Happy Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to those who celebrate…
“Over 100,000 Pounds of Invasive Fish Pulled from One River to Help Restore Native Ecosystem” (Journal of Popular Studies, January 27, 2026)
Kansas wildlife officials have removed more than 100,000 pounds of invasive Asian carp from the Kansas River over the past four years … They are known for growing quickly, consuming massive amounts of food and crowding out native species that rely on the same resources.
#Science: Immigrant animals make us worse off by “growing quickly, consuming massive amounts of food and crowding out native species that rely on the same resources” while immigrant humans make us better off (don’t breed, consume food, or crowd out natives from resources such as health care).
Sad to say, but it seems that the haters in Kansas hate Asians almost as much as the Harvard admissions office (deemed racists by the U.S. Supreme Court, a rare distinction!).
As part of my earnest quest to understand the queer condition, I recently watched The Wizard of Oz. I see why Dorothy clicked her heels three times. Even he dull, sepia life in Kansas* was superior to the what was over the rainbow, you are what you say you are. I can’t help but think L. Frank Baum was a seer of the future: conservative life versus the fantasy world being constructed for us now.
> The Scarecrow listened carefully, and said, “I cannot understand why
you should wish to leave this beautiful country and go back to the dry,
gray place you call Kansas.”
> “That is because you have no brains” answered the girl. “No matter how
dreary and gray our homes are, we people of flesh and blood would
rather live there than in any other country, be it ever so beautiful.
There is no place like home.”
— The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
Too bad immigrants can’t make a go of it in their own homelands, although some have self deported. I think I found a way of driving the native squirrels off my roof. Wish me luck.
* Speaking of bigotry, I’ve lived in Kansas, occasionally people on the East Coast thought we still had to circle the wagons against Indians. I also lived in Connecticut and New York previously, so lots of holes in their thinking about who was ignorant.