title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Settings is an app available since initial launch of the iPhone in 2007. Settings allows users to access information about their device and change the settings and options on their phone such as the device wallpaper, notifications, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, display and brightness, Siri and more. User's Apple ID accounts are also managed from within the settings app. With the release of iOS 12, a screen time feature was introduced which is intended to help user's focus and combat smartphone addiction. A search feature introduced with iOS 9 that allows users to easily find specific settings.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Shortcuts, formerly Workflow, is a block-based visual scripting application. Workflow was acquired by Apple in 2017 and became a default app with the release of iOS 13. The app allows users to create macros for executing specific tasks on their device. These task sequences can be created by the user and shared online through iCloud. A number of curated shortcuts can also be downloaded from the integrated Gallery.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Stocks is a stock market tracking app introduced with the initial launch of the iPhone and iPhone OS 1 in 2007. It allows users to check the Yahoo! Finance data for any company valued on the stock exchange, including the current value of a company and their increase or decrease percentage. A graph shows the trends of each company over time, with a green graph showing positive growth and a red graph showing a decline. Business News is provided at the bottom of the app, which shows articles about companies a user is following.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Tips is an application introduced with iOS 8 which provides tips and tricks for users to get the most out of their device. Tips are added alongside new iOS releases to show users what's new on their devices and sorted into categories such as "Essentials" and "Genius Picks".


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Translate is a translation app released on September 16, 2020, alongside iOS 14. It functions as a service for translating text sentences or speech between several languages. All translations are processed through the device's neural engine, and as such can be used offline. Translation is currently supported between the UK (British) and US (American) dialects of English, Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Korean, the Brazilian dialect of Portuguese and Russian.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: TV, also known as Apple TV and formerly Videos, is a media player application used for viewing television shows and films purchased or rented through the iTunes Store. It can also stream content from the Apple TV Channels a la carte video on demand service, and the Apple TV+ original content subscription service. The TV app can also index and access content from other linked video on demand services, allowing programs watched in other apps to appear in a user's Up Next feed.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Voice Memos is a voice recording app introduced with the release of iPhone OS 3 designed for saving short snippets of audio for later playback. Saved voice memos can be shared as a .m4a file or can be edited, which allows parts of a recording to be replaced, background noise to be removed, or the length of a recording to be trimmed. Other playback options include the ability to change playback speed, skip silent parts of a memo, or enhance a recording. Audio files can also be organised into different folders.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Wallet, formerly Passbook, is a digital wallet app included with the iOS 6 and above that allows users to store "Wallet-passes", meaning coupons, boarding passes, student ID cards, event tickets, movie tickets, public transportation tickets, store cards, and – starting with iOS 8.1 – credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, and loyalty cards via Apple Pay. Apple Wallet is also the main interface with Apple Card, Apple's credit card service. Passes are synced between iOS devices using iCloud.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Watch allows users to set-up and pair their Apple Watch devices to their iPhones, as well as customize settings, watch faces, and loaded apps. The discover tab highlights compatible apps from the App Store and shows users tips on how to get the most from their device.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Weather is a weather forecasting app introduced with the initial launch of the iPhone and iPhone OS 1 in 2007. The app allows the user to see weather conditions throughout the day, as well as a seven-day forecast. Locations can be added by pressing the list icon and the plus icon which allows the user to type in the city's name, ZIP Code or postal code or airport code. Weather also displays related metrics, such as the time of sunrise and sunset, humidity, chance of rain, visibility distance, and a UV index. The app is also capable of notifying users of any severe weather warnings issued by official sources.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: Game Center was a standalone app released alongside iOS 4.1, which was rolled into Settings with the release of iOS 10. Players can connect with friends, send friend requests, start playing games and organize online multiplayer games. The number of friends that can be connected to a single Game Center account is limited to 500. Some games may feature achievements, where for completing a certain task, the player is rewarded points. Depending on the game, a leaderboard may be present where a player can compare his or her score with friends or the world.


title: Pre-installed iOS apps

text: YouTube was an app that was introduced with the release of the iPhone in iPhone OS 1 which allowed users to find, search, and watch YouTube videos. The built-in YouTube app was removed with the release of iOS 6 in favor of Google releasing their own app.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: Margaret Ann Peterson (January 10, 1941 – May 15, 2022) was an American actress and singer. She was best known for playing Charlene Darling on "The Andy Griffith Show". She also played the character of Doris in the episode "A Girl for Goober" (1968).


title: Maggie Peterson

text: The youngest of four children, Peterson was born in Greeley, Colorado, to Arthur and Tressa Hill Peterson. Her father was a doctor and her mother a homemaker. Aside from "The Andy Griffith Show", Peterson also appeared on other TV shows such as "Love American Style", "Green Acres", "Gomer Pyle USMC", and "The Odd Couple". She appeared in an episode of "Mayberry R.F.D." as Edna, a cafe waitress; in the 1986 film "Return to Mayberry"; as the innocent Rose Ellen in the 1969 film "The Love God?", starring opposite Don Knotts; and in the 1968 film "Angel in My Pocket".


title: Maggie Peterson

text: Peterson landed a role as Susie, the coffee shop waitress on "The Bill Dana Show", another spin-off from "The Danny Thomas Show", which aired from September 1963 to January 1965.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: Peterson grew up in a musical family. While growing up in Colorado, she has said her earliest memories were of music. Peterson, her brother Jim and two of Jim's friends formed a small group called the Ja-Da Quartet. They would ride around in the back of a pickup truck singing to people.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: In 1954 at a Capitol Records convention, Dick Linke (manager of Andy Griffith and Jim Nabors) heard Peterson singing and was so impressed with her, he encouraged her to come to New York. So in 1958 after graduating high school Peterson and the group did just that. They landed a number of stints on the "Perry Como Show" and the "Pat Boone Show", and in 1959 they released their album "It's the Most Happy Sound." Soon after, the band broke up and went back home.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: A short time later, Peterson joined another group, The Ernie Mariani Trio (later renamed Margaret Ann and the Ernie Mariani Trio). The group traveled for several years and had stints in resort areas such as Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and Reno, where Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack were often seen in the audience while Peterson performed. It was while she was on tour that Maggie was discovered by "The Andy Griffith Show" director Bob Sweeny and producer Aaron Ruben.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: For "The Andy Griffith Show", Peterson initially read for the role of Ellie Walker, a love interest for Sheriff Andy Taylor, but the role went to Elinor Donahue. Soon after, she was selected to play the role of Charlene Darling. The only daughter of Briscoe Darling, she had a crush on Sheriff Taylor ("Pa, can't I even just look at the pretty man?"). Peterson would later return to "The Andy Griffith Show" in its final season, in "A Girl For Goober," as Doris who was the dating interest to Ken Berry's character.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: The Darlings, including Briscoe's four boys (played by The Dillards bluegrass band), lived in the mountains and came to town on many occasions. When in town, they enjoyed playing music with Andy. One of Charlene's favorite songs is "Salty Dog." The ones that made her cry were "Slimy River Bottom," "Boil that Cabbage Down", and "Keep Your Money in Your Shoes and it Won't Get Wet." Ernest T. Bass had his eyes on Charlene and believed he had courting rights because her marriage to Dud Wash had been performed by Sheriff Andy Taylor acting as a justice of the peace, not by a preacher. He tried to steal her away on the day they were to be remarried by a preacher. Threatening the gathering with a high-powered rifle, he runs off with the fully veiled "bride." While Charlene and Dud are hurriedly married by the preacher, Ernest T. discovers the person in the veil is really Barney Fife. Charlene and Dud had a daughter together, Andilina. They tried to betroth Andilina to Opie as it was customary in their family. Briscoe called off the engagement of Opie and Andilina when he discovered there was witchery in the Taylor family.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: According to Jim Clark of The Andy Griffith Show Rerun Watchers Club, the three songs on which Charlene performed on the show can be found on the album "Songs That Make Me Cry".


title: Maggie Peterson

text: In 1968, while she was singing as an opening act for Andy Griffith at a casino in Lake Tahoe, Peterson met jazz musician Ronald Bernard "Gus" Mancuso who was playing bass in a lounge act. The two married in 1978, and were together until his death in 2021. The couple spent a number of years in Los Angeles, where Peterson worked doing commercials, until they decided to settle in Las Vegas where Peterson worked as a location scout for film and television.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: In April 2008 The Darlings received a star on the Missouri Walk of Fame in Marshfield, Missouri. Peterson and Darlings/Dillards band members Dean Webb and Mitch Jayne were on hand representing The Darlings.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: In May 2016 and also May 2019, Peterson appeared as a guest of honor at the Mayberry In The Midwest Festival in Danville, Indiana.


title: Maggie Peterson

text: According to a statement from a family relative who identified her as "Aunt Maggie," Peterson died in her sleep, surrounded by family and friends, on May 15, 2022, aged 81. She had been in declining health following the death of her husband Gus.


title: Acetanilide

text: Acetanilide is an odourless solid chemical of leaf or flake-like appearance. It is also known as "N"-phenylacetamide, acetanil, or acetanilid, and was formerly known by the trade name Antifebrin.


title: Acetanilide

text: The preparation used to be a traditional experiment in introductory organic chemistry lab classes, but it has now been widely replaced by the preparation of either paracetamol or aspirin, both of which teach the same practical techniques (especially recrystallization of the product) but which avoid the use of aniline, a suspected carcinogen.


title: Acetanilide

text: Acetanilide is slightly soluble in water, and stable under most conditions. Pure crystals are plate shaped and appear colorless, white, or in between.


