Jack of all trades

Master of some

I post about politics, climate change, economics, philosophy, being a father, programming, games, and more.

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npub1wesum70tq2ngf3yjp5qkcktnltz0ml8kqrl7p2gps7rw9dcvevds82n8k5

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jackofalltrades_at_mas.to@mostr.pub

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nprofile1qqs8vcwdl84s9f5ycjfq6qtvt9el438alnmqpllq4yqc0phzkuxvkxcpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qe8g2wa

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npub1wesum70tq2ngf3yjp5qkcktnltz0ml8kqrl7p2gps7rw9dcvevds82n8k5

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Last Notes

2024-07-23 12:38:32

Oh no, not the oil!
https://globalnews.ca/news/10636678/extreme-weather-oil-and-has-impact-canada/
#Canada #oil #ClimateChange #ClimateDiary #NotTheOnion

2024-07-19 11:42:28

"""
The whole world at your fingеrtips, the ocean at your door
...
Twenty-thousand years of this, seven more to go
...
That unapparent summer air in early fall
The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all
"""
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=ObOqq1knVxs
#music #collapse #ClimateDiary

2024-07-17 13:11:30

The irony.
"""
Great Wall Motor, mainland China’s largest SUV maker, will suspend production of its “Tank” branded vehicles for a week at the end of this month, citing extreme weather as the country’s northwest and eastern regions grapple with a brutal heatwave.
"""
https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3270824/great-wall-motors-tank-brand-suspends-production-heatwave-sears-china
#heatwave #China #SUV #FuckCars #ClimateDiary

2024-06-25 07:38:07

"""
Julian Assange has been released from a British prison and is expected to plead guilty to violating US espionage law, in a deal that would allow him to return home to his native Australia.
Under the deal, which must be approved by a judge, Assange is likely to be credited for the five years he has already served and face no new jail time.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jun/25/julian-assange-plea-deal-with-us-free-to-return-australia
#JulianAssange #journalism #wikileaks

2024-06-24 17:47:45

Accurate
#renewables #EnergyTransition #ClimateChange #collapse #meme
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/672/839/440/860/810/original/5b8cc945ad1d9ec6.png

2024-06-16 06:57:30

Global rush for farmland could trigger world war, documentary argues
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4720483-farmland-water-international-corporations-world-war-risk-the-grab-documentary/
#food #meat #water #USA #China #Russia #Ukraine #war #ClimateChange

2024-06-05 14:14:49

A list of countries that do enough to address climate change:

2024-05-21 02:16:00

Look at the Pope going full doomer.
"Unfortunately, we have gotten to a point of no return. It's sad, but that's what it is. Global warming is a serious problem. Climate change at this moment is a road to death."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/pope-francis-urges-action-on-climate-change-its-a-road-to-death/
#pope #PopeFrancis #doomer #doomerism #collapse #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

2024-05-19 20:20:21

In the past, countries used fossil fuels to develop, as these happened to be the energy sources available. Now we have renewables, so we can abandon fossil fuels.
Environmental destruction is not inherent to industrial civilization, but is caused by capitalism. The growth imperative is a feature of capitalism and not part of any unchanging human nature.
By adopting a different economic/political system we can resolve all ecological tensions.
Is this story true? How would I know if it is?

2024-05-18 16:58:52

- reply

@npub1e8d…xm9v They need to keep up appearances as if they're in control. If people stop believing Bad™ things will happen. Whether they really have control is beside the point.

2024-05-16 20:04:25

James Hansen as always with the good news.
http://www.columbia.edu/~jeh1/mailings/2024/MayEmail.2024.05.16.pdf
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #JamesHansen #ClimateDiary
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/452/439/253/657/932/original/fb873d83767f1516.png

2024-05-12 18:44:18

"Lin’s mother was informed of her death two days later when CCP officials handed her a bill for the bullet used in Lin’s execution."
Goddamn, that's cruel.
https://alphahistory.com/chineserevolution/lin-zhao/
#China #history #communism

2024-05-12 17:58:46

I guess that's the last place we haven't exploited yet...
😔
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/05/11/russia-uncovers-oil-and-gas-reserves-british-antarctic/
#Russia #UK #Antarctica #FossilFuels #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #ClimateDiary

2024-05-11 19:44:28

https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=Kfyx2FIJtM4
A lot in this interview resonated with me.
How social movements tend to fizzle out after presumably the "correct" people (like Democrats in the US) are elected to office.
Or how it's not hope that motivates people to move to the streets and demand change, but anger or sadness.
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #climate #activism #ClimateDiary

