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Cáit

@caitwithafada.bsky.social
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Rhodo Rangers @rhodorangers.bsky.social · 11/10/2026
Mighty progress by 6 volunteers this weekend at coill gleann dá loch between digging of lighter infested areas and stem treatment in denser stands. We march on!
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Doug Parr @dougparr.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
Due to **declining soil quality**, nutrients in fruit & vegetables are sharply lower Researchers at Deep Science Ventures found twice the fruit & veg need to be eaten today to get the same level of minerals like potassium, magnesium or copper than 60 yrs ago www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home...
independent.co.uk
Vegetables are half as nutritious than 60 years ago. Experts now know why
Fewer than a third of wheat varieties used in bread released since the 1960s meet the recommended zinc target, due to poor soil quality
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Rhodo Rangers @rhodorangers.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Small team clearing Rhodo on Sat - spray and a dig team depending on maturity. DM if interested in helping Gang againn dul amach tochailt rhododendron ar an DS i coill Gleann dá loch, cuir againn teachtaireacht má tá suim agat ✋a thabhairt @irishwoodlandtrust.bsky.social @rewildingire.bsky.social
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Senthorun S. Raj @senthorun.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
“An AI tool used to speed up the processing of thousands of asylum cases is failing basic accuracy tests…” The idea that synthetic text generating “AI” can be a useful aid in determining refugee status is ridiculous. We should challenge the automation of decision-making and erosion of our rights.
independent.co.uk
AI tool used in thousands of asylum claims failing basic accuracy tests
Exclusive: MPs, charities and rights group warn that accuracy should not be sacrificed for speed in ‘life and death’ asylum decisions
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Ricky Davila @therickydavila.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
The MAGA regime recently killed the largest ancient 250 year old “Grandmother” Cottonwood tree in Arizona’s indigenous territory just to expand the orange felon’s fucking wall. I’ll never forgive anyone who chose this evil.
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"In Latin America and the Caribbean, wildlife populations fell by 95% [in 52 years, and] 80% in Africa..." How do you even compute such whirlwind annihilation of nature? *THE* best thing we can do to alter such trends? Shift towards more plant-based diets. www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Comebacks for wild tigers, tuna and sea turtles prove nature loss can be reversed, scientists say
A landmark report reveals that the world must change the way it produces food to avoid a biodiversity collapse
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Most of Silicon Valley seems to believe that the large scale suffering of millions of others is both a trifle, and something they are owed so they can become trillionaires
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Fire Draw Near @firedrawnear.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Folkloric Pants; Tradition and Nationalism - an interview with Sara Parkman ‘When folk music is getting good again you know the world is in trouble’ The interview is now up in full on the patreons - campsite.bio/firedrawnear
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Dr Abeba Birhane @abeba.blacksky.app · 20/09/2026
i'm tired of seeing “escalating ai capabilities” reported as if it is a fact. let's be clear this claim does not rest on transparent, well-defined, independently validated metrics, but is inferred from model behaviours elicited by humans and measured through opaque, poorly designed evaluations
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Bruce Little @brucedlittle.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The atmosphere just hit a new water-vapour record: 27.35 kg of water vapour per m2 in August 2026, ~20 trillion litres more water than the previous record. Warmer air holds ~7% more moisture per °C. More water vapour means more energy to fuel extreme weather.
theguardian.com
El Niño and global heating pushes water vapour in Earth’s atmosphere to record levels in August
Global heating contributes to record, with a warmer atmosphere able to hold more water, scientists say
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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
".. there are hard limits to the usefulness of [LLM] methods. AI bosses and boosters can't or won't acknowledge this [so we are] spending trillions and emitting gigatons of CO2 for diminishing returns, firing an army of workers, and replacing them with defective chatbots that can't do their jobs."
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eliko thalia @museinrevolt.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
just learned this today
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Ayman Makarem @aymanmak.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
This video of mine from last year is having a bit of a revival. Maybe cause of my new (successful) video essay. Or maybe cause the fascist AfD party won pretty big in recent elections in Germany. Watch it if you havn't yet! youtu.be/DrxKR3UjJwk
youtu.be
A Clockwork Orange and the Myth of German De-Nazification
YouTube video by Politically Depressed
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John Gibbons 🇵🇸 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 @thinkorswim.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Shocking , but true; those suffering the worst impacts of #climate breakdown have done little or nothing to fuel the crisis. That’s on the wealthy 10%, which includes the majority of people living in Ireland. www.carbonbrief.org/two-thirds-o...
carbonbrief.org
Two-thirds of global warming since 1990 caused by world’s ‘wealthiest 10%’ - Carbon Brief
Of the 0.61C increase in global average temperatures over 1990-2020, a new study estimates that 65% was due to the emissions of the wealthiest 10%.