title: Acetanilide

text: Acetanilide is used as an inhibitor of hydrogen peroxide decomposition and is used to stabilize cellulose ester varnishes. It has also found uses in the intermediation in rubber accelerator synthesis, dyes and dye intermediate synthesis, and camphor synthesis. Acetanilide is used for the production of 4-acetamidobenzenesulfonyl chloride, a key intermediate for the manufacture of the sulfa drugs.


title: Acetanilide

text: In the 19th century acetanilide was one of a large number of compounds used as experimental photographic developers.


title: Acetanilide

text: Acetanilide was the first aniline derivative found to possess analgesic as well as antipyretic properties, and was quickly introduced into medical practice under the names of Antifebrin by A. Cahn and P. Hepp in 1886. But its (apparent) unacceptable toxic effects, the most alarming being cyanosis due to methemoglobinemia and ultimately liver and kidney damage, prompted the search for supposedly less toxic aniline derivatives such as phenacetin. After several conflicting results over the ensuing fifty years, it was established in 1948 that acetanilide was mostly metabolized to paracetamol (acetaminophen) in the human body, and that it was this metabolite that was responsible for the analgesic and antipyretic properties. The observed methemoglobinemia after acetanilide administration was ascribed to the small proportion of acetanilide that is hydrolyzed to aniline in the body. Acetanilide is no longer used as a drug, although the efficacy of its metabolite paracetamol (acetaminophen) is well known.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Burmese pythons ("Python bivittatus") are native to Southeast Asia. However, since the end of the 20th century, they have become an established breeding population in South Florida. The earliest python sightings in Florida date back to the 1930s and although Burmese pythons were first sighted in Everglades National Park in the 1990s, they were not officially recognized as a reproducing population until 2000. Since then, the number of python sightings has exponentially increased with over 30000 sightings from 2008 to 2010.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Burmese pythons prey on a wide variety of birds, mammals, and crocodilian species occupying the Everglades. Pronounced declines in several mammalian species have coincided spatially and temporally with the proliferation of pythons in South Florida, indicating the already devastating impacts upon native animals. Although the low detectability of pythons makes population estimates difficult, most researchers propose that at least 1 million pythons likely occupy South Florida. The importation of Burmese pythons was banned in the United States in January 2012 by the U.S. Department of the Interior.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Burmese pythons in the state of Florida are classified as an invasive species. They disrupt the ecosystem by preying on native species, outcompeting native species for food or other resources, and/or disrupting the physical nature of the environment. They are comparable in size or even larger than adult native snake species and quickly reach sizes that reduce their vulnerability to predation. It is, however, important to note that they have often been targeted by the native American alligator ("Alligator mississippiensis") as prey when invading into its territory. Bobcats ("Lynx rufus") have also been observed raiding python nests for eggs.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: The high reproductive potential, rapid sexual development, and longevity of Burmese pythons clarify why controlling the population through removal of individuals would be difficult. A typical female breeds every other year, produces a clutch of between twenty and fifty eggs, and can live for twenty years or more.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Additionally, as apex predators and dietary generalists, Burmese pythons target a wide array of taxonomic groups. Thus, they are not dependent upon a specific prey species. The flexible dietary requirements of Burmese pythons enable them to survive for long periods of time without food, but when prey is readily available, they will eat regularly. Consequently, Burmese pythons pose a great threat to wildlife, especially mid-sized mammals.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Severe declines in mammalian populations across the Everglades may be tied to the proliferation of pythons. Comparisons of road surveys conducted in 1996-1997 (prior to proliferation) and 2003-2011 (after proliferation) indicated declines from 88% to 100% in the frequency of raccoon, opossum, bobcat, rabbit, fox, and other mammalian species sightings. These declines were concordant with the spatial geography of python spread. Most of these species are well known to have increased in numbers following human disturbance, however.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Smaller declines were observed where pythons were only recently documented and the greatest mammalian abundances were observed outside of the python's current range. Burmese pythons were the dominant predator of reintroduced marsh rabbits ("Sylvilagus palustris") in Everglades National Park, and predation by pythons extirpated the rabbit population in less than 11 months. The overall extent to which the greatly reduced mammalian populations will disrupt the complex food web of the Everglades by indirectly affecting other native species, however, is unclear.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: The Everglades is a region of tropical wetlands comprising the lower third of the Florida peninsula. Only 25% of the original Everglades remains, protected within Everglades National Park (ENP). The climate of South Florida and the location of the Everglades, surrounded by a metropolitan area to the east, Naples to the west, and Florida Bay to the south, make it particularly vulnerable to infestations of exotic species. Miami, in particular, is the hub for trade in exotic pets within the United States. Although the exact origin of Burmese pythons in the Everglades is unknown, it is likely that many were once pets released by owners who found them too difficult to care for. However, the majority of experts concur that the python population grew particularly after Hurricane Andrew. The category 5 storm destroyed a python breeding facility, which released numerous snakes into the adjacent swamps. An evaluation of the genetic structure of Burmese pythons sampled from Everglades National Park determined that the population is genetically distinct from pythons sampled in their native range, but within the Everglades population, there is little genetic diversity.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: In 2001, the United States Geological Survey began a 10-year period analysis of 400 pythons captured in the Everglades. The survey discovered that there existed a tangled genetic tree between these captured snakes, and that hybrid pythons were manifesting within the Everglades.13 out of the 400 pythons analyzed had genetic signatures of the Indian rock python within their DNA. Indian rock pythons are notorious for being a smaller, faster, and more aggressive species than the Burmese python. It can be suggested that this interbreeding allows the invasive hybrid species to adapt more rapidly to the Everglades ecosystem.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Estimating the population of Burmese pythons in the Everglades is challenging because of the secretive nature of this species and the limited ability to conduct traditional mark-recapture assessments. Namely, it is counterintuitive to the primary goal of python removal to return captured pythons to the wild.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Furthermore, the low detectability of pythons means that even if mark-recapture studies could be conducted, they would require a greater research effort than is currently possible. Pythons spend a majority of their day in hiding, whether in burrows or aquatic habitats, and one study indicated that even seasoned herpetologists showed only a 1% efficacy in detecting pythons housed in a seminatural environment. Consequently, estimates of python populations range from at least 30,000 to more than 300,000.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Several attempts have been made at better understanding the spatial ecology of Burmese pythons in the Everglades, including capture analysis and radiotelemetry studies. Since the recognition of the breeding population of pythons, researchers have made an effort to note the capture history (date, location, and time) as well as characteristics (mass, length, sex, reproduction condition, and gut contents) of each animal to better characterize the python's activity patterns, spread, and ecology. More than 2,000 pythons have been captured since 2005, including hatchling pythons, gravid females, and adults in excess of () in total length. Gut analyses indicate that captured pythons consume nearly any bird, mammal, or alligator found in the Everglades, including nationally endangered Key Largo woodrats ("Neotoma floridana smalli") and wood storks ("Mycteria americana").


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Radiotelemetry includes the use of small, surgically implanted radiotransmitters to track the movement patterns of captured and released animals over extended periods of time. A 2014 study suggests that Burmese pythons have navigational map and compass senses. In contrast to previous research that documented the poor navigational abilities of terrestrial snakes, the movement behavior of the Burmese python seems to be nonrandom. The movements of twelve adult Burmese pythons in Everglades National Park were tracked after they were translocated from their initial locations. Five of the six snakes that were displaced from their capture sites displayed oriented movement by returning to within of their original location. This homing ability of the Burmese python is therefore an additional factor that must be considered in predictions of the future range of the python within the southern US and the management of the current population within South Florida.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: They have carried "Raillietiella orientalis" (a pentastome parasitic disease) with them from SE Asia. Other reptiles in Florida have become infested and the parasite appears to have become endemic.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: One of the most contentious issues related to the Burmese python population in Florida is the potential spread to other areas of the southern United States. A potential limitation to a species's habitat range is climate. In February 2008, USGS scientists published a projected range map for the US, based on average climate data of the snake's home range and global warming projections, which predicted that by the end of the 21st century, these snakes could migrate to and flourish in as much as a third of the continental United States, including all three coasts. Numerous climate matching models have indicated that most of Florida and vast portions of the coast of the rest of Southeastern United States provide hospitable habitats for Burmese pythons. The original model takes into account only the fundamental climate space of the python and thus disregards other factors that could limit python spread. Furthermore, most of the data set was obtained from localities outside of the Burmese python's native range.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: However, a subsequent study produced a map incorporating both climatic extremes and averages which projected that the Burmese python's range as limited to southern Florida and extreme south Texas, though this projection was criticized in an unsigned Axcess News article as not having been peer-reviewed. Burmese pythons kept throughout winter in an experimental enclosure in South Carolina all died during the study, apparently because they could not properly acclimate to the cold, but most survived extended periods at temperatures below those typical of southern Florida. The report concluded, "Regarding areas of putative suitability and potential expansion within the United States, we find, remarkably, that the area in which the snakes are known to have colonized (south Florida) is essentially the only region where the climatic conditions are suitable for the pythons. Almost no potential for further continental expansion is predicted based on the results from the ecological niche models".


