Letters to the Editor: Despite trouble for ranchers, wolves are vital to keeping nature in balance
To the editor: Wolves are hardly an old nemesis ('Beautiful, deadly: Wolves stalk rural California,' April 21). They are the animals that keep other wild animals in check and in balance. They help to protect what little remaining wilderness we have left and keep it wild and prospering. Of course where people are living, working and farming, wolves often have a bad reputation. But they're vital to a thriving ecosystem. Biologists are still discovering how much there is to learn about what they actually do for wildlife, the ecosystem and for us.
Linda Nicholes, Huntington Beach
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To the editor: I read with interest your article about wolf predations. Nowhere it is mentioned that in Colorado and other places, certain breeds of dogs can protect cattle. Breeds such as Pyrenees, Anatolian and Akbash are big powerful dogs and if you have a number of them (one might not be enough to fend off an attack by several wolves), they can be very effective in protecting cattle.
Eduardo Kneler, Redondo Beach
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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Los Angeles Times
7 days ago
- Los Angeles Times
‘Mountainhead' is a lock for an Emmy nod. Its actors, not so much
'Mountainhead,' a satirical skewering of tech oligarchs from 'Succession' showrunner Jesse Armstrong, arrived this weekend, dropping on the final day of this year's Emmy eligibility window. I'm Glenn Whipp, columnist for the Los Angeles Times and host of The Envelope newsletter. While we're pondering the timeline to upload a human consciousness, let's consider 'Mountainhead' and its Emmy chances. Early on in 'Mountainhead,' tech bro and Elon Musk stand-in Venis Parish (Cory Michael Smith) uses film history to put the glitches of his company's latest AI rollout into perspective. 'The first time people saw a movie, everybody ran screaming because they thought they were gonna get hit by a train,' Venis relates, shouting out the Lumiere brothers' 1895 film, 'Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat Station.' 'The answer to that was not stop the movies. The answer was: Show more movies. We're gonna show users as much s— as possible, until everyone realizes nothing's that f— serious. Nothing means anything, and everything's funny and cool.' In the meantime, though, Venis' social media platform has given users the tools to create deepfakes so realistic they can't be identified as bogus. Immediately, people all over the world are uploading videos of their enemies committing atrocities, inflaming centuries-old animosities. Reality has collapsed and, with it, global stability. But for 'Mountainhead's' quartet of tech magnates, played by Smith, Steve Carell, Ramy Youssef and Jason Schwartzman, everything is just fine. As venture capitalist Randall Garrett (Carell) notes, 'We have plenty of calories stockpiled. Western countries have strategic commodity reserves, canola oil, lard, frozen orange juice.' Later, Randall asks: 'Are we the Bolsheviks of a new techno world order that starts tonight?' 'Mountainhead' is in many ways scarier than the zombie apocalypse of 'The Last of Us' because it feels like its premise is lurking right around the corner. Armstrong came up with the idea for the two-hour movie in November, after immersing himself in podcasts and books about Silicon Valley. He shot it in March, edited it in April and delivered it in May. It captures the DOGE era, specifically in the casual cruelty expressed by its entitled characters. 'Do you believe in other people?' Venis asks Randall. 'Eight billion people as real as us?' Randall's reply: 'Well, obviously not.' 'Mountainhead' aspires more directly to comedy, but because we don't have a history with these four deplorable men, it's often difficult to find the humor. 'Like 'Fountainhead' Mountainhead?' Youssef jokes to Schwartzman about the estate's title. 