Soy may have a pretty innocuous reputation thanks to its association with vegan food and meat alternatives. But don’t be fooled – crops of this pale legume are behind much of Brazil’s epidemic of deforestation. Since 2000, Brazil has doubled its total area of soy plantation to 36 million hectares and become the world’s largest producer. This expansion has erased vast swathes of forest and other habitats in some of the country’s most biodiverse regions.
About 75% of the soy produced globally is used as animal feed, and a large proportion of soy imported to Europe goes to chicken and pig farms. As a result, the future of the rainforest and savannas of Brazil – not to mention the biodiversity and carbon storage they support – depends on the contents of dinner tables worldwide.
Last call for Denvers El Chapultepec
12/15/2020 It was a good run, a hell of a good run! But therell be no encore for Denvers landmark jazz joint, El Chapultepec. The nationally known hole-in-the-wall jazz club and famous dive bar has called it a night. After eighty-seven years, last call has come and gone at the corner of 20th and Market.
El Chapultepec, more informally, the Pec, is just another casualty of a pandemic and economy that have claimed far too many souls, killed too many dreams. Its eulogy came last Friday, outside its front door, one that had swung open for locals and luminaries through boom and bust, war and peace and everything in between.
After days of rumors, the owners of El Chapultepec made it official on December 8: The legendary jazz club is closed, and it s not coming back.after 87 years in the same family.
“I want to make sure we re not going to be too quick to point the finger at COVID and our shutdowns for being the reason for this closure,” said Anna Diaz, who d inherited the business with her sister, Angela Guerrero, after their father, Jerry Krantz, passed away in 2012. He d taken it over from his father-in-law and made it a jazz mecca. “Of course, the closure played a part in it, Diaz continued. Undoubtedly, that makes an impact in our decision, but there are so many things that led to this choice.
From USA TODAY Network and wire reports
Alabama
Montgomery: The state set a record of more than 2,000 COVID-19 patients in hospitals Monday as some facilities began to postpone nonemergency procedures amid staff shortages. There were 2,079 patients in Alabama hospitals with COVID-19 – the highest number since the pandemic began, according to numbers from the Department of Public Health. Dr. Don Williamson, the former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association, said at least three hospitals have begun to postpone some procedures. “I still don’t see anything to break the spread between now and getting through Christmas . and frankly I’m increasingly frustrated about why it is so difficult for individuals to be willing to wear masks,” he said. “The election’s over. It should no longer be political. People are dying.” He said some facilities have as many as 100 staff members out with COVID-19. Decatur Morgan Hospital President Kelli Powers said