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: In contrast to the 2009 proposal, the more conservative niche model identifies regions of suitable climate in South Florida, extreme southern Texas, and spotty areas across the Central and Southern Americas. However, the use of this model has been criticized for the overfitting of data from excess variables and the misidentification of four Blood pythons as Burmese pythons. A model corrected for these miscalculations showed a greater projected range of Burmese python climate match including nearly all of Florida, much of the lower Coastal Plain of the southeast United States, and southern Texas.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: A severe freeze in the southeastern United States during January 2010 provided additional insight into the threat of Burmese python range extension. In the wake of this extended cold spell, several investigators reported dead snakes coiled along canal banks and in outdoor enclosures. However, numerous snakes survived this cold spell, potentially by using behavioral mechanisms (such as seeking refuge underground). If these behavioral traits are heritable, it is possible that the winter of 2009-2010 served as a selection event for more cold-tolerant pythons. This selected population of pythons would have an enhanced ability to spread northwards and extend the python's invasive range. In addition to behavioral traits, a study in 2018 showed that the surviving pythons showed evidence of: directional selection in genomic regions enriched for genes associated with thermosensation, behavior, and physiology...several of these genes are linked to regenerative organ growth, an adaptive response that modulates organ size and function with feeding and fasting in pythons.If these traits continue to be passed on then they would enable pythons to continue digestion during colder periods of time, which would be useful in geographic regions further north.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Data published in 2012 contradict the initial USGS study which claimed that non-native Burmese pythons could expand as far north as the southern third of the United States. The Burmese python will remain in the Everglades. Furthermore, other reputable herpetologists have commented on the controversial theory positing future migration past the Florida Everglades. The National Geographic Society's resident herpetologist, Dr. Brady Barr, said, "Climate data reveal that temperatures found in southern Florida simply are not conducive to the long-term survival of large tropical snakes. When it gets cold, these snakes die." Dr. Barr also said "Feral hogs are a bigger problem for the Everglades than pythons. The press has sensationalized this story to the point that people think the sky is falling. Hopefully, comprehensive research such as Jacobson et al. will put an end to the hysteria."


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Several methods have been proposed to control the thriving Burmese python population in Florida because much of the python's introduced range includes areas inaccessible to humans. Unfortunately, all strategies proposed thus far have resulted in only limited success. For example, numerous people have suggested using dogs to detect pythons. A 2011 assessment of detection dogs as a mode of python removal determined that the success of a dog search team (73%) was not significantly greater when compared to human search teams (69%) in controlled plot searches. Thick vegetation, which can both reduce visibility and hold odors, limited the efficacy of both human and dog searchers within the plots. However, the dog search team was significantly more successful in canal searches (92%) and was capable of covering three times the distance of human searchers. Despite the potential of dog search teams to detect free-ranging pythons, several impracticalities prevent the widespread use of dog search teams, including the danger posed to released dogs in the Everglades, limited efficacy of chemoreceptive cues in the shallow waters of the Everglades, and extensive limestone substrate that would hinder movement. The greater cost of a dog search team as compared to human searchers is an additional consideration. In the second week of December, 2020, this program had its first success.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: The Burmese python system also poses challenges to trapping efforts. Trapping, a traditional method of snake capture, can include both the use of a device with an inescapable funnel and a drift fence that directs snake movement towards the trap. It is crucial that drift fences are inserted several inches into the ground in order to ensure that snakes cannot bypass them, but the hard limestone foundation of the area would make the construction of adequate drift fences difficult. Additionally, a python moves infrequently because of its predation habits and thus is less likely to crawl into a trap. Finally, the immense area occupied by the Burmese python undermines the utility of extensive trapping. Trapping could be practical on a smaller scale if critical areas were targeted.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Biocontrol, or biological control, of pythons, has also been proposed by several scientists, likely because of the low detectability of pythons. Traditionally, biocontrols use a virus, parasite, or a bacterium that is selective to the target species in order to reduce the population's size. If the pathogen is not species-specific, it could harm other species. Given that biocontrol methods present a nontrivial and somewhat unpredictable risk to the area's delicate ecosystem, additional research and careful deliberation are necessary before such techniques are used. One of the possible ways of biocontrol is reintroduction of native predators. For example, jaguars had lived in Florida during the Pleistocene, but became locally extinct. These big cats can kill and eat large snakes (their diet in South America includes anacondas).


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Beyond the scientific community, the use of bounty hunters has received a great deal of support from officials and the media, but results have been disappointing. The 2013 Python Challenge, a month-long event with cash incentives for python captures sponsored by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, resulted in only 68 total python captures by 1,600 registered participants. Another hunt was nonetheless held in 2016, resulting in 106 pythons captured by over 1,000 participants.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Some participants in the state-sponsored hunts have had snakeskin products made from the carcasses, but hunting the animals for food is not recommended, as many top level predators of the Everglades have dangerously high levels of mercury through bioaccumulation, the pythons being no exception. Environmental chemist Dr. David Krabbenhoft of the U.S. Geological Survey tested tissue samples from a collection of frozen python tails maintained by scientists at Everglades National Park. Analysis of more than 50 samples yielded up to 3.5 ppm of mercury. The state of Florida considers fish containing more than 1.5 ppm of mercury unsafe to eat. However the FWC is studying mercury levels again in order to make recommendations about what size, age, and location of origin might be safe to eat. The eggs are edible.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: In July 2020 the South Florida Water Management District and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced that the 5000th python had been removed from the Everglades.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: While an effective and practical control method for South Florida's Burmese python population has yet to be proposed, regulatory measures are in place to prevent its further spread. Recently, Florida legislators have also put into place provisions targeted at the release of exotic snakes into the wild. Specifically, in 2008 the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission instituted regulations requiring permits for boas and pythons greater than 2 in. in diameter as well as PIT tags implanted in the snake's skin for identification purposes. This measure aims to prevent the introduction of snake species such as the Burmese python to other regions beyond South Florida. Further, the United States Department of the Interior placed four additional species of snakes, including the Burmese python, under the Lacey Act provisions. According to these provisions, importation of Burmese pythons to the United States is illegal as of January 2012.


title: Burmese pythons in Florida

text: Luscombe, Richard. “Florida Hunters Capture More than 80 Giant Snakes in Python Bowl.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 30 Jan. 2020, www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/30/florida-python-bowl-challenge-capture-snakes.


title: Danna García

text: Danna María García Osuna (born February 4, 1978) is a Colombian actress and model best known for playing main roles in telenovelas in Colombia, Mexico and the US.


title: Danna García

text: She has one child, born in July 2017, from her relationship with Spanish journalist Iván González. On 19 April 2020 she announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19.


title: Miki Howard

text: Alicia Michelle "Miki" Howard (born September 30, 1960) is an American singer and actress who had a string of top 10 hit songs in the mid-1980s and early 1990s, including "Baby, Be Mine" (1987), "Come Share My Love" (1986) and "Love Under New Management" (1990). "Ain't Nobody Like You" (1992) and "Ain't Nuthin' in the World" (1989) both peaked at number one on the U.S. "Billboard" Top R&B Singles chart.


title: Miki Howard

text: Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois. She is the daughter of gospel singers Josephine Howard (1937-1978) of The Caravans and Clay Graham (1936-2018) of The Pilgrim Jubilees. Howard's mother took her to the homes of various stars such as Aretha Franklin and Mavis Staples. At the age of nine, Howard and her family moved to Los Angeles where Howard's mother sang in a choir led by Caravans member and arranger James Cleveland. Among those who visited Howard's Los Angeles residence were Albertina Walker, Shirley Caesar, Billy Preston and Fats Domino. Howard was also influenced by jazz greats, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Nancy Wilson. As a teenager, she often visited Maverick's Flat, a popular night club in Los Angeles and a venue for music acts such as Rufus and Chaka Khan and Earth, Wind & Fire, who were influential in her pursuit of a professional singing career.


title: Miki Howard

text: At the age of 16, she performed in a teen pageant. After the show, she met singer Augie Johnson, leader and member of R&B group Side Effect, who happened to be in the audience and began working with Howard on music. Johnson charmed Howard and later chose her as the vocalist for the group. After a period of time, Howard became a Side Effect member in 1979—replacing the departure of Sylvia St. James. Howard's tenure with the group lasted a few years. With Miki as new female vocalist, Side Effect's "After the Rain" was released in 1980. The album did not do well on the charts as well as the next two Elektra albums "Portraits" and "All Aboard". As a member of Side Effect, the group's best remembered "I Can't Play" and a cover of Toto's "Georgy Porgy" were minor R&B hits in 1983/84. During this time, she also had one child by Johnson. In addition to singing with Side Effect, she did background vocals for Wayne Henderson, Roy Ayers, Stanley Turrentine, and several other artists. By 1985, Howard decided she was ready to begin a solo career, and left the group. She put together a demo that landed her a recording contract with Atlantic Records.


title: Miki Howard

text: Howard begin recording songs for her debut album, "Come Share My Love" released in 1986. The album was produced by LeMel Humes, would peak to number 19 on the "Billboard" Top R&B Albums. The first single, "Come Share My Love" would become her first U.S. hit single. The song peaked to number five on the "Billboard" R&B Singles chart. By the fall, the follow up single was a cover version of Glenn Miller's 1940's tune "Imagination", peaked to number 13 on the R&B Singles and would become Howard's first video. With two hit singles from the album, she embarked on her first concert tour in 1987, opening for funk band Cameo. The final single, "Come Back to Me Lover" was released charting to number 33, on the R&B singles chart.


title: Miki Howard

text: In November 1987, Howard released her second album, "Love Confessions". LeMel Humes produced several tracks and became a close friend, working with Howard on future albums throughout her career. Her success continued with two more Top 10 R&B singles from the album, Nick Martinelli produced, soul ballad "Baby, Be Mine" climbed to number five on the R&B Singles chart. The second single "That's What Love Is", a duet with hit-making R&B crooner Gerald Levert (lead singer of R&B group Levert), peaked to number five on the R&B Singles chart. Levert produced the duet and final single "Crazy", which peaked at number 38 on the R&B singles. Howard and Gerald's group LeVert, embarked on a U.S. tour in support of their album's. The pair was also romantically involved and that romance would spawn one of Howard's biggest hits from her third album. On March 30, 1988, Howard won a Soul Train Music Award for Best New Artist.