2024-05-10 05:55:16

"""
Spot prices at the North Hub, which includes Dallas, jumped to more than $3,000 a megawatt-hour just before 7 p.m. local time, versus about $32 at the same time Tuesday, according to data from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
Unusually hot weather in the region has boosted demand for cooling and lowered the efficiency of many power plants. Wind output has also fallen from a day earlier and there are more outages.
"""
https://archive.ph/Nbatb
#Texas #electricity #ClimateChange

2024-05-08 12:19:55

If true, this is quite a problem for visions of a deglobalized, sustainable, post-fossil-fuels world.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-020-0060-7
#sustainability #food #polycrisis #future #famine
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/405/423/279/943/232/original/cf033824b3f56522.png

2024-05-05 20:14:04

"""
The destruction of the planet isn't a mistake, isn't a misunderstanding, isn't an accident. It's largely a deliberate process driven by economics and the material reality of the society we live in. Everything that we produce and consume in an industrial civilization is dependent upon the destruction of the planet.
"""
-- Max Wilbert
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #environmentalism #collapse #ClimateDiary

2024-05-05 16:23:20

"""
If you plant things destined to get eaten, you will naturally encourage the next link in the food chain, as predators such as birds come to your garden, too. A well-balanced garden shouldn't be munched down to the ground and left a wasteland – that should never happen in a biodiverse system.
"""
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240503-why-you-should-let-insects-eat-your-plants
#insects #gardening

2024-05-05 14:37:02

This is the saddest meme.
Source: https://reddit.com/comments/1cj4yu3
#meme #memes #collapse #ThisIsFine #ThisIsntFineAnymore #ClimateDiary
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/388/972/622/299/723/original/35a015282730d25e.jpg

2024-05-02 19:51:08

"""
Turkey has reportedly halted all trade with Israel over its actions in Gaza.
Turkey’s trade ministry first announced restrictions on exports to Israel in early April, stopping the export of iron and steel products and construction equipment. The two countries had a trade volume of $6.8bn in 2023.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/may/02/turkey-reportedly-halts-all-trade-israel-war-gaza
#Israel #Turkey

2024-04-30 09:53:59

- reply

So a more honest description would be:
"If you're lucky and have a solid hydroelectric/geothermal base you can complement that with a few percent of solar and wind"
but that doesn't have the same ring to it. 🤷

2024-04-30 09:50:09

- reply

Albania: 99.54% hydro, 0.46% solar
Bhutan: 100% hydro
DR Congo: 99.55% hydro, 0.23% solar
Ethiopia: 96.13% hydro, 3.62% wind, 0.22% solar
Iceland: 70.96% hydro, 29% geothermal, 0.02% wind
Nepal: 98.61% hydro, 1.38% solar, 0.01% wind
Norway: 88.12% hydro, 10.09% wind, 0.16% solar
Paraguay: 100% hydro

2024-04-30 09:49:44

- reply

"""
More than 99.7 per cent of electricity in Albania, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iceland, Nepal, Paraguay and the Democratic Republic of Congo comes from geothermal, hydro, solar or wind power.
Norway came close with 98.38 per cent of its energy from wind, water or solar, according to the data compiled by Stanford University Professor Mark Jacobson.
"""
So let's take a look at that data, shall we...

2024-04-30 09:49:17

It's very clear how desperate green tech advocates are to paint the current developments as a win for the climate. But by doing so they only reinforce the status quo.
https://www.euronews.com/green/2024/04/17/wind-energy-saw-record-growth-in-2023-which-countries-installed-the-most
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #climate #renewables #wind #solar #EnergyTransition

2024-04-29 16:29:26

They're just one step away from openly approving of the Russian invasion.
"NATO bears indisputable responsibility for this crisis. The alliance should give thought to its role, stop shifting the blame and effectively take practical action for the political settlement of the crisis." -- Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin
https://tass.com/world/1781039
#NATO #China #Russia #Ukraine #war

2024-04-26 09:02:36

Amazing that this exists:
https://archive.org/details/MagicTheGathering2010Edition
Abandonware made functional on modern systems by hobbyists and freely available on archive.org.
I remember playing this game a lot in my teens. Installed it a few days ago and I'm hooked again.
#mtg #magicthegathering #videogames
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/336/705/652/466/695/original/b0861e3a8a1fb7eb.png

2024-04-19 07:43:04

Retaliation to a retaliation. This is so stupid, when will it stop...
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/19/israel-iran-airtstrikes-ifsahan-tabriz-drones-explosions
#Israel #Iran #war

2024-04-17 09:14:12

"""
Nearly half of all pregnancies, totalling 121 million each year throughout the world, are unintended.
Over 60 per cent of unintended pregnancies end in abortion and an estimated 45 per cent of all abortions are unsafe, causing 5 – 13 per cent of all maternal deaths.
"""
https://www.unfpa.org/press/nearly-half-all-pregnancies-are-unintended-global-crisis-says-new-unfpa-report
#pregnancy #abortion