'Was your interior decorator Ayn Bland?' There's a procession of put-downs like that. When they're not roasting each other, they're trying to boost their own agendas — in the case of the cancer-stricken Randall, it's the quest to live forever as a disembodied consciousness. For all its Shakespearean drama, 'Succession' was wildly entertaining, more of a comedy than, yes, 'The Bear.' Kendall Roy performing the rap 'L to the OG' at a party honoring his father's half-century running Waystar Royco will be the funniest two minutes of television probably forever. But half the fun came from the characters' reactions to this transcendent moment of cringe. We were deeply invested in this world. For all their money and power, the 'Mountainhead' moguls are, like the Roy children in 'Succession,' not serious people. But beyond that, 'Mountainhead' doesn't have much of anything novel to say about its subjects. As good as Smith is at channeling Musk's alien, empathy-deficient otherness, you can come away with the same level of insight — and entertainment — by spending a few minutes watching Mike Myers on 'Saturday Night Live.' I don't need to watch a movie to know that a guy sitting on a gold toilet isn't prioritizing anyone's interests but his own. 'Mountainhead,' as mentioned, arrives on the last day of 2024-25 Emmy eligibility, less by design than from necessity. The paint's still wet on this film. But this does mark the third straight season that HBO has dropped a TV movie right before the deadline. Last year, it was 'The Great Lillian Hall,' starring Jessica Lange as fading Broadway legend. Two years ago, it was the excellent whistleblower thriller 'Reality,' featuring a star turn from Sydney Sweeney. Both movies were blanked at the Emmys, though Kathy Bates did manage a Screen Actors Guild Awards nod for 'Lillian Hall.' Did the movies land too late for enough people see them? Perhaps. The late arrival time should mean they'd be fresh in voters' minds when they fill out their ballots. But you have to be aware of them for that to happen. Awareness shouldn't be an issue with 'Mountainhead.' Enough people will want to watch the new offering from the creator of 'Succession,' and there's not much else on television vying for attention right now. 'Mountainhead' should score a nomination for television movie, even with the category being stronger than usual this year with audience favorites 'Rebel Ridge,' the latest 'Bridget Jones' movie and Scott Derrickson's enjoyable, genre-bending 'The Gorge' competing. But actors in these TV movies are at competitive disadvantage as the Emmys lump them together with their counterparts in limited series, performers who are onscreen for a much longer time. This decade, only two TV movie actors have been nominated — Hugh Jackman ('Bad Education') and Daniel Radcliffe ('Weird: The Al Yankovic Story'). The lead actress category, meanwhile, has been completely dominated by limited series. Not that there are any women starring in 'Mountainhead' because ... tech bros. As for the men, Carell, Schwartzman, Smith and Youssef are very good at conveying delusional arrogance. I despised each and every one of their characters. If hate-voting were a thing, they'd all be nominated.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Yahoo
Wildfire threatens Joshua trees in area considered a 'last refuge' for the species
A fire ignited in the Covington Flats area of Joshua Tree National Park on Friday afternoon and burned 165 acres in a region that experts say is critical to the species' future in a warming climate. Meg Rockwell, a spokesperson for the national park, said it wasn't immediately clear if any Joshua trees in the area had burned, but she said there are major concerns about the possibility of damage to the trees. "This area is important for the long-term survival of the Joshua trees," Rockwell said. "It's that last refuge." San Bernardino County Fire officials said no structures are threatened. Read more: World's oldest trees threatened by Silver fire in Inyo County. Crews halt spread of blaze The Covington Flats region—located in a northwestern section of the park—is known as a "climate refugia" sitting at a slightly higher elevation, which brings cooler temperatures and more rainfall. These slight differences could be enough, experts say, to to allow Joshua trees to continue to survive and reproduce even under a hotter, drier climate that is expected in the coming decades. The iconic trees are not adapted to wildfire, meaning any fire damage can be devastating to the population. The Eureka fire was reported around noon Friday and had no containment as of 2:30 p.m. The park reported temperatures Friday around 85 degrees with wind gusts up to about 20 mph in the area. Rockwell said additional fire crews from the Bureau of Land Management and San Bernardino County had been called in to assist with the firefight. Read more: How large fires are altering the face of California's Mojave Desert The Joshua tree is cherished for its distinctive silhouette and singular role as a linchpin of the Mojave Desert ecosystem. Yet the iconic