title: Miki Howard

text: In November 1989, Howard released her third album, the self-titled "Miki Howard", which would become her final album on Atlantic. Following the release, the album became a hit, charting at number four on the "Billboard" Top R&B Albums chart. The album would become Howard's most successful to date. During recording, Howard and Gerald Levert's romantic relationship, spawned the song's "I'll Be Your Shoulder", "Mister" and "Just The Way You Want Me To"; written-produced by Levert. Howard secured her first chart-topper, the first single, "Ain't Nuthin' in the World", peaked at number-one on the R&B Singles. Howard scored two more Top 5 R&B hits from the album. The songs "Love Under New Management, penned during her affair with Gerald Levert, peaked to number two and a cover of "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", at number three on the R&B singles chart.


title: Miki Howard

text: By 1992, Howard was no longer a recording artist with Atlantic, she was now signed as an artist with Giant Records. On September 15, Howard's fourth studio album, "Femme Fatale" was released. The album peaked at number seven on the "Billboard" Top R&B Albums chart. Producer/songwriter LeMel Humes produced the majority of the album, including the first single, "Ain't Nobody Like You". The song peaked at number one on the R&B Singles chart, Howard's second R&B chart-topper and number 64 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. A second single and music video for "Release Me", was released, the song received modest radio airplay and peaked at number 43 on the R&B singles chart and also peaked at number 35 on the R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay charts. More singles were released as 'promotional, radio-only', the David Foster produced, "Shining Through" and "But I Love You", produced by LeMel Humes.


title: Miki Howard

text: In director Spike Lee's 1992 bio-pic film "Malcolm X", Howard portrayed jazz singer Billie Holiday, performing Holiday's "I Cover the Waterfront". She had always been strongly influenced by Holiday's vocal technique and music. In the fall of 1992, Miki decided to pay tribute to Billie by recording covers of her favorite classic songs by Holiday. During recording, she also landed a role in John Singleton's 1993 film "Poetic Justice" starring pop singer Janet Jackson and hip-hop artist/actor Tupac Shakur. In December 1993, Miki's fifth studio album, "" was released under Giant Records, the album peaked at number 74 on the "Billboard" Top R&B Albums, her lowest charting album. David Foster and LeMel Humes produced the cover tracks. Official singles were not released, only a radio promo of "Don't Explain" was played on R&B and jazz stations in the U.S.


title: Miki Howard

text: By 1997, Howard was no longer signed to Giant Records. Her sixth studio album and her first in four years, "Can't Count Me Out", was released under a new label, Hush, in May. The album was her first to not chart on the "Billboard" 200 or the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album includes duets, a cover of Stevie Wonder's "I Love Every Little Thing About You" with singer Terence Trent D'Arby, "Can't Count Me Out" duet with father Clay Graham and a remake of Janis Ian's "At Seventeen". LeMel Humes produced most of the album, including a cover of the jazz standard "You Don't Know What Love Is" and "Sunshine" penned by singer Brenda Russell.


title: Miki Howard

text: In March 2001, Howard released her seventh album, "Three Wishes" under Peak Records. Although no official singles were released, "Nobody" received radio airplay. The album peaked at number 60 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and number 25 on the Independent Albums chart. All the tracks were produced by new producers, except "Bring Your Loving Home" produced by Howard's close friend LeMel Humes. The album received a nomination for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards. After five years had past since "Three Wishes", in September 2006 Howard was now signed with Shanachie Records. Her eighth studio album, "Pillow Talk" was released. The album peaked at number 60 on the "Billboard" Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Chart. All songs were cover tracks of her favorite R&B classic songs, of Ann Peebles, George Benson, Nancy Wilson to Natalie Cole, The Main Ingredient and Boz Scaggs. Howard contributed as the album's producer, along with Kim Waters, Danny Weiss and Chris Davis.


title: Miki Howard

text: Howard is currently working on regenerating her career after taking some time out to raise her children. She undertook a world tour with Roy Ayers and the Jazz Allstars. In June 2008, she released her ninth studio album, "Private Collection" under her legally owned new independent label, Branicka Records. The album contained ten tracks, with five new smooth jazz and R&B songs co-written and co-produced with Chuckii Booker, and five jazz standards co-produced with Brandon McCune. Besides Booker, composers included on the album included Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer for "Skylark", Sammy Fain and Paul-Francis Webster for "Secret Love", Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer for "Days of Wine and Roses", Elisse Boyd and Murray Grand for "Guess Who I Saw Today", and Irving Berlin for "Counting Your Blessings".


title: Miki Howard

text: On November 1, 2010, "Unsung: Miki Howard" was televised on TV One. In February 2011, TV One televised "Way Black When" which showcased African Americans' impact in entertainment through the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Howard was featured during the 1980s segment, hosted by comedian Niecy Nash. Howard performed her number-one R&B hit, "Ain't Nobody Like You". In March she embarked on a U.S. tour, Throwback Unplugged Tour. with Dru Hill, K-Ci & JoJo and Bell Biv DeVoe.


title: Miki Howard

text: Howard will soon be releasing her brand new album, "I Choose to Be Happy" due out this summer. The original title, "Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blues" was "too long", but is how Miki describes this project. The album includes four new songs, also the new single "Panther" which features rapper Too Short and some of her greatest hits re-recorded live. "I Choose to Be Happy" will also include a new song, the title track, "I Choose to be Happy" and a tribute to Marvin Gaye titled "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again" which features son Brandon Howard and David Ruffin Jr. While recording her new album, Howard has been touring throughout the U.S. and overseas, performing the album's first single, "Panther" as well as her classic hit songs. On September 25, 2015, Howard released her second live album titled "Miki Howard: Live in Concert". The release features her performance of hits throughout her music career, and cover versions of "My Man", "Pillow Talk", "This Bitter Earth", and Marvin Gaye's "Soon I'll Be Loving You Again".


title: Alcopop

text: An alcopop (or cooler, spirit cooler [in South African English], or malternative [in American English]) is any of certain flavored alcoholic beverages with relatively low alcohol content (e.g., 3–7% alcohol by volume), including:


title: Alcopop

text: The term "alcopop" (a portmanteau of the words "alcohol" and "pop") is used commonly in the United Kingdom and Ireland to describe these drinks. In English-speaking Canada, "cooler" is more common but "alcopop" may also be used. Other terms include flavored alcoholic beverage (FAB), flavored malt beverage (FMB), "pre-packaged" or "premium packaged" spirit (PPS). In Australia and New Zealand "premix" and ready to drink (RTD) are both commonly used terms. "Malternative" is exclusively an American term.


title: Alcopop

text: Hard seltzer is a related category of alcoholic drinks based on flavored seltzer water. Hard soda, meanwhile, is specifically related to soft drinks. Hard lemonade, which could be considered an alcopop, has been around for some time. Hard cider, on the other hand, is a fermented beverage similar to wine or beer.


title: Alcopop

text: There are a variety of beverages produced and marketed around the world as well as within each market which are described as coolers or alcopops. They tend to be sweet and served in small bottles (typically 355 ml (the normal size of a soda pop can) in the US, 275 ml in South Africa and Germany, 330 ml in Canada and Europe), and between 4% and 7% ABV. In Europe, Canada, and South Africa coolers tend to be pre-mixed spirits, including vodka (e.g. Smirnoff Ice) or rum (e.g. Bacardi Breezer). In the United States, on the other hand, alcopops often start out as un-hopped beers, depending on the state in which they are sold. Much of the malt (and alcohol) is removed (leaving mostly water), with subsequent addition of alcohol (usually vodka or grain alcohol), sugar, coloring and flavoring. Such drinks are legally classified as beers in virtually all states and can therefore be sold in outlets that do not or cannot carry spirit-based drinks. There are, however, stronger ones that "are" simply pre-mixed spirits (e.g. Bacardi Rum Island Iced Tea), often containing about 12.5% alcohol by volume, that can be sold only where hard liquor is available.


title: Alcopop

text: Wine coolers gained popularity in the US market in the 1980s when Bartles and Jaymes began advertising their brand of wine coolers, which were followed by other brands, including when Bacardi introduced the Breezer. A growth in popularity occurred around 1993 with Two Dogs, DNA Alcoholic Spring Water, Hooper's Hooch and Zima, which was marketed under the title of "malternative beverage." Wine coolers were on the decline due to the increase in the US federal wine tax, and using a malt-beverage base became the new industry standard. Later, Mike's Hard Lemonade was released in the United States, with humorous commercials depicting what they called "violence against lemons". Smirnoff also came out with another citrus-flavored malt beverage in the United States in the late 1990s called Smirnoff Ice, which promoted itself with flashy commercials, usually involving trendy young people dancing in unlikely situations and places. (In the UK, Smirnoff Ice is marketed by Diageo as a PPS.)


title: Alcopop

text: Through its Alcopop-Free Zone® campaign, " Alcohol Justice has sought to ban alcopop sales entirely since the sweet and brightly colored alcoholic drinks may appeal to children. Many cooler advertising campaigns have been criticized as trying to make alcopops appeal to young drinkers. In the United Kingdom, a media outcry during the mid-1990s arose as the tabloid press associated alcopops with under-age drinking which damaged sales and led to British liquor stores withdrawing them from their shelves.


