, Leakey hoped that understanding the animals would provide insights into early humans. In a predominantly male field, he also thought a woman would be more patient and insightful than a male observer. He wasn’t wrong.
Six months in, when Goodall wrote up her observations of chimps using tools, Leakey wrote, “Now we must redefine tool, redefine Man, or accept chimpanzees as human.”
Goodall spoke of animals as having emotions and cultures, and in the case of chimps, communities that were almost tribal. She also named the chimps she observed, an unheard-of practice at the time, garnering ridicule from scientists who had traditionally numbered their research subjects.
One of her most remarkable observations became known as the Gombe Chimp War. It was a four-year-long conflict in which eight adult males from one community killed all six males of another community, taking over their territory, only to lose it to another, bigger community with even more males.
Confidence in her path
Goodall was persuasive, powerful and determined, and she often advised me not to succumb to people’s criticisms. Her path to groundbreaking discoveries did not involve stepping on people or elbowing competitors aside.
Rather, her journey to Africa was motivated by her wonder, her love of animals and a powerful imagination. As a little girl, she was entranced by Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 story “Tarzan of the Apes,” and she loved to joke that Tarzan married the wrong Jane.
When I was a 23-year-old former NFL cheerleader, with no scientific background at that time, and looked at Goodall’s work, I imagined that I, too, could be like her. In large part because of her, I became a primatologist, co-discovered a new species of lemur in Madagascar and have had an amazing life and career, in science and on TV, as a National Geographic explorer. When it came time to write my own story, I asked Goodall to contribute the introduction. She wrote:
“Mireya Mayor reminds me a little of myself. Like me she loved being with animals when she was a child. And like me she followed her dream until it became a reality.”
In a 2023 interview, Jane Goodall answers TV host Jimmy Kimmel’s questions about chimpanzee behavior.
Storyteller and teacher
Goodall was an incredible storyteller and saw it as the most successful way to help people understand the true nature of animals. With compelling imagery, she shared extraordinary stories about the intelligence of animals, from apes and dolphins to rats and birds, and, of course, the octopus. She inspired me to become a wildlife correspondent for National Geographic so that I could share the stories and plights of endangered animals around the world.
Goodall inspired and advised world leaders, celebrities, scientists and conservationists. She also touched the lives of millions of children.
Jane Goodall and primatologist Mireya Mayor with Mayor’s book ‘Just Wild Enough,’ a memoir aimed at young readers. Mireya Mayor, CC BY-ND
Through the Jane Goodall Institute, which works to engage people around the world in conservation, she launched Roots & Shoots, a global youth program that operates in more than 60 countries. The program teaches children about connections between people, animals and the environment, and ways to engage locally to help all three.
Along with Goodall’s warmth, friendship and wonderful stories, I treasure this comment from her: “The greatest danger to our future is our apathy. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.”
It’s a radical notion from a one-of-a-kind scientist.
This article has been updated to add the date of Goodall’s death.
That comment by Jane that was treasured by Mireya is so important. “The greatest danger to our future is our apathy. Each one of us must take responsibility for our own lives, and above all, show respect and love for living things around us, especially each other.”
We live in a world that is rapidly becoming more and more digital. But we also live in a world where the criminals are becoming better at carrying out their crimes. So a recent article in The Conversation seemed appropriate to republish.
ooOOoo
Scams and frauds: Here are the tactics criminals use on you in the age of AI and cryptocurrencies
Scammers often direct victims to convert cash to untraceable cryptocurrency and send it to them. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Scams are nothing new – fraud has existed as long as human greed. What changes are the tools.
Scammers thrive on exploiting vulnerable, uninformed users, and they adapt to whatever technologies or trends dominate the moment. In 2025, that means AI, cryptocurrencies and stolen personal data are their weapons of choice.
And, as always, the duty, fear and hope of their targets provide openings. Today, duty often means following instructions from bosses or co-workers, who scammers can impersonate. Fear is that a loved one, who scammers also can impersonate, is in danger. And hope is often for an investment scheme or job opportunity to pay off.
AI-powered scams and deepfakes
Artificial intelligence is no longer niche – it’s cheap, accessible and effective. While businesses use AI for advertising and customer support, scammers exploit the same tools to mimic reality, with disturbing precision.
Deepfake scams use high-tech tools and old-fashioned emotional manipulation.