2024-04-16 10:56:18

Why humanity continously fails to address climate change, from a game theory perspective.
Source: https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/sustainability/sustainability-04-01776/article_deploy/sustainability-04-01776.pdf?version=1424776899
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #TragedyOfTheCommons #ElinorOstrom #GameTheory
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/280/511/056/691/213/original/4b5575456b0074b0.png

2024-04-16 07:03:43

"Hog hotel". Sadness.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/07/world-banks-funding-of-hog-hotel-factory-farms-under-fire-over-climate-effect
#China #food #ClimateChange
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/279/438/432/139/830/original/b94cb441ca44c26b.jpg

2024-04-08 07:48:04

"""
Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past. The tradition of all dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brains of the living.
"""
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1852/18th-brumaire/ch01.htm
#Marx #communism #socialism #history

2024-04-01 20:26:18

An Ancient Communist Utopia? The Indus Valley Civilization
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=kxP1zornb-w
#anthropology #communism #archaeology

2024-04-01 06:29:11

"""
During the 1930s, many communists and socialists from Germany and Austria sought refuge from the Nazis in the USSR. But in a shocking betrayal, the Soviet secret police handed over hundreds of them to Hitler’s Gestapo.
"""
https://internationalviewpoint.org/spip.php?article7284
#USSR #Stalin #history #socialism #communism

2024-03-30 10:41:53

All roads lead to Marx. 😉
#ecology #Marx #Marxism
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/184/085/124/338/211/original/8289b31b48950f6b.jpg

2024-03-28 21:26:22

"""
These landfills belch methane, a powerful, planet-warming gas, on average at almost three times the rate reported to federal regulators, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Science.
The study measured methane emissions at about 20 percent of about 1,200 large, operating landfills in the United States.
"""
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/28/climate/landfills-methane-emissions.html
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #methane

2024-03-23 15:00:53

Whoever needs it today: Why You Shouldn't Let Collapse Get You Down by Sid Smith
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=5QeYM1L0FfY
"""
Everything dies — nothing is permanent — and civilizations are no exception. We tend to celebrate births and mourn deaths, but we must never forget that each makes the other possible. The end is in the beginning. Birth and death coinhere. So in this sense endings too should be celebrated as completions of the circle, heralding new beginnings.
"""
#collapse #SidSmith #philosophy

2024-03-23 14:03:02

Currently Turkish troops are stationed in 12 countries.
via https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=9eCImte0NEc
#Turkey #military #war
https://media.mas.to/media_attachments/files/112/145/356/143/446/798/original/dde904aaae4aec27.png

2024-03-23 10:28:00

- reply

@npub1f6s…y8ra Wow, you even translated the street name, that's some very detailed alt text work! 👍

2024-03-19 07:39:54

"""
Only 14pc of the Irish public believe climate change will impact them a great deal, while 59pc say it is a problem for future generations and 51pc say it is a problem for developing countries in the global south.
Some 43pc said climate change is the responsibility for “other” people in Ireland apart from themselves while 40pc said it was the government’s responsibility. Less than 20pc said it was their personal responsibility.
"""
https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/more-than-half-of-irish-people-say-climate-change-will-be-a-problem-for-future-generations/a1665190071.html
#ClimateChange #Ireland

2024-03-17 09:05:52

"""
New Russian high school textbooks – introduced in August 2023 on the instruction of President Vladimir Putin – attempt to whitewash Stalinist crimes and rehabilitate the Soviet Union’s legacy.
(...)
Putin’s efforts to redeem the Soviet past may help explain why Stalin is up in the polls, with 63% of Russians asked in June 2023 expressing a positive attitude toward the Soviet dictator.
"""
https://theconversation.com/back-in-the-ussr-new-high-school-textbooks-in-russia-whitewash-stalins-terror-as-putin-wages-war-on-historical-memory-216255
#Russia #USSR #SovietUnion #Stalin #Putin #history

2024-03-15 17:51:36

20 Days in Mariupol
https://youtu.be/7OEjF35OA_s
This was very difficult to watch. So much death, so much suffering, so much destruction. All because of one man's imperial ambitions and legions of pawns that listen to him.
#Ukraine #Russia #war #Mariupol

2024-03-15 10:17:45

"""
“An ambitious but anxious China, a confrontational Russia, some regional powers, such as Iran, and more capable non-state actors are challenging longstanding rules of the international system as well as US primacy within it,” the report reads.
The report notes that trade between China and Russia has been increasing and that Chinese exports of goods with potential military use have risen more than threefold since 2022.
"""
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/12/united-states-faces-increasingly-fragile-world-order-spy-chiefs-say
#China #Russia #Ukraine #USA #war