title: Alcopop

text: In response to a complaint from the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) conducted an extensive investigation in 2001. The agency "found no evidence of intent to target minors with FMB products, packaging, or advertising. Furthermore, after reviewing the consumer survey evidence submitted by CSPI in support of the proposition that FMBs were predominantly popular with minors, the FTC concluded that flaws in the survey's methodology limited the ability to draw conclusions from the survey data."


title: Alcopop

text: The Federal Trade Commission again in 2003 investigated FMB ads, product placement, and internal company marketing documents after a directive from the conferees of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. "The Commission's investigation found no evidence of targeting underage consumers in the marketing of FMBs. Adults 21 to 29 appear to be the intended target of FMB marketing" and found that "the majority of FMB drinkers are over the age of 27."


title: Alcopop

text: In December 2003, Ireland raised the tax on flavored malt beverages to equal that of spirits, the second-highest in Europe. Germany has imposed an extra duty of 0.80 to 0.90 euro per bottle effective August 1, 2004. To circumvent higher taxation, some German producers have switched to wine coolers, which are being marketed the same way. Some bottles now carry a warning stating that they are not for consumption by people under the legal drinking age (under 18 in the UK and 21 in the United States). On May 11, 2008, the Australian Government increased the excise tax on alcopops by 70%, to bring it in line with the tax on spirits. There is the concern this tax will encourage consumers to buy straight spirits and mix the drinks themselves, possibly resulting in drinks with a higher alcohol concentration than the premixed alternatives. This tax was revoked during March 2009 meaning the government had to pay back the 290 million collected on the tax.


title: Alcopop

text: The Federal Trade Commission report states, "Further, industry-conducted research on consumers over the age of 21 who use FMBs shows that these consumers generally view the FMBs as substitutes for beer, ... This research also concludes that consumers are not likely to consume more than two or three FMBs on any occasion because of the products'


title: Alcopop

text: In March 2018, Coca-Cola announced it would be launching an alcopop product for the first time, a "chūhai" beverage in Japan.


title: Alcopop

text: Brands of coolers are numerous and their alcoholic base vary greatly. Some notable brands include: VK Vodkakick, Smirnoff Ice, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Bacardi Breezer, Palm Bay, Skyy Blue, Jack Daniel's Hard Cola and, in the UK, WKD Original Vodka. Garage is an alcopop produced by the Finnish brewery Sinebrychoff.


title: Alcopop

text: The Australian government increased the tax on these drinks under the 2008 budget to the same rate as spirits, volumetrically, in an effort to stop binge drinking. The tax was criticized by the opposition as a tax grab, and voted down in the Senate on March 18, 2009. Before its rejection, the tax had already raised at least A$290 million after April 2008. In April 2009, some Labor party MPs planned to resubmit the tax to the Senate, and it was finally approved in August 2009, increasing the tax on the drinks from $39.36 to $66.67 per litre of alcohol. A 2013 study concluded that the tax had no impact on binge drinking of the drinks by teenagers.


title: Alcopop

text: On 1 July 2004 the German government increased the tax on mixed drinks based on spirits (e.g. vodka, rum) by roughly one Euro per 275-ml-bottle in order to discourage teenagers drinking excessively, although those drinks were already prohibited for those under the age of 18. This had two implications: The most common alcopops, such as Smirnoff Ice or Bacardi Breezer, were nearly taken off the market, while other manufacturers changed the recipes of their drinks to replace spirit alcohols with wine or beer, but with the same ABV, enabling these mixed drinks (which are not "alcopops" under German law) to be sold legally to minors 16 and 17 years of age.


title: Alcopop

text: In 2019, some senators including Pia Cayetano and former Special Assistant to the President Bong Go called for pullout of alcopops from the market due to "deceptive packaging that resembles fruit juices usually bought by young consumers". Alcopops also have seven percent alcohol content, which is slightly lower than that of local beer brand Red Horse Beer.


title: Alcopop

text: In June 1997, Co-op Food became the first major retailer to place an outright ban on the sale of alcopops in its shops. This has since been rescinded.


title: Lenin Peace Prize

text: The International Lenin Peace Prize (, "mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya mira)" was a Soviet Union award named in honor of Vladimir Lenin. It was awarded by a panel appointed by the Soviet government, to notable individuals whom the panel indicated had "strengthened peace among comrades". It was founded as the International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples, but was renamed the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples (, "Mezhdunarodnaya Leninskaya premiya «Za ukrepleniye mira mezhdu narodami»") as a result of de-Stalinization. Unlike the Nobel Prize, the Lenin Peace Prize was usually awarded to several people a year rather than to just one individual. The prize was mainly awarded to prominent Communists and supporters of the Soviet Union who were not Soviet citizens. Notable recipients include W. E. B. Du Bois, Fidel Castro, Lázaro Cárdenas, Salvador Allende, Mikis Theodorakis, Seán MacBride, Angela Davis, Pablo Picasso, Oscar Niemeyer, Faiz Ahmad Faiz, Abdul Sattar Edhi, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, CV Raman and Nelson Mandela.


title: Lenin Peace Prize

text: The prize was created as the International Stalin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples on December 21, 1949 by "executive order" of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in honor of Joseph Stalin's seventieth birthday (although this was after his seventy-first).


title: Lenin Peace Prize

text: Following Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin in 1956 during the Twentieth Party Congress, the prize was renamed on September 6 as the International Lenin Prize for Strengthening Peace Among Peoples. All previous recipients were asked to return their Stalin Prizes so they could be replaced by the renamed Lenin Prize. By a decision of Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of December 11, 1989, the prize was renamed the International Lenin Peace Prize. Two years later, after the collapse of USSR in 1991, the Russian government, as the successor state to the defunct Soviet Union, ended the award program. The Lenin Peace Prize is regarded as a counterpart to the existing Nobel Peace Prize.


title: Lenin Peace Prize

text: The International Lenin Prize should not be confused with the International Peace Prize, awarded by the World Peace Council. In 1941 the Soviet Union created the Stalin Prize (later renamed the "USSR State Prize"), which was awarded annually to accomplished Soviet writers, composers, artists and scientists.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: The western conifer seed bug ("Leptoglossus occidentalis"), sometimes abbreviated as WCSB, is a species of true bug (Hemiptera) in the family Coreidae. It is native to North America west of the Rocky Mountains (California to British Columbia, east to Idaho and Nevada) but has in recent times expanded its range to eastern North America, to include Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Maine, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and has become an accidental introduced species in parts of Europe.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: This species is a member of the insect family Coreidae, or leaf-footed bugs, which also includes the similar "Leptoglossus phyllopus" and "Acanthocephala femorata", both known as the "Florida leaf-footed bug". Western conifer seed bugs are sometimes colloquially called stink bugs. While they do use a foul-smelling spray as a defense, they are not classified in the stink bug family Pentatomidae. In Chile, it has been confused with kissing bugs (Triatominae), causing unjustified alarm.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: The average length is with males being smaller than females. They are able to fly, making a buzzing noise when airborne. Western conifer seed bugs are somewhat similar in appearance to the wheel bug "Arilus cristatus" and other Reduviidae (assassin bugs). These, being Cimicomorpha, are not very closely related to leaf-footed bugs as Heteroptera go; though both have a proboscis, but only the assassin bugs bite even if unprovoked, and "L. occidentalis" like its closest relatives can be most easily recognized by the expanded hindleg tibiae and by the alternating light and dark bands which run along the outer wing edges on the flaring sides of the abdomen. Their primary defense is to emit an unpleasant-smelling alarm pheromone; however, if handled roughly they will stab with their proboscis, though they are hardly able to cause injury to humans as it is adapted only to suck plant sap and not, as in the assassin bugs, to inject poison.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: In its native range, the western conifer seed bug feeds on the sap of developing conifer cones throughout its life, and its sap-sucking causes the developing seeds to wither and misdevelop. It is therefore considered a minor tree pest in North America, but becoming sometimes more harmful e.g. in conifer plantations. However, it is not monophagous and even adaptable enough to feed on angiosperms if it has to, though it seems to prefer resiniferous plants that are rich in terpenes. As these are produced by plants to deter herbivores, it might be that in evolving its ability to overcome these defenses, "L. occidentalis" actually became somewhat dependent on such compounds.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: Its host plants in the native range include conifers such as Douglas-fir ("Pseudotsuga menziesii"), ponderosa pine ("Pinus ponderosa"), lodgepole pine ("Pinus contorta"), and white spruce ("Picea glauca"). Outside the native range, it is found on species such as eastern white pine ("P. strobus") and red pine ("P. resinosa") in eastern North America and Europe, and mountain pine ("P. mugo"), black pine ("P. nigra"), Scots pine ("P. sylvestris") and pistachio ("Pistacia vera") in Europe.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: The eggs are laid in small groups on the needles or leaf stems of its host plants, and hatch in spring. The nymphs go through 5 instar stages before moulting into adults. In the United States, the species is univoltine, but in southern Europe, it completes two generations a year, and in tropical Mexico even three. In the northern parts of its range, these bugs start to move about widely by September or so to seek crevices for overwintering; they may become a nuisance in areas with extensive conifer woods, as they will sometimes enter houses in considerable numbers. They have the potential to become structural pests, as it has been found that they will sometimes pierce PEX tubing with their mouthparts, resulting in leakage.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: This insect is common in its native range along the temperate and warmer regions of the Pacific coast of North America and has steadily expanded eastwards. On its native continent, "L. occidentalis" has been located as far northeast as Nova Scotia.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: In Europe, this species was first reported in 1999 from northern Italy; it had probably been accidentally imported with timber and, as it seems, more than once, as its presence was subsequently reported from that country almost simultaneously from locations a considerable distance apart. By 2007, it had established itself in the northern Balkans (Slovenia and Croatia), the Alps (Austria, Switzerland), and parts of the Czech Republic, France, Germany and Hungary; in 2003, it was found to occur in Spain, though this population probably derives from a separate introduction. The 2007 records from Weymouth College (England) and Ostend (Belgium) might also represent one or two further independent introductions. In late 2007, it was found at Wrocław and Miechów (Poland); these animals probably represent a further range expansion out of the Czech Republic. During the autumn of 2008, a large influx of this species arrived on the south coast of England, indicating natural immigration from continental Europe. In late 2009, a large group of western conifer seed bugs invaded Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey. The same thing happened in October 2012 in most of the cities of the French Alps, like Moûtiers. In 2017 it appears for the first time in the Southern Hemisphere, with several records from Chile.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: It was also first recorded from Tokyo, Japan in 2008, and some additional records from Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture have been added until 2009.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: In 2010 the first detection was made in Ukraine, in Dniprorudne, and the next year in Russia, in Rostov-on-Don.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: On October 21, 2020 the first sighting in Andorra was posted to iNaturalist, and in September this species was found in Kozhukhovka in Kyiv region, Ukraine.