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Gerard Cunningham @faduda.eurosky.social · 03/09/2026
Perfect example of AI brain rot here from the Collision "think tank" at Progress Ireland. "I don't understand this topic, but it won't stop me pontificating about it. And the mistakes in my reporting are because there were too many words for me and the LLM to understand."
The first thing to say is, it's hard to even find the 2022-2028 Dublin City Development Plan.
Despite being an electronic document, the council has chosen to split it into 24 separate PDFs. Added together, these 24 PDFs sum to 2,447 pages.
Note: I'm leaning on ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude a lot for this piece because no sane person could be expected to manually pore over two thousand pages of planning documents. If there are errors, blame the voluminous PDFs - not the LLMs. Nor
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Prof Bill McGuire @profbillmcguire.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Hugely wishful thinking If emissions peak by 2040 and fall rapidly, research shows we might get away with 'just' a reprise of the Pliocene ~ 3C higher temperatures and sea level eventually 15 - 25m higher If they don't, it will be worse - much worse www.theguardian.com/environment/...
theguardian.com
Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’
But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphere
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Not to be some wild-eyed innocent, but I think it should be slightly bigger news that The Lancet have crunched the numbers and found that Musk's USAID cuts will kill 14 million people. And that's just by 2030. That's 9,600 people a day, every day, until the next world cup rolls around.
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Climate Dad @climatedad.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
1856: Eunice Foote shows CO2 emissions cause global warming. 1954: Oil industry’s own research proves they’re cooking the planet. 2022: Explicit fossil fuel subsidies reach $1.5 TRILLION. 2026: The world burns as Big Oil earn $93 BILLION in 3 months. Trajectory of a suicidal civilization.
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Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) @swanireland.ie · 06/08/2026
Do you want to do your part in protecting Ireland's iconic wild salmon? Have you signed our petition yet? ✊ Sign the petition to call for the phase out of the destructive and cruel practice of open-net fish farming. 📝👇    swanireland.ie/take-action/ban-open…
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Andy Scollick @andyscollick.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
9 million tonnes of crops destroyed by just one heatwave across Europe, which lasted 13-14 days. #FoodSecurity
theguardian.com
Food price fears after Europe’s heatwave destroys estimated €2bn of crops
Record June temperatures expected to cut grain harvest by 9m tonnes to its lowest level since 2018
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Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
Something uplifting about reading a Finn McRedmond column at the start of a writing day. A reminder that any auld nonsense will be published in a newspaper of record so I shouldn't stress so much about my silly book chapter that no one will read.
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Den M @mousketeer.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Nearly 100 unnamed individuals found in Tuam - in a relatively small, and known, area of careful excavation. Meanwhile In Bessborough one can only ponder how many will be found by diggers working on the foundations for developer led apartments.
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
This scares the absolute living shit out of me, and it should be the same for everyone else with even half a brain.
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Sustainable Water Network (SWAN) @swanireland.ie · 20/07/2026
"Escaped farmed salmon have been interbreeding with Ireland’s endangered wild salmon, leaving traces of their DNA in 1/3 of fish tested" lowering survival & reducing resilience of wild salmon Ban open-net farms! Sign our petition: swanireland.ie/take-action/... www.irishtimes.com/environment/...
irishtimes.com
Evidence of interbreeding with farmed fish raises fears for wild salmon
DNA from escaped stocks could be a damaging evolutionary force, scientists say
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Galway Advertiser @galwayadvertiser.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
The Galway branch of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU ) took action this week to highlight the effect short-term lets are having on the community www.advertiser.ie/galway/artic...
advertiser.ie
‘Airbnb is killing our community’ says tenants’ union as campaign to highlight effect commences
The Galway branch of the Community Action Tenants Union (CATU ) took action this week to highlight the effect short-term lets are having on the community.
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Ross Thompson @wintermute115.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
The Luddites' actual argument was that automated looms meant expensive, skilled workers were being replaced with literal children, who were then getting maimed and killed, and maybe this is bad.
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Jesus. 35 UK universities quietly- without debate - joined the Ministry of Defence’s “Battlefield Alliance” which seeks to “reorientate academia towards Defence and National Security” They’re destroying the social sciences and humanities while militarising the institutions
• Durham University
• Newcastle University
• Northumbria University
• Lancaster University
• University of Cumbria
• University of Lancashire
• University of Liverpool
• University of Manchester
• University of Huddersfield
• University of Sheffield
• University of York
• Loughborough University
• University of Lincoln
• University of Nottingham
• Aston University
• University of Birmingham
• University of Warwick
• King's College London
• Kingston University
• Queen Mary University of London
• University College London
• University of Oxford
• University of Portsmouth
• University of Surrey
• University of Bath
• University of Bristol
• University of Exeter
• University of Plymouth
• University of Edinburgh
• University of Glasgow
• University of Strathclyde
• Cardiff University
• Swansea University
• Queens University Belfast
• Cranfield UniversityFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 July 2026
UK Universities Betray Public Trust by Joining MoD's 'Battlefield Advantage' Alliance
Without Debate
A coalition of campaign groups has accused UK universities of quietly integrating themselves into Britain's defence infrastructure after 35 institutions signed up to the Ministry of Defence's Defence Universities Alliance (DUA).