2024-03-12 10:21:18

"programming is rather thankless. u see your works become replaced by superior ones in a year. unable to run at all in a few more." -- why the lucky stiff
#programming #ruby #art

2024-03-11 21:28:05

"""
"The global community has experienced a series of crises, with COVID-19, supply-chain issues, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine all sending shockwaves throughout the world," says the report, entitled Whole of Government Five Year Trends for Canada.
"The situation will probably deteriorate further in the next five years, as the early effects of climate change and a global recession add their weight to the ongoing crises."
"""
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/rcmp-police-future-trends-1.7138046
#Canada #collapse

2024-03-04 20:33:41

"""
We all live in a fantasy world where we pretend we are all equal under the law. When in fact there are double standards in everything. There are multiple systems of criminal justice and there are multiple systems of taxation. The government seems to be way too eager to go after the tax returns of the working class but willingly turns blind eye to multi-billion-dollar international schemes.
"""
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=Nxw3tfISTTA
#HSBC #banking #finance #capitalism #law #inequality

2024-03-02 10:21:23

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/01/climate/emissions-energy-climate-record-iea-intl/index.html
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #EnergyTransition #GreenGrowth #emissions

2024-02-29 20:23:56

"This is something that Stalin realized: it is easier to govern the stupid and the poor than wealthy intellectuals. (...) It is necessary for a person to barely survive. Such people will give their lives for pennies." -- Viktor, a Russian historian
https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=jOtYV9ZcjdA
#Stalin #Russia #USSR #history #poverty #war

2024-02-28 10:01:53

“It’s quite scary, partly because I’m not hearing any scientists that have a convincing explanation of why it is we’ve got such a departure,” he said. “We’re used to having a fairly good handle on things. But the impression at the moment is that things have gone further and faster than we expected. That’s an uncomfortable place as a scientist to be.” -- Rob Larter, a marine scientist who tracks polar ice levels
https://archive.is/W87pW
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #climate

2024-02-27 19:57:09

"""
Prof Matthew Campen, at the University of New Mexico, US, who led the research, said: “If we are seeing effects on placentas, then all mammalian life on this planet could be impacted. That’s not good.”
He said the growing concentration of microplastics in human tissue could explain puzzling increases in some health problems, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), colon cancer in people under 50, and declining sperm counts.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/27/microplastics-found-every-human-placenta-tested-study-health-impact
#microplastics #health

2024-02-24 09:17:35

"""
An online dump of Chinese hacking documents offers a rare window into pervasive state surveillance. The dump of scores of documents includes hundreds of pages of contracts, marketing presentations, product manuals, and client and employee lists. They reveal, in detail, methods used by Chinese authorities used to surveil dissidents overseas, hack other nations and promote pro-Beijing narratives on social media.
"""
https://apnews.com/article/china-cybersecurity-leak-document-dump-spying-aac38c75f268b72910a94881ccbb77cb
#China #surveillance #hacking #propaganda

2024-02-23 14:55:51

- reply

@npub1ws2…wlfd Right!? I had the same thought. It's crazy how cheap transport is overall. But you can see that in the way globalization took off or in the prices of domestic and international flights. Or even in the way cities are constructed, based on an assumption that everyone will be able to afford to travel dozens of kilometers every day. Fossil fuels enabled all of that.

2024-02-22 21:07:09

- reply

"Capitalism has subsumed the entire planet now because of globalization. That means we externalized all the costs. Now, we don’t have any more space to externalize because China is expanding, Brazil is expanding, India is expanding: Everyone tries to be a capitalist and it doesn’t work anymore. We are encountering the global ecological crisis, the pandemic, the climate crisis, competition for resources — and these things are closely related to capitalism and the tendency to constantly expand."

2024-02-22 17:14:35

"""
The rapid rise of fast-fashion e-commerce retailers such as Shein and Temu is upending the global air cargo industry, as they increasingly vie for limited air-cargo space to woo consumers with rapid transit times.
According to data aggregated by Cargo Facts Consulting, Temu ships around 4,000 tonnes a day, Shein 5,000 tonnes, Alibaba.com 1,000 tonnes and TikTok 800 tonnes. That equates to around 108 Boeing 777 freighters a day, the consultancy said.
"""
https://www.reuters.com/business/retail-consumer/rise-fast-fashion-shein-temu-roils-global-air-cargo-industry-2024-02-21/

2024-02-13 22:30:45

‘Fascinating and troubling’: Australians would rather save a single human life than prevent an entire species from becoming extinct
https://theconversation.com/fascinating-and-troubling-australians-would-rather-save-a-single-human-life-than-prevent-an-entire-species-from-becoming-extinct-222161
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Australia