title: Western conifer seed bug

text: In June 2021 Agence France Presse carried a report into devastation caused by the bug in the Qsaybeh pine forest east of Beirut, Lebanon, resulting in the collapse of pine nut production.


title: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (1968)

text: The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization or PATCO was a United States trade union that operated from 1968 until its decertification in 1981 following an illegal strike that was broken by the Reagan Administration.


text: PATCO was founded in 1968 with the assistance of attorney and pilot F. Lee Bailey. On July 3, 1968, PATCO announced "Operation Air Safety" in which all members were ordered to adhere strictly to the established separation standards for aircraft. The resultant large delay of air traffic was the first of many official and unofficial "slowdowns" that PATCO would initiate.


text: In 1969, the U.S. Civil Service Commission ruled that PATCO was no longer a professional association but in fact a trade union. On June 18–20, 1969, 477 controllers conducted a three-day sick-out.


text: On March 25, 1970, the newly designated union orchestrated a controller "sickout" to protest many of the FAA actions that they felt were unfair; over 2,000 controllers around the country did not report to work as scheduled and informed management that they were ill. Controllers called in sick to circumvent the federal law against strikes by government unions. Management personnel attempted to assume many of the duties of the missing controllers but major traffic delays around the country occurred. On April 16, the federal courts intervened and most controllers went back to work by order of the court, but the government was forced to the bargaining table. The sickout led officials to recognize that the ATC system was operating nearly at capacity. To alleviate some of this, Congress accelerated the installation of automated systems, reopened the air traffic controller training academy in Oklahoma City, began hiring air traffic controllers at an increasing rate, and raised salaries to help attract and retain controllers.


text: In the 1980 presidential election, PATCO (along with the Teamsters and the Air Line Pilots Association) refused to back President Jimmy Carter, instead endorsing Republican Party candidate Ronald Reagan. PATCO's refusal to endorse the Democratic Party stemmed in large part from poor labor relations with the FAA (the employer of PATCO members) under the Carter administration and Ronald Reagan's endorsement of the union and its struggle for better conditions during the 1980 election campaign.


text: During his campaign, Reagan sent a letter to Robert E. Poli, the new president of PATCO, in which he declared support for the organization's demands and a disposition to work toward solutions. In it, he stated "I will take whatever steps are necessary to provide our air traffic controllers with the most modern equipment available, and to adjust staff levels and workdays so they are commensurate with achieving the maximum degree of public safety," and "I pledge to you that my administration will work very closely with you to bring about a spirit of cooperation between the President and the air traffic controllers." This letter gave Poli and the organization a sense of security that led to an overestimation of their position in the negotiations with the FAA, which contributed to their decision to strike.


text: In February 1981, PATCO and the FAA began new contract negotiations. Citing safety concerns, PATCO called for a reduced 32-hour work week, a $10,000 pay increase for all air-traffic controllers and a better benefits package for retirement. Negotiations quickly stalled. Then, in June, the FAA offered a new three-year contract with $105 million of up front conversions in raises to be paid in 11.4% increases over the next three years, a raise more than twice what was being given to other federal employees, “The average federal controller (at a GS-13 level, a common grade controller) earned $36,613, which was 18% less than private sector counterpart"; with the raise demanded, the average federal pay would have exceeded the private sector pay by 8%, along with better benefits and shorter working hours. However, because the offer did not include a shorter work week or earlier retirement, PATCO rejected the offer.


text: At 7 a.m. on August 3, 1981, the union declared a strike, seeking better working conditions, better pay (PATCO sought a total raise of $600 million over three years, compared to FAA's offer of $40 million) and a 32-hour workweek (a four-day week and an eight-hour day combined). In addition, PATCO wanted to be excluded from the civil service clauses that it had long disliked. In striking, the union violated 5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p (now ), which prohibits strikes by federal government employees. Anthony Skirlick of the Los Angeles Center warned that these “Unrealistic demands in the face of this change is suicide". Despite supporting PATCO's effort in his 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft–Hartley Act. Only 1,300 of the nearly 13,000 controllers returned to work. At 10:55 a.m., Reagan included the following in a statement: "Let me read the solemn oath taken by each of these employees, a sworn affidavit, when they accepted their jobs: 'I am not participating in any strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, and I will not so participate while an employee of the Government of the United States or any agency thereof.'" He then demanded those remaining on strike return to work within 48 hours or officially forfeit their positions.


text: After PATCO disobeyed a federal court injunction ordering an end to the strike and return to work, a federal judge found union leaders including PATCO President Robert Poli to be in contempt of court, and the union was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine, and certain named members were ordered to pay a $1,000 fine for each day its members are on strike. At the same time, Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis organized for replacements and started contingency plans. By prioritizing and cutting flights severely (about 7,000), and even adopting methods of air traffic management that PATCO had previously lobbied for, the government was initially able to have 50% of flights available.


text: On August 5, following the PATCO workers' refusal to return to work, the Reagan administration fired the 11,345 striking air traffic controllers who had ignored the order, and banned them from federal service for life. In the wake of the strike and mass firings, the FAA was faced with the difficult task of hiring and training enough controllers to replace those that had been fired. Under normal conditions, it took three years to train new controllers. Until replacements could be trained, the vacant positions were temporarily filled with a mix of non-participating controllers, supervisors, staff personnel, some non-rated personnel, military controllers, and controllers transferred temporarily from other facilities. PATCO was decertified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority on October 22, 1981. The decision was appealed but to no avail, and attempts to use the courts to reverse the firings proved fruitless.


text: The FAA had initially claimed that staffing levels would be restored within two years; however, it took closer to ten years before the overall staffing levels returned to normal.


text: Some former striking controllers were allowed to reapply after 1986 and were rehired; they and their replacements are now represented by the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which was certified on June 19, 1987, and had no connection with PATCO. The civil service ban on the remaining strike participants was lifted by President Bill Clinton on August 12, 1993. Nevertheless, by 2006 only 850 PATCO strikers had been rehired by the FAA.


text: Reagan's firing of the government employees encouraged large private employers, like Phelps Dodge (1983), Hormel (1985–86), and International Paper (1987), to hire striker replacements instead of negotiating in labor conflicts. Comparatively, in 1970 there were over 380 major strikes or lockouts in the U.S., by 1980 the number had dropped to under 200, in 1999 it fell to 17, and in 2010 there were only 11.


text: Reagan's director of the United States Office of Personnel Management at the time, Donald J. Devine, argued:


text: In a review of Joseph McCartin's 2011 book, "Collision Course: Ronald Reagan, The Air Traffic Controllers, and the Strike that Changed America" in Review 31, Richard Sharpe stated that Reagan was "laying down a marker" for his presidency: "The strikers were often working-class men and women who had achieved suburban middle class lives as air traffic controllers without having gone to college. Many were veterans of the US armed forces where they had learned their skills; their union had backed Reagan in his election campaign. Nevertheless, Reagan refused to back down. Several strikers were jailed; the union was fined and eventually made bankrupt. Only about 800 got their jobs back when Clinton lifted the ban on rehiring those who went on strike. Many of the strikers were forced into poverty as a result of being blacklisted for [U.S. government] employment."


text: In addition to the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, two organizations now claim the name and part or all of the jurisdiction of the original PATCO: Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (AFSCME) and Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some people do not eat various specific foods and beverages in conformity with various religious, cultural, legal or other societal prohibitions. Many of these prohibitions constitute taboos. Many food taboos and other prohibitions forbid the meat of a particular animal, including mammals, rodents, reptiles, amphibians, fish, molluscs, crustaceans and insects, which may relate to a disgust response being more often associated with meats than plant-based foods. Some prohibitions are specific to a particular part or excretion of an animal, while others forgo the consumption of plants or fungi.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some food prohibitions can be defined as rules, codified by religion or otherwise, about which foods, or combinations of foods, may not be eaten and how animals are to be slaughtered or prepared. The origins of these prohibitions are varied. In some cases, they are thought to be a result of health considerations or other practical reasons; in others, they relate to human symbolic systems.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some foods may be prohibited during certain religious periods (e.g., Lent), at certain stages of life (e.g., pregnancy), or to certain classes of people (e.g., priests), even if the food is otherwise permitted. On a comparative basis, what may be declared unfit for one group may be perfectly acceptable to another within the same culture or across different cultures. Food taboos usually seem to be intended to protect the human individual from harm, spiritually or physically, but there are numerous other reasons given within cultures for their existence. An ecological or medical background is apparent in many, including some that are seen as religious or spiritual in origin. Food taboos can help utilizing a resource more efficiently, but when applied to only a subsection of the community, a food taboo can also lead to the monopolization of a food item by those exempted. A food taboo acknowledged by a particular group or tribe as part of their ways, aids in the cohesion of the group, helps that particular group to stand out and maintain its identity in the face of others and therefore creates a feeling of "belonging".