The Ministry of Defence says the alliance aims to "reorientate academia towards Defence and National Security", strengthen links between universities and the defence sector, and translate research into "battlefield advantage".
Campaigners say the move represents a significant shift in the role of higher education and has taken place without meaningful public debate.
Among the founding members are the University of Oxford, University College London, King's College London, the University of Manchester, the University of Edinburgh, Cardiff University and Queen's University Belfast.
"We are witnessing the formal incorporation of Britain's universities into the defence ecosystem," said Jinsella Kennaway, Founder and Executive Director of Demilitarise Education.
"The Ministry of Defence is explicit about its intentions. Universities exist to advance knowledge and foster critical inquiry, not to become pipelines for military research and defence recruitment.
Students and staff deserve to know who agreed to this and why."
Campaigners are calling on all 35 universities to publish the governance documents and board minutes relating to their decision to join the alliance, and to explain whether staff and students were consulted.
Many UK universities already maintain relationships with major defence companies, including BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, Leonardo, Thales, Lockheed Martin and QinetiQ. Critics argue that the DUA formalises and accelerates the integration of academia, industry and the state.
The coalition warns that, at a time of rising defence spending, universities risk becoming increasingly aligned with governme…
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Al Jazeera English @aljazeera.com · 13/07/2026
Wildfires spread over 800 hectares near Fontainebleau, as authorities sent two ​waterbombing planes to tackle blazes.
aljazeera.com
Wildfires near Paris force evacuations, disrupt train lines and motorway
Wildfires spread over 800 hectares near Fontainebleau, as authorities sent two ​waterbombing planes to tackle blazes.
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The Author, Séamas O'Reilly @seamas.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
📵
Social media bans are popular because they seem pleasingly dramatic to those of us who have neuroses about our own screen time, and wish to launder them as concerns for children’s safety. They’re also a “free hit”, since the adult population are slow to be moved by the harms such bans might cause children, and governments care even less since they exclusively affect people who can neither vote nor put money in their coffers.
A serious approach to mitigating online harms is possible. Such measures are, in fact, already enshrined in laws we refuse to enact. We could hold tech companies materially responsible for the bile and misinformation they spread. We could institute moderation and controls, with severe legal and financial penalties, for platforms such as X that profit from the spread of child abuse imagery and racial hatred. We could improve media literacy by teaching our children how to spot slop, misinformation and spam in the wild, perhaps teaching ourselves a little about that task in the process.Tech giants are materially invested in all the worst aspects of the modern web. The hatred, the bile, the scams and the misinformation all exist because someone somewhere is making a lot of money, influence or political capital from their existence. It’s in their power to change it, and I believe it’s in ours to make them do so.
Increasingly, however, it seems like we’ve decided to punish our children instead, banning them via processes that will not make the web safer for any of us but will – surprise surprise – allow those very same tech companies to make an additional killing by implementing age verification.The current UK recommendations suggest social media blackouts for under-16s, with a further “curfew” mooted for 16- to 17-year-olds, restricting access to their accounts after a certain time of day.
Never mind that we are asking young people to be isolated from services and platforms now so intrinsic to modern life that they are how most of us get all our news and entertainment, maintain social relationships and acquire employment.
Never mind that bypassing these restrictions will be so elementary as to be pointless, with the added benefit of criminalising kids who do so. Never mind that a 16-year-old in Britain might soon be legally eligible to fight and die in a war but not to watch a YouTube video after dark.
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Barry McMullin @autofac.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
IMHO "green growth" is just about the worst possible political framing for climate action ... as it fails (and it will) the reaction will undermine actually effective responses (spoiler: correction in human planetary overshoot is coming - managed or not...).
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
So I’m in Belfast
“We love Israel: never give up” and “Charlie Kirk: no Surrender”
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Dr. Aaron Thierry @thierryaaron.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
🚨 New #AMOC preprint: "Under conservative assumptions of Greenland ice sheet melt, the probability that collapse is already committed is 10%, rising to 80% by 2100 under worst case emissions. Under less conservative Greenland melt assumptions, probability that collapse is already committed is 23%"
eartharxiv.org
Quantifying the probability of committed AMOC collapse
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Paul Murphy TD @paulmurphy.pbp.ie · 08/07/2026
Unfortunately our Bill to ban hare coursing has been voted down by FF, FG and SF. The annual cruel practice of capturing and terrorising thousands of hares will continue. The politicians are wildly out of touch with the public on this one. We'll be back and we will win a ban!