2024-02-10 10:53:07

Atlantic Ocean circulation nearing ‘devastating’ tipping point, study finds
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/feb/09/atlantic-ocean-circulation-nearing-devastating-tipping-point-study-finds
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #collapse #AMOC
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/906/804/283/794/981/original/5d0992c993200f91.jpg

2024-02-08 10:51:20

- reply

@npub1mmf…eknq
Wow, what a crazy story! Didn't know about this, thank you for bringing this to my attention.
"""
The network under which [the Chinese police centers] operate was using "persuasion"—harassment abroad and coercion of family members in China—to force suspects to return home. Chinese dissidents were also among the targets.
"""
https://www.newsweek.com/china-overseas-police-service-center-public-security-bureau-safeguard-defenders-transnational-crime-1764531

2024-02-08 09:52:07

"""
Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Agnes Chow, who in December said she had moved to Canada and would not be returning to the city to meet her bail conditions, is wanted by the police.
National security police last year issued arrest warrants for 13 overseas Hong Kong activists, and placed HK$1 million dollar bounties on each of their heads, accusing them of violating the Beijing-imposed security law.
"""
https://hongkongfp.com/2024/02/06/breaking-hong-kong-overseas-pro-democracy-activist-agnes-chow-wanted-by-police/
#China #HongKong #activism #ACAB

2024-02-08 08:47:59

https://invidious.fdn.fr/watch?v=lrMWSkzrMYg
Great interview. I especially liked the part where he connected energy-blindness of mainstream economics with its ideological role in maintaining contemporary power structures.
#SteveKeen #economics #capitalism #energy #ideology
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/894/989/180/621/745/original/b15ee2027d9d8b8c.jpg

2024-02-07 17:16:06

Another sobering graph. X axis is Human Development Index, Y axis is Material Footprint per capita displayed as the number of planets needed to sustain the lifestyle of each country’s average citizen.
I drew a line at 1 Earth since that's how many we have. To be sustainable everyone would need to be below the line.
I'm pretty sure the graph doesn't account for trade as it has a number of developed countries below the line.
Source of the graph: https://www.circularity-gap.world/2024
#sustainability
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/891/312/322/513/234/original/93d4a189ca50521b.jpg

2024-02-02 14:40:16

"""
European consumers will have the right to have common household appliances, including mobile phones, repaired, while EU countries will have to produce schemes to boost repair rates according to a new law adopted today.
"""
https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/eu-agrees-new-law-granting-consumers-a-right-to-repair-products/
#EU #RightToRepair

2024-02-01 19:15:50

Beware climate populism
https://aeon.co/essays/climate-populism-will-be-the-next-great-conspiracy-complex
#politics #populism #climate #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Hungary #ConspiracyTheory
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/857/816/178/319/272/original/13274fd6a31cef4c.jpg

2024-02-01 10:33:44

"""
The physicist Arthur Eddington once remarked: “if your theory is found to be against the [laws] of thermodynamics I can give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.” Neoclassical economics profoundly contradicts these laws. Yet sadly, we’re still awaiting its humiliating collapse.
"""
https://economicsfromthetopdown.com/2020/06/18/can-the-world-get-along-without-natural-resources/
#economics #physics #collapse

2024-01-30 11:17:03

Wow, look at the scale of this solar park.
"""
According to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA), the country increased its solar capacity by 216.9 GW last year, eclipsing its record of 87.4 GW from the previous year, reported Bloomberg. That’s more than the U.S. total of 175.2 GW, estimates by BloombergNEF said.
"""
https://www.ecowatch.com/china-new-solar-capacity-2023.html
#solar #China
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/844/605/286/082/458/original/f1f432c905c14962.webp

2024-01-27 22:25:18

- reply

Nobody expected this!
This was a fucking depressing read.
@npub1tpp…4z09 You may be interested in this. Please tell me that at least some of this is incorrect.

2024-01-27 22:21:48

"Homeowners across America are waking up to discover that their power bills have gone *up* thanks to their solar arrays, even as the giant, financialized solar firms that supplied them are teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, thanks to waves of defaults. Meanwhile, all those bonds that were created from solar installations are ticking timebombs, sitting on institutions' balance-sheets, waiting to go blooie once the defaults cross some unpredictable threshold."
https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/27/here-comes-the-sun-king/#sign-here
#solar

2024-01-27 22:07:42

"""
Dai Jianyong was detained after he circulated a photoshopped picture of President Xi sporting a moustache and screwing his eyes up. Mr Dai, who coined the phrase “chrysanthemum face” for his work – the flower is a Chinese slang term for anus – was accused of “creating a disturbance” and faces up to five years in prison if he is convicted.
"""
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/chinese-artist-who-posted-funny-image-of-president-xi-jinping-facing-five-years-in-prison-as-authorities-crackdown-on-dissent-in-the-arts-10282630.html
#China #art #XiJinping
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/830/175/651/897/792/original/cfece32042d96c22.jpeg

2024-01-27 18:36:46

Why is the sink dirty again? I cleaned it last week...