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Various religions forbid the consumption of certain types of food. For example, Judaism prescribes a strict set of rules, called "Kashrut", regarding what may and may not be eaten, and notably forbidding the mixing of meat with dairy products. Islam has similar laws, dividing foods into "haram" (forbidden) and "halal" (permitted). Jains often follow religious directives to observe vegetarianism. Most Hindus do not eat beef, and some Hindus apply the concept of "ahimsa" (non-violence) to their diet and consider vegetarianism as ideal, and practise forms of vegetarianism. In some cases, the process of preparation rather than the food itself comes under scrutiny. For instance, in early medieval Christianity, certain uncooked foods were of dubious status: a penitential ascribed to Bede outlined a (mild) penance for those who ate uncooked foods, and Saint Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary (in a letter preserved in the Boniface correspondence, no. 87) asking him how long bacon would have to be cured to be proper for consumption. The Kapu system was used in Hawaii until 1819.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Aside from formal rules, there are cultural taboos against the consumption of some animals. Within a given society, some meats will be considered to be not for consumption that are outside the range of the generally accepted definition of a foodstuff. Novel meats, i.e. animal-derived food products not familiar to an individual or to a culture, generally provoke a disgust reaction, which may be expressed as a cultural taboo. For example, although dog meat is eaten, in certain circumstances, in Korea, Vietnam, and China, it is considered inappropriate as a food in virtually all Western countries. Likewise, horse meat is rarely eaten in the English-speaking world, although it is part of the national cuisine of countries as widespread as Kazakhstan, Japan, Italy, and France.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Sometimes food prohibitions enter national or local law, as with the ban on cattle abattoirs in most of India, and horse slaughter in the United States. Even after reversion to Chinese rule, Hong Kong has not lifted its ban on supplying meat from dogs and cats, created during British rule.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Environmentalism, ethical consumerism and other activist movements are giving rise to new prohibitions and eating guidelines. A fairly recent addition to cultural food prohibitions is the meat and eggs of endangered species or animals that are otherwise protected by law or international treaty. Examples of such protected species include some species of whales, sea turtles, and migratory birds. Similarly, sustainable seafood advisory lists and certification discourage the consumption of certain seafoods due to unsustainable fishing. Organic certification prohibits certain synthetic chemical inputs during food production, or genetically modified organisms, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge. The Fair Trade movement and certification discourage the consumption of food and other goods produced in exploitative working conditions. Other social movements generating taboos include Local Food and "The 100-Mile Diet", both of which encourage abstinence from non-locally produced food, and veganism, in which adherents endeavour not to use or consume animal products of any kind.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Judaism strictly forbids the consumption of amphibians such as frogs. The restriction is described in Leviticus 11:29-30 and 42–43. Derivative chemical products from amphibians, as well as with other proscribed animals, must be avoided.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In other cultures, foods such as frog legs are treasured as delicacies, and the animals may be raised commercially in some circumstances. However, environmental concerns over the endangerment of frogs, even possibly pushing them into extinction, due to overconsumption has prompted legal action in nations such as France to limit their use in food. The French Ministry of Agriculture began taking measures to protect native frog species in 1976, and efforts have continued since. Mass commercial harvesting of the animals was banned in 1980, though international imports as well as private, individual hunting and cooking remains legal in many areas.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Judaism, the Deuteronomic Code and Priestly Code explicitly prohibit the bat. Bat meat is "haram" (prohibited) in Islam.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Bears are not considered kosher animals in Judaism. All predatory terrestrial animals are forbidden in Islam.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The Torah (Leviticus 11:13) explicitly states that the eagle, vulture, and osprey are not to be eaten. A bird now commonly raised for meat in some areas, the ostrich, is explicitly banned as food in some interpretations of Leviticus 11:16. Rabbis have frequently inferred that traditions that explicitly prohibit birds of prey and natural scavengers create a distinction with other avian species; thus, eating chickens, ducks, geese, and turkeys is allowed.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In contrast, Islamic dietary rules permit the consumption of ostrich, while birds of prey (defined specifically as those who hunt with claws and talons) are forbidden, as in Judaism.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Scavengers and carrion-eaters such as vultures and crows are avoided as food in many cultures because they are perceived as carriers of disease and unclean, and associated with death. An exception is the rook, which was a recognised country dish, and which has, more recently, been served in a Scottish restaurant in London. In Western cultures today, most people regard songbirds as backyard wildlife rather than as food.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: A balut is a developing bird embryo (usually a duck or chicken) that is boiled and eaten from the shell. Part of the Quran includes understanding and respecting the law that any animal products should not be eaten if the animal has not been slaughtered properly, making the animal or animal-product "maytah". Because balut is an egg containing a partly-developed embryo, Muslims believe this makes it "haram", or "forbidden".


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The Ortolan bunting developed as a more recent taboo food among French gourmets. The tiny birds were captured alive, force-fed, then drowned in Armagnac, "roasted whole and eaten that way, bones and all, while the diner draped his head with a linen napkin to preserve the precious aromas and, some believe, to hide from God."


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The eating of camels is strictly prohibited by the Torah in and . The Torah considers the camel unclean, even though it chews the cud, or regurgitates, the way bovines, sheep, goats, deer, antelope, and giraffes (all of which are kosher) do, because it does not meet the cloven hoof criterion. Like these animals, camels (and llamas) are ruminants with a multi-chambered stomach. Camels are even-toed ungulates, with feet split in two. However, a camel's feet form soft pads rather than hard hooves.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Islam, the eating of camel is allowed, and is indeed traditional in the Islamic heartland in Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Peninsula generally.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: There is a strong taboo against eating cats in many Western parts of the world, including most of the Americas and Europe. Cat meat is forbidden by Jewish and Islamic law as both religions forbid the eating of carnivores. Cat meat is eaten as part of the cuisines of China, Vietnam. Cats are commonly regarded as pets in Western countries, or as working animals, kept to control vermin, not as a food animal, and consumption of cats is thus seen as a barbaric act by a large part of the population in those countries. Cat meat was eaten, for example, during the famine in the Siege of Leningrad. In 1996, a place that served cat meat was supposedly discovered by the Argentine press in a shanty town in Rosario, but in fact the meal had been set up by media from Buenos Aires.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In 2008, it was reported that cats were a part of the local diet in Guangdong, China, with many cats being shipped down from the north and one Guangzhou-based business receiving up to 10,000 cats per day from different parts of China. Protesters in other parts of China have urged the Guangdong provincial government to crack down on cat traders and restaurants that serve cat meat, although no law says it is illegal to eat cats.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The term "roof-hare" (roof-rabbit, German "Dachhase") applies to cat meat presented as that of a hare, another small mammal used as a source of meat. Subtracting the skin, feet, head and tail, hare and cat carcasses appear similar. "Dar gato por liebre" ("to pass off a cat as a hare") is an expression common to many Spanish-speaking countries, equivalent to "to pull the wool over someone's eyes" derived from this basic scam. There is an equivalent Portuguese expression "Comprar gato por lebre", meaning "to buy a cat as a hare". The expression "churrasco de gato" ("cat barbecue") is largely used in Brazil with a humorous note, especially for roadside stands that offer grilled meat on a stick (often coated with farofa), due to their poor hygiene and because the source of the meat is mostly unknown. Also, in the Philippines, there is an urban legend and a joke that some vendors use cat meat to make "siopao" (steamed bun), leading some Filipinos to name their pet cats "Siopao". Meanwhile, "kitten cakes" and "buy three shawarma - assemble a kitten" are common Russian urban jokes about the suspect origin of food from street vendors' stalls. In English, the common expression refers to what the victim of the trick thinks is happening: "Buy a pig in a poke."