Criminals are using AI-generated audio or video to impersonate CEOs, managers or even family members in distress. Employees have been tricked into transferring money or leaking sensitive data. Over 105,000 such deepfake attacks were recorded in the U.S. in 2024, costing more than US$200 million in the first quarter of 2025 alone. Victims often cannot distinguish synthetic voicesor faces from real ones.
Fraudsters are also using emotional manipulation. The scammers make phone calls or send convincing AI-written texts posing as relatives or friends in distress. Elderly victims in particular fall prey when they believe a grandchild or other family member is in urgent trouble. The Federal Trade Commission has outlined how scammers use fake emergencies to pose as relatives.
Cryptocurrency scams
Crypto remains the Wild West of finance — fast, unregulated and ripe for exploitation.
Pump-and-dump scammers artificially inflate the price of a cryptocurrency through hype on social media to lure investors with promises of huge returns – the pump – and then sell off their holdings – the dump – leaving victims with worthless tokens.
Pig butchering is a hybrid of romance scams and crypto fraud. Scammers build trust over weeks or months before persuading victims to invest in fake crypto platforms. Once the scammers have extracted enough money from the victim, they vanish.
Pig-butchering scams lure people into fake online relationships, often with devastating consequences.
Scammers also use cryptocurrencies as a means of extracting money from people in impersonation scams and other forms of fraud. For example, scammers direct victims to bitcoin ATMs to deposit large sums of cash and convert it to the untraceable cryptocurrency as payment for fictitious fines.
Phishing, smishing, tech support and jobs
Old scams don’t die; they evolve.
Phishing and smishing have been around for years. Victims are tricked into clicking links in emails or text messages, leading to malware downloads, credential theft or ransomware attacks. AI has made these lures eerily realistic, mimicking corporate tone, grammar and even video content.
Tech support scams often start with pop-ups on computer screens that warn of viruses or identity theft, urging users to call a number. Sometimes they begin with a direct cold call to the victim. Once the victim is on a call with the fake tech support, the scammers convince victims to grant remote access to their supposedly compromised computers. Once inside, scammers install malware, steal data, demand payment or all three.
Fake websites and listings are another current type of scam. Fraudulent sites impersonating universities or ticket sellers trick victims into paying for fake admissions, concerts or goods.
One example is when a website for “Southeastern Michigan University” came online and started offering details about admission. There is no such university. Eastern Michigan University filed a complaint that Southeastern Michigan University was copying its website and defrauding unsuspecting victims.
The rise of remote and gig work has opened new fraud avenues.
Victims are offered fake jobs with promises of high pay and flexible hours. In reality, scammers extract “placement fees” or harvest sensitive personal data such as Social Security numbers and bank details, which are later used for identity theft.
How you can protect yourself
Technology has changed, but the basic principles remain the same: Never click on suspicious links or download attachments from unknown senders, and enter personal information only if you are sure that the website is legitimate. Avoid using third-party apps or links. Legitimate businesses have apps or real websites of their own.
Enable two-factor authentication wherever possible. It provides security against stolen passwords. Keep software updated to patch security holes. Most software allows for automatic update or warns about applying a patch.
Remember that a legitimate business will never ask for personal information or a money transfer. Such requests are a red flag.
Relationships are a trickier matter. The state of California provides details on how people can avoid being victims of pig butchering.
Technology has supercharged age-old fraud. AI makes deception virtually indistinguishable from reality, crypto enables anonymous theft, and the remote-work era expands opportunities to trick people. The constant: Scammers prey on trust, urgency and ignorance. Awareness and skepticism remain your best defense.
To my mind, nothing beats the sights of the World’s oceans.
In the past, I spent four years living on a yacht, a Tradewind 33, out in Cyprus. During that time I cruised to Turkey, to Greece, to Algiers, and loved it.
Here’s an extract from World Oceans day website.
Why Earth’s oceans are so important
Earth’s oceans are critical to human survival. Indeed, more than half the oxygen in our atmosphere is generated via photosynthesis by phytoplankton and seaweed in oceans. In addition, millions of people depend on fish and other marine animals for food. Research on some marine organisms has led to the development of new medications. Moreover, ocean currents, known as global conveyor belts, help regulate Earth’s climate.
Sir David Attenborough has produced a film Ocean and the trailer follows:
There is so much more to view on the World Oceans Day website. Please go to it.
Learning from Dogs 