2024-01-26 11:59:32

Behold, the ultimate #FollowFriday list!
In alphabetical order, you're missing out if you're not following all of them.
@npub1muj…p74g
@npub1qzc…yetl
@npub1gwd…3lhr
@npub1c2x…w0nm
@npub19gp…ejgy
@npub1xxe…zxth
@npub1d7j…u8xc
@npub1d8z…hszj
@npub1hud…nyfp
@npub1pe7…xpvn
@npub1fk2…5l0c
@npub1wyu…t407
@npub1cne…muve
@npub1auc…gwhk
@npub1k4f…hjgz
@npub18rq…csmz
@npub14k2…ed68
@npub1g3n…z0my
@npub1f0f…j7ea

2024-01-26 11:31:07

Founder of my local Ruby User Group is going down the alt-right pipeline. It's sad to see.
It started with him posting anti-vegan memes and escalated into general hate towards climate activists and any climate action.
Today he posted a link to a disinformation site about Greta Thunberg's "net worth", "car collection" and her "private jet" lol. The first header on the site says "The Rothschild Connection". 🙈
#ruby #AltRight #vegan #fascism #ClimateChange #GretaThunberg

2024-01-25 06:56:37

"""
A 2019 study showed that "steeping a single plastic teabag at brewing temperature (95 °C; 203 °F) releases approximately 11.6 billion microplastics and 3.1 billion nanoplastics into a single cup of the beverage".
A 2021 study analyzed purportedly cellulose tea bags and found that 15 of the 22 bags tested also contained polyester, polyethylene or polypropylene, which are known to shed microplastic fibers.
"""
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_bag#Plastics
#tea #plastic #microplastics

2024-01-19 22:16:34

"""
China will continue to play up conflicts in Taiwan with more diverse tactics of information manipulation, Taipei-based think tank Doublethink Lab said in a report published yesterday.
Compared with the local elections in 2022, China used a large number of false accounts and generative artificial intelligence (AI) rather than its state media to disseminate disinformation, it said.
"""
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2024/01/20/2003812353
#China #Taiwan #disinformation #chatgpt #ai #llms

2024-01-18 13:44:55

I find it amazing that there are people that sincerely believe that the People's Republic of China is a democracy, and is actually more democratic than western nations.
But then again, there are people that believe that the Earth is flat. 🤷
#China #democracy

2024-01-14 12:57:12

"""
Gonzalo Lira, a 55-year-old Chilean American who was imprisoned in Ukraine after allegedly spreading Russian propaganda then violating his bail conditions, has died in a Ukrainian jail.
Lira gained a following by posting content online hostile to the Ukrainian government and its President Volodymyr Zelensky. Lira baselessly branded Ukraine's leader a "cokehead," and described the Russian operation as "one of the most brilliant invasions in military history."
"""
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/who-is-gonzalo-lira-pro-putin-american-expat-dies-in-ukrainian-jail/ar-AA1mV5Gs

2024-01-13 16:16:45

"""
Taiwan has voted for Lai Ching-te to be its next president, ushering in a historic third term in power for the pro-sovereignty Democratic Progressive party (DPP), in a result that will anger Beijing and heighten tensions across the Taiwan strait.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/13/taiwan-ruling-partys-lai-ching-te-wins-presidential-election
#Taiwan #China #elections

2024-01-13 16:09:43

"""
Merz and colleagues believe that most climate “solutions” proposed so far only tackle symptoms rather than the root cause of the crisis. This, they say, leads to increasing levels of the three “levers” of overshoot: consumption, waste and population.
The authors suggest that ancient drives to belong in a tribe or signal one’s status or attract a mate have been co-opted by marketing strategiesto create behaviours incompatible with a sustainable world.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/13/human-behavioural-crisis-at-root-of-climate-breakdown-say-scientists
#overshoot

2024-01-13 12:00:21

- reply

@npub16wt…yp28
I disagree, there's plenty of bad research.
It can be developing new methods of fracking to pull more oil from the ground, it can be new psychological tricks to manipulate people into spending more, and it can be new designs to make planes go faster.
Efficiency in aviation made flying cheap, subsequently increasing the number of flights, which meant more fuel burned.
Given we're in the middle of the climate crisis, this is definitely *not* a good thing.

2024-01-13 09:49:46

- reply

@npub16wt…yp28
Indeed, "magic" sounds right.
I find it ironic that the same organization that warns about the dangers of #ClimateChange comes up with ever new ways to burn fossil fuels.
It's one of the reasons I stopped listening to #StarTalk with Neil deGrasse Tyson. The cognitive dissonance was unbearable.