succulent is losing suitable habitat at a brisk clip due to climate change, worsening wildfires and development, scientists and environmental advocates say. While the Joshua tree is currently ubiquitous, climate models show there won't be much suitable habitat left by the end of the century. That's why protecting areas like Covington Flats is so important, Rockwell said. But, experts have also found that many of these cooler, higher-elevation areas — that are more hospitable for Joshua trees — are also susceptible to wildfires because they tend to have denser vegetation. Two large wildfires have killed an estimated 1.8 million Joshua trees in and around the Mojave National Preserve since 2020. Staff writer Alex Wigglesworth contributed to this report. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ancient bread rises again as Turkey recreates 5,000-year-old loaf
In the early Bronze Age, a piece of bread was buried beneath the threshold of a newly built house in what is today central Turkey. Now, more than 5,000 years later, archaeologists have unearthed it, and helped a local bakery to recreate the recipe -- with customers lining up to buy it. Round and flat like a pancake, 12 centimetres (five inches) in diameter, the bread was discovered during excavations at Kulluoba, a site near the central Anatolian city of Eskisehir. "This is the oldest baked bread to have come to light during an excavation, and it has largely been able to preserve its shape," said Murat Turkteki, archaeologist and director of the excavation. "Bread is a rare find during an excavation. Usually, you only find crumbs," he told AFP. "But here, it was preserved because it had been burnt and buried," he said. The bread was charred and buried under the entrance of a dwelling built around 3,300 BC. A piece had been torn off, before the bread was burnt, then buried when the house was built. "It makes us think of a ritual of abundance," Turkteki said. - 'Moved by this discovery' - Unearthed in September 2024, the charred bread has been on display at the Eskisehir Archaeological Museum since Wednesday. "We were very moved by this discovery. Talking to our excavation director, I wondered if we could reproduce this bread," said the city's mayor, Ayse Unluce. Analyses showed that the bread was made with coarsely ground emmer flour, an ancient variety of wheat, and lentil seeds, with the leaf of an as yet undetermined plant used as yeast. Ancient emmer seeds no longer exist in Turkey. To get as close as possible to the original recipe, the municipality, after analysing the ancient bread, decided to use Kavilca wheat, a variety that is close to ancient emmer, as well as bulgur and lentils. At the Halk Ekmek bakery (meaning "People's Bread" in Turkish), promoted by the municipality to offer low-cost bread, employees have been shaping 300 loaves of Kulluoba by hand every day. "The combination of ancestral wheat flour, lentils and bulgur results in a rich, satiating, low-gluten, preservative-free bread," said Serap Guler, the bakery's manager. The first Kulluoba loaves, marketed as 300-gramme (11-ounce) cakes that cost 50 Turkish lira (around $1.28), sold out within hours. "I rushed because I was afraid there wouldn't be any left. I'm curious about the taste of this ancient bread," said customer Suzan Kuru. - Drought resistant - In the absence of written traces, the civilisation of Kulluoba remains largely mysterious. In the Bronze Age, the Hattians, an Anatolian people who preceded the Hittites, lived in the Eskisehir region. "Kulluoba was a medium-sized urban agglomeration engaged in commercial activities, crafts, agriculture and mining. There was clearly a certain family and social order," said archaeologist Deniz Sari. The rediscovery of the bread has sparked interest in the cultivation of ancient wheats better adapted to drought. Once rich in water sources, the province of Eskisehir is today suffering from drought. "We're facing a climate crisis, but we're still growing corn and sunflowers, which require a lot of water," said Unluce, the local mayor. "Our ancestors are teaching us a lesson. Like them, we should be moving towards less thirsty crops," she added. The mayor wants to revive the cultivation of Kavilca wheat in the region, which is resistant to drought and disease. "We need strong policies on this subject. Cultivating ancient wheat will be a symbolic step in this direction," she said. "These lands have preserved this bread for 5,000 years and given us this gift. We have a duty to protect this heritage and pass it on." bg/rba/ach/fo/jhb