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The inhabitants of Vicenza in northern Italy were reputed to eat cats, although the practice has been out of use for decades. In February 2010, a popular Italian gastronome was criticized and suspended from a show for talking about the former practice of eating cat stew in Tuscany.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: During the so-called "Bad Times" of hunger in Europe during and after World War I and World War II, "roof-rabbit" was a common food. Those who thought that they were eating Australian rabbits were really eating European cats.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Cattle hold a traditional place as objects of reverence in countries such as India. Some Hindus, particularly Brahmins, are vegetarian and strictly abstain from eating meat. All of those who do eat meat abstain from the consumption of beef, as the cow holds a sacred place in Hinduism. For example, tradition states that the goddess Kamadhenu manifests herself as a wish-granting divine cow, with such stories repeated over generations.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In contrast to cow slaughter, consumption of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and particularly ghee (a form of butter) is highly common in India. Cow-derived products play a significant role in Hinduism with milk particularly being highly revered, often being used in holy ceremonies.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Bullocks were the primary source of agricultural power and transportation in the early days and as, India adopted an agricultural lifestyle, the cow proved to be a very useful animal. This respect stemming out of necessity led to abstaining from killing cows for food; for example, if a famine-stricken village kills and eats its bullocks, they will not be available to pull the plough and the cart when next planting season comes. However, little evidence has been found to support this conjecture. Areas suffering from famine may resort to consuming cattle in efforts to survive until the next season.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: By Indian law, the slaughter of female cattle is banned in almost all Indian states except Kerala, West Bengal and the seven north eastern states. A person involved in either cow slaughter or its illegal transportation could be jailed in many states. Slaughter of cows is an extremely provocative issue for many Hindus.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some Chinese Buddhists discourage the consumption of beef, although it is not considered taboo. However, for Sinhalese Buddhists, it is taboo and considered to be ungrateful to kill the animal whose milk and labour provides livelihoods to many Sinhalese people.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Burmese Buddhists also have a taboo against eating beef, because they consider cows as an animal responsible for working in the fields with human beings. However, it is not strictly considered taboo in populated cities like Mandalay, Yangon etc.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In the town of Kudus on the Indonesian island of Java, there is also a taboo on eating beef, despite most people being Muslim. The reason why the people of Kudus have a taboo against eating beef is to avoid offending Hindus.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: While both beef and dairy consumption is permitted in Judaism, the mixing of dairy products with any sort of meat is completely forbidden.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: A chewing gum sales ban has been in place since 1992 in Singapore. It is currently not illegal to chew gum in Singapore, merely to import it and sell it, with certain exceptions. Since 2004, an exception has existed for therapeutic, dental, and nicotine chewing gum, which can be bought from a doctor or registered pharmacist.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Almost all types of non-piscine seafood, such as shellfish, lobster, shrimp or crayfish, are forbidden by Judaism because such animals live in water but do not have both fins and scales.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: As a general rule, all seafood is permissible in the 3 "madh'hab" of Sunni Islam except Hanafi school of thought. The Ja'fari school of Islamic jurisprudence, which is followed by most Shia Muslims, prohibits non-piscine (lacking scales) seafood, with the exception of shrimp.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The consumption of dairy products together with meat is also prohibited as non-kosher in Rabbinic Judaism, based on Deuteronomy 14:21: "You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." Karaite Jews, however, interpret this commandment more literally to mean that meat cannot be cooked in milk; but dairy products can be served with them.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Western countries, eating dog meat is generally considered taboo, though that taboo has been broken under threat of starvation in the past. Dog meat has been eaten in every major German crisis at least since the time of Frederick the Great, and is commonly referred to as "blockade mutton". In the early 20th century, consumption of dog meat in Germany was common. Suspicions about the provenance of Frankfurter meat sold by German immigrants in the United States led to the coinage of the term 'hot dog'. In 1937, a meat inspection law targeted against trichinella was introduced for pigs, dogs, boars, foxes, badgers, and other carnivores. Dog meat has been prohibited in Germany since 1986. In 2009 a scandal erupted when a farm near the Polish town of Częstochowa was discovered rearing dogs to be rendered down into "smalec" - lard.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: According to the ancient Hindu scriptures (cf. Manusmṛti and medicinal texts like Sushruta Samhita), "dog's meat" was regarded as the most unclean (and rather poisonous) food possible. Dog's meat is also regarded as unclean under Jewish and Islamic dietary laws; therefore, consumption of dog meat is forbidden by both of those religious traditions.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Irish mythology, legend recounts how Cú Chulainn, the great hero of Ulster whose name means Culann's Hound, was presented with a Morton's fork, forcing him to either break his "geis" (taboo) about eating dog meat or declining hospitality; Cú Chulainn chose to eat the meat, leading ultimately to his death.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Mexico, in the pre-Columbian era, a hairless breed of dog named xoloitzcuintle was commonly eaten. After colonization, this custom stopped. Lewis and Clark, and the men in their expedition, were recorded in Lewis' journals as having eaten and enjoyed dog meat, which was common practice of natives in the Great Plains.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In East Asia, most countries rarely consume dog meat with the exception of Vietnam, North and South Korea either because of Islamic or Buddhist values or animal rights as in the Philippines. Manchus have a prohibition against the eating of dog meat, which is sometimes consumed by the Manchus' neighboring Northeastern Asian peoples. The Manchus also avoid the wearing of hats made of dog's fur. In addition to Manchus, Chinese Mongol, Miao, Muslims, Tibetan, Yao and Yi have a taboo against dog meat. In Indonesia, due to its majority Islamic population, consuming dog meat is prohibited, with exception of Christian Batak and Minahasan ethnic groups that traditionally consumed dog meat.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The Urapmin people of the New Guinea Highlands do not kill or eat dogs, unlike some neighboring tribes, nor do they let dogs breathe on their food.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Jains abstain from eating eggs. Many Hindu and Orthodox Sikh vegetarians also refrain from eating eggs.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: An egg that naturally contains a spot of blood may not be eaten under Jewish and Islamic tradition, but eggs without any blood are commonly consumed (and are not considered to be meat, so may be eaten with dairy).


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Elephant meat is also not considered kosher by Jewish dietary laws because elephants do not have cloven hooves and are not ruminants.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some scholars of Islamic dietary laws have ruled that it is forbidden for Muslims to eat elephant because elephants fall under the prohibited category of fanged or predatory animals.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Hindus strictly avoid any contact with elephant meat due to the importance of the god Ganesha who is widely worshipped by Hindus.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: The Kalika Purana distinguishes "bali" (sacrifice) and "mahabali" (great sacrifice), for the ritual killing of goats, elephant, respectively, though the reference to humans in Shakti theology is symbolic and done in effigy in modern times.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Among the Somali people, most clans have a taboo against the consumption of fish, and do not intermarry with the few occupational clans that do eat it.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: There are taboos on eating fish among many upland pastoralists and agriculturalists (and even some coastal peoples) inhabiting parts of southeastern Egypt, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, and northern Tanzania. This is sometimes referred to as the "Cushitic fish-taboo", as Cushitic speakers are believed to have been responsible for the introduction of fish avoidance to East Africa, though not all Cushitic groups avoid fish. The zone of the fish taboo roughly coincides with the area where Cushitic languages are spoken, and as a general rule, speakers of Nilo-Saharan and Semitic languages do not have this taboo, and indeed many are watermen. The few Bantu and Nilotic groups in East Africa that do practice fish avoidance also reside in areas where Cushites appear to have lived in earlier times. Within East Africa, the fish taboo is found no further than Tanzania. This is attributed to the local presence of the tsetse fly and in areas beyond, which likely acted as a barrier to further southern migrations by wandering pastoralists, the principal fish-avoiders. Zambia and Mozambique's Bantus were therefore spared subjugation by pastoral groups, and they consequently nearly all consume fish.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: There is also another center of fish avoidance in Southern Africa, among mainly Bantu speakers. It is not clear whether this disinclination developed independently or whether it was introduced. It is certain, however, that no avoidance of fish occurs among southern Africa's earliest inhabitants, the Khoisan. Nevertheless, since the Bantu of southern Africa also share various cultural traits with the pastoralists further north in East Africa, it is believed that, at an unknown date, the taboo against the consumption of fish was similarly introduced from East Africa by cattle-herding peoples who somehow managed to get their livestock past the aforementioned tsetse fly endemic regions.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Certain species of fish, such as the freshwater eel (Anguillidae) and all species of catfish, are also forbidden in Judaism. Although they live in water, they appear to have no scales (except under a microscope) (see Leviticus 11:10-13). Sunni Muslim laws are more flexible in this. Catfish and shark are generally seen as halal as they are special types of fish. Eel is generally considered permissible in the four Sunni "madh'hab". The Ja'fari jurisprudence followed by most Shia Muslims forbid all species of fish that does not have scales, it also forbid all shell fish species except prawns.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Many tribes of the Southwestern United States, including the Navajo, Apache, and Zuñi, have a taboo against fish and other aquatic animals, including waterfowl.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Norse settlers in Greenland (10th–15th centuries AD) may have developed a taboo against fish consumption, as recounted in Jared Diamond's "". This is unusual, as Norsemen did not generally have a taboo against fish, Diamond noting that "Fish bones account for much less than 0.1% of animal bones recovered at Greenland Norse archeological sites, compared to between 50 and 95% at most contemporary Iceland, northern Norway, and Shetland sites." However, this has been disputed by archaeologists.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Many countries observe this as a delicacy but it is a taboo in most countries. Considered as corpses, fetuses of goats and sheep are a delicacy in Anglo-Indian culture, despite being taboo in both parent cultures (English and Indian). This Anglo-Indian dish is known as "kutti pi" (fetus bag).


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Vedic Brahmins, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, tantriks and some Buddhist priests abstain from fungi, which are eschewed as they grow at night.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: In Iceland, rural parts of Sweden and Western Finland, although not taboo, mushrooms were not widely eaten before the Second World War. They were viewed as food for cows and were also associated with the stigma of being wartime and poverty food. This is in contrast to the days of the Roman Empire, when mushrooms were viewed as a delicacy of the highest order and were held in high regard as food for emperors.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Guinea pigs, or "cuy", are commonly eaten in Peru, in the southwestern cities and villages of Colombia, and among some populations in the highlands of Ecuador, mostly in the Andes highlands. Cuyes can be found on the menu of restaurants in Lima and other cities in Peru, as well as in Pasto, Colombia. Guinea pig meat is exported to the United States and European nations. In 2004, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation took legal action to stop vendors serving "cuy" at an Ecuadorian festival in Flushing Meadows Park. New York State allows the consumption of guinea pigs, but New York City prohibits it. Accusations of cultural persecution have since been leveled.


title: Food and drink prohibitions

text: Some adherents of the Greek Orthodox Church avoid basil due to its association with the cross of Christ. It is believed that the cross was discovered in 325 AD by Saint Helen on a hill covered in beautiful, fragrant basil bushes, a hitherto unknown plant. The plant was named ("basilikón fytón") "royal plant" and today is grown and admired rather than eaten. Fine basil plants are brought to church every year on 14 September to commemorate this legend in a celebration known as the Elevation of the Holy Cross.