2024-01-13 08:09:13

I find it interesting that "making commercial supersonic flight possible" is part of NASA's mission.
The plane will be fully electric, carbon-neutral, I'm sure. It's not like scientists and engineers from NASA forgot we're in a climate emergency.
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/jan/12/nasa-lockheed-martin-reveal-x-59-quiet-supersonic-aircraft
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #NASA

2024-01-10 10:47:46

- reply

@npub10fm…x0qg
Great questions, and of course, my pleasure.
Via Wikipedia: "Each part per million of CO2 in the atmosphere represents approximately 2.13 gigatonnes of carbon, or 7.82 gigatonnes of CO2." -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide_in_Earth%27s_atmosphere#Current_situation
The ratio is 1 gram of carbon equals 3.664 grams of CO2.
According to preliminary estimates, CO2 emissions in 2023 reached 40.7 gigatonnes of CO2: https://sustainability.stanford.edu/news/global-carbon-emissions-fossil-fuels-reached-record-high-2023
This equals to about 11 gigatonnes of carbon.

2024-01-09 10:52:13

I opened the first IPCC report, released in 1990, and copied their scenario graphs for CO2 and CH4 emissions.
I marked the latest data with a red dot. Methane emissions in 2022 were 580 Mt and carbon dioxide emissions in 2023 were 40.7 GtCO2 (= 11.09 GtC).
Whatever you think about the IPCC you must admit their business-as-usual calculations were pretty robust.
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #Climate #IPCC
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/725/595/053/215/022/original/ac9f748a9c35eaf1.png

2024-01-05 19:09:06

Percent of U.S. adults who want the government to focus on #ClimateChange in 2024 dropped to 21% from 26% the year prior.
https://apnews.com/article/2024-top-issues-poll-foreign-policy-israel-d89db59deb07f53382cc9292b49f4d1c
I think an open-ended question like this is a better representation of the popular opinion, especially compared with a poll that asks if the government should do more about climate change. Only climate deniers would answer "no" to that. You can get closer to learning people's true values if you ask them to prioritize.
https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2020/06/23/two-thirds-of-americans-think-government-should-do-more-on-climate/

2024-01-04 22:42:05

"""
Globally, the ocean has lost around 2% of dissolved oxygen since the 1950s and is expected to lose a further 1–7% by 2100. Although oxygen levels vary on a regional basis, most parts of the ocean are experiencing reductions. Oxygen loss is mainly due to ocean warming, as warmer water can hold less dissolved oxygen.
"""
https://marine.copernicus.eu/explainers/phenomena-threats/deoxygenation
#ocean #ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis

2024-01-01 11:15:20

- reply

@npub1nqx…495t
"What are reasonable solutions to climate change?"
Green growth, EVs, Inflation Reduction Act.
"No, what are *effective* solutions to climate change?"
Degrowth, public transport, global carbon tax.
"But that's unreasonable!"
🤷
William Rees put it best:
"The politically acceptable is ecologically disastrous, while the ecologically necessary is politically impossible."
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #degrowth

2023-12-30 15:45:09

"""
James Hansen told the Guardian that 2023 would be remembered as the moment when failures became apparent.
“When our children and grandchildren look back at the history of human-made climate change, this year and next will be seen as the turning point at which the futility of governments in dealing with climate change was finally exposed,” he said.
“Not only did governments fail to stem global warming, the rate of global warming actually accelerated.”
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/29/world-will-look-back-at-2023-as-year-humanity-exposed-its-inability-to-tackle-climate-crisis
#Climate

2023-12-29 21:36:01

"If we don't consciously choose to establish a new society capitalism will continue to dominate and even continue until it destroys the whole planet." -- Kohei Saito
https://youtu.be/jYAN6wliLxw
#degrowth #Marx #Marxism #capitalism #GreenGrowth #EnergyTransition #KoheiSaito

2023-12-27 15:32:04

"""
The purpose, the idea of the concept is simply to open up the threads through which you can begin to see the connections. If you just read a newspaper or watch the news, you are presented with this collage that begins to just look incoherent and crazy to the point where you begin to wonder whether you will actually be able to trust your own senses.
What the polycrisis concept says is, ‘Relax, this is actually the condition of our current moment’.
"""
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/03/polycrisis-adam-tooze-historian-explains/
#polycrisis

2023-12-27 11:50:12

"""
The Amazon rainforest experienced its worst drought on record in 2023. Many villages became unreachable by river, wildfires raged and wildlife died. Some scientists worry events like these are a sign that the world's biggest forest is fast approaching a point of no return.
"""
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67751685
#ClimateChange #Amazon #drought