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Kelly Fincham @kellyfincham.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Which is why staff hired for Galway roles can’t find anywhere to live in Galway
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Alan Greene @alangreene.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
No offence under section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000 committed here. That's only for pensioners protesting a genoicde in Gaza, or for rappers allegedly waving flags on stage.
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Dr Panti Bliss-Cabrera @pantibliss.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Headline from the Guardian:

Guardian Media Group announces strategic partnership with OpenAI
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Hannah Daly @hannahdaly.ie · 07/07/2026
The CSO has released data on metered electricity consumption for 2025. The extraordinary headline figures: - Electricity consumption from data centres grew by nearly 10% last year, and now accounts for 23% of Ireland's electricity demand.
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Kevin J. Kircher @kevinjkircher.com · 07/07/2026
This is wild. 93% of the renewable electricity generation added to the Irish grid over that last decade now powers data centers, rather than reducing fossil fuel use. Data centers have pretty much annihilated the health and climate benefits those renewables could have provided.
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Emmet Ó Briain @emmet.quiddity.ie · 25/05/2026
current modal shift policy in action - build lots of housing near city but do not enforce restrictions against footpath parking or other uncontrolled parking and definitely do not deliver the bus route planned to serve the development (to protect pedestrians, do paint a stick man on the road 👍)
footpath parking in O’Devaney Gardens
more footpath parking in O’Devaney Gardens
uncontrolled parking in O’Devaney Gardens
stick man on road for pedestrians
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Frank O'Connor @frankoconnor.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
No surprise This was designed to fail Me & @judesherry.bsky.social called it out in piece for Irish Examiner (Oct '22) We also raised it in the Oireachtas (Oct '25) But all falling on deaf ears 'cos its a manufactured housing crisis Time for 'Use It or Lose It' so we have homes not #DerelictIreland
No surprise
This was designed to fail
Me & @judesherry.bsky.social called it out in piece for Irish Examiner (Oct '22)
We also raised it in the Oireachtas (Oct '25)
But all falling on deaf ears 'cos its a manufactured housing crisis
Time for 'Use It or Lose It' so we have homes not #DerelictIreland
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Wendy Lyon @wendylyon.eurosky.social · 02/07/2026
This is a flat-out lie. The Minister for Justice is LYING. #speirghorm
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Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 02/07/2026
Every day is like “this company is trying to build a gateway to hell” yet we are all supposed to pretend like everything is fine.
businessinsider.com
This startup wants to turn the world into a searchable video feed, starting in San Francisco
Orchestra has installed more than 100 cameras in San Francisco. Next up: 900 more, then the rest of the world.
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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
"The number of animals farmed worldwide has increased by ½ in the last 2 decades. The rising demand for meat comes at a time when agricultural land is becoming less fertile. ~90% of water withdrawn from natural systems for irrigation is used to grow animal feed." Trends going ↑ instead of ↓ =😳
theguardian.com
Global boom in livestock farming since 2006 is piling pressure on nature, report finds
Wildlife at risk as demand for cropland and water grows to feed 50% rise in farmed animals, campaign alliance says
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Naomi Klein @naomiaklein.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Everybody in the "climate space" (which means everyone on earth...) needs to understand these mind-blowing figures. Google's "total electricity consumption jumped from 31 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2024 to 43 TWh in 2025." In ONE year. The AI corporate arms race is eating the world.
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I Scare You Like Sound Dog @chadstanton.blacksky.app · 29/06/2026
It’s weird to be clearly living through exactly what was warned about with global warming and still have the concept treated as a future event or hypothetical.
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elia ayoub @ayoub.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
This is what witch trials look like in movies
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Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
"It’s all very well putting up £1 m to explore Golden Eagles re-establishment in northern England but w/out also investing in wildlife crime enforcement capabilities, any eagle will simply be shot, trapped, poisoned or bludgeoned, with 0 consequences for the offenders, as they've been for 70+ years"
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Eoghan Daltun 🌍 @irishrainforest.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
After the searing heat, back to rainforest weather. But it breaks my heart that the future of this – and so many other amazing natural ecosystems – is very seriously threatened by climate collapse.
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Jason Hickel @jasonhickel.bsky.social · 27/06/2026
On June 13th 1954, the US backed a coup against Jacobo Árbenz, the progressive, democratically elected leader of Guatemala, because he sought to restore land to small farmers and Indigenous communities that had been dispossessed by US fruit companies.
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