2023-12-24 12:01:35

"""
An infant Christ swaddled in a keffiyeh and lying amid stones is the centrepiece of the crib scene at the Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church, in Bethlehem, this year.
The pastor of the church, the Revd Munther Isaac, told The National: “We are tired of the world rationalising and justifying the killing of our children in Gaza. . .”
"""
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2023/15-december/news/world/manger-in-rubble-reminds-world-of-suffering-in-gaza-at-christmas
#Israel #Palestine #war #Christmas

2023-12-11 08:37:01

"""
All the scientific models that show a pathway for the world to stay within the crucial temperature threshold of 1.5C above pre-industrial levels make big assumptions about the retention of natural “carbon sinks”, such as forests, wetlands and peatlands, said Johan Rockström. Without these carbon sinks, the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would increase even faster.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/11/fossil-fuel-phase-out-climate-breakdown-protect-natural-world-cop28
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #COP28

2023-12-08 09:53:00

Winter months are pretty rough for renewables in Germany. Looking at the electricity data for the last month you'd forgiven for thinking Germany wasn't really in the process of energy transition. Coal is still king.
Source of the chart: https://app.electricitymaps.com/zone/DE
#ClimateChange #ClimateCrisis #EnergyTransition #renewables #coal #Germany #electricity
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/544/177/834/826/900/original/06e2ba33a3a1517f.png

2023-11-24 16:56:36

"""
SUVs now represent the largest share of the new car market (51%);
The average LDV weight has reached an all-time high, exceeding 1.5 tonnes; and
The shift to larger vehicles has damaged progress on climate, energy security and diversification, as energy demand and CO2 emissions could have fallen by over 30% between 2010-2022 if vehicles had stayed the same size.
"""
https://www.globalfueleconomy.org/blog/2023/november/heaviest-ever-suvs-massively-undermine-climate-benefits-of-other-vehicle-improvements-says-new-gfei-report
#ClimateChange #EVs #SUVs #cars

2023-11-13 19:19:59

Listening to an interview with #Zizek and he rightly points out how confused our society is when it comes to things we label "possible" vs "impossible".
Singularity or colonizing Mars in our collective imagination is possible, while taxing the rich or UBI is impossible.

2023-10-29 06:53:57

"""
Graffiti battle on streets of Belgrade’ as Serbia tries to stifle anti-Putin Russian exiles
Around 200,000 Russians have fled to Serbia, where they face threats and violence from the nationalist right.
"""
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/oct/28/serbia-graffiti-belgrade-anti-putin-russian-exiles
#Serbia #Russia #Ukraine

2023-10-26 19:23:15

Here's a #ClimateChange idea that I'm sure Americans will love.
Average fuel economy for a passenger car in the US is 25 miles per gallon (mpg). Toyota Prius has a fuel economy of 52 mpg.
Replacing all cars in America with Priuses would cut emissions from passenger cars in half. Easy peasy.
#USA #cars

2023-10-26 10:38:58

"""
In 2021, two-thirds (76 percent) of Europe’s energy was made by burning fossil fuels – gas (34 percent), oil (31 percent) and coal (11 percent).
"""
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/9/6/infographic-how-much-of-europes-energy-gas
#Europe #ClimateChange #oil #gas #coal
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/300/878/119/664/533/original/e6789a2a3c84230a.png

2023-10-21 19:43:15

- reply

There is an interesting aspect to this story though. Which countries are considered "high-income" is decided by the World Bank, and soon enough China may reach that threshold, see https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2022/02/04/china-may-soon-become-a-high-income-country
What would the graph look like with China as one of the high-income countries?
Take a look.
What's the story here though? Both rich and poor are increasing their emissions. Where is hope in that?
#China
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/274/704/836/217/079/original/9d4a61a16b3f3ddf.png

2023-10-21 19:40:12

Take a look at this graph. It compares total annual CO₂ emissions of all high-income countries with emissions of the rest of the world.
The story here seems clear: high-income countries are reducing their emissions, but the rate of that reduction is way too slow and in practice gets erased by the emissions growth in developing nations.
#ClimateChange #ClimateJustice #ClimateCrisis
https://media.mas.to/masto-public/media_attachments/files/111/274/680/482/451/223/original/98ecb8514ae0a402.png

2023-10-16 12:36:27

I jumped into the #EnergyTransition rabbit hole again...
🐇
Care to join me?
🧵 1/16

2023-10-16 10:06:20

Degrowth explained by Grist
https://youtu.be/0MXP2E09dJQ
#degrowth

2023-10-14 14:52:17

"""
Frankfurt Book Fair Cancels Award Ceremony for Palestinian Author
Organizers cited the Israel-Hamas war as the reason for stepping back from honoring a novel about the 1949 murder of a Palestinian girl by Israeli soldiers.
"""
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/13/books/frankfurt-book-fair-cancels-award-adania-shibli.html
#Germany #Israel #Palestine #book