Category Archives: Art

Art, Climate, Monday Musings

Monday Musings — 16SEP24

That’s appropriate for my theme this week. Climate change and Capitalism. LOL

Greta’s Growth – by Joshua P. Hill – New Means

Greta hasn’t been in the news a lot for a few years. That’s because she’s not a teenager anymore and has learned that Capitalism is probably the leading cause of the climate “crisis”. (Yes I put that in quotes, because while it’s a real thing I sometimes think that crisis is the wrong word for it.)

As Greta’s politics have grown and evolved, they reached a point where they now make billionaire media owners, milquetoast executives of major non-profits, and more than a few politicians a little uncomfortable. All she’s done is follow the science, but over time the science has led her to see that the climate crisis doesn’t exist in a vacuum. There are massive monetary incentives to destroy the planet in this capitalist system. ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and BP made over $100 billion in profits in 2023 alone. And those numbers were down from 2022. So, naturally, in following the science Greta had to start examining the capitalist system if she wanted to really get down to the root of the climate crisis. After all, as Chico Mendes said, “Environmentalism without class struggle is just gardening.”

Source: Greta’s Growth – by Joshua P. Hill – New Means

Speaking of capitalism and the climate thing, here’s good news.

Challenges for Samsung

While the specs on Samsung’s batteries sound impressive, they’re not a breakout product, and similar batteries exist.

For example, Chinese battery makers already have a 150 kWh battery pack with a semi-solid electrolyte that can power EV cars for a staggering 650 miles on a single charge.

Also, Samsung’s 9-minute charge promise probably refers to the time it’ll take to go from 10-20% of battery life to 80%, and not from 0 to 100. It’s well worth noting that charging speed slows down significantly after 80% to protect the battery.

Now, considering that the 9-minute charge is in fact for going from 10-20% to 80% battery life, Chinese rivals are already offering 5C or 6C charging speeds.

Furthermore, other battery makers, such as CATL, are also developing batteries with longer life spans ranging up to 20 years. So, it’s fair to say that competition is very stiff and Samsung doesn’t hold a distinctive advantage.

Interestingly, though, the biggest hurdle—for all the companies involved, by the way—is the limited availability of charging infrastructure. Such impressive technical advancement is of no use if they can’t come up with the necessary infrastructure to support it.

And more good news:

Pacific islands submit court proposal for recognition of ecocide as a crime

Three developing countries have taken the first steps towards transforming the world’s response to climate breakdown and environmental destruction by making ecocide a punishable criminal offence.

In a submission to the international criminal court on Monday, they propose a change in the rules to recognise “ecocide” as a crime alongside genocide and war crimes.

If successful, the change could allow for the prosecution of individuals who have brought about environmental destruction, such as the heads of large polluting companies, or heads of state.

Vanuatu, Fiji and Samoa have proposed a formal recognition by the court of the crime of ecocide, defined as “unlawful or wanton acts committed with knowledge that there is a substantial likelihood of severe and either widespread or long-term damage to the environment being caused by those acts”.

Is This Climate Tech Start-Up Going Rogue?

Make Sunsets’ sulfur dioxide strategy has academics and NGOs fuming.

I’m kinda laughing a little at this one. People are up in arms because it’s not something that’s “officially” sanctioned. Like permission is required to do anything. Of course, it seems like techbros just playing, with no clue. So there’s that.

Another day, and another weather balloon ascends gracefully into the clear blue skies above Northern California. But this balloon isn’t headed up to the stratosphere to predict the weather—it’s going there to change it.

Make Sunsets is a tiny start-up headquartered in South Dakota that is using balloons to release small quantities of sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere, in the hope of reflecting some of the Sun’s energy away from the earth. Each gram of SO2, says Andrew Song, one of Make Sunsets’ founders, offsets the warming from one metric ton of carbon dioxide released by burning fossil fuels. Not everyone is convinced by Make Sunsets’ methods, however—and many researchers and environmentalists worry the startup’s unregulated operations are disrupting more responsible research into geoengineering, including a prominent effort at Harvard.

So how about some non climate related news? Here’s an interesting article on heart health, and an intervention that has been and is used all over Europe but not so much in the states.

“Game-Changer” for Your Heart

But there is a cutting-edge, FDA-approved natural therapy that I call a game-changer for your heart…

I’m talking about enhanced external counterpulsation, or EECP.

Most cardiologists continue to ignore this treatment because it doesn’t fit the traditional image of what they do. They consider heart disease a “plumbing” problem. And the solution is to simply fix the blockages.

But if that were true, why do heart attacks happen after these blockaGes have been cleared or bypassed?

The real causes of heart disease are damaged blood vessels that inhibit blood flow and inflammation. That’s where this life-saving therapy comes in.

Multiple studies reveal that EECP is the safest and most effective reliever of angina chest pain available. It has been shown to have huge benefits for patients with coronary artery disease and heart failure.

Why is that? BIG PHARMA. Doctors would rather take the drug money than use something that actually works.

So not climate change but more capitalism.

Damn, I might be a socialist. Whoops. (No the proper term is anarchist.)

Letters Against Isolation

Here’s something good that you can do for a “senior”. It’s called Letters Against Isolation. They have a giant list of nursing facilities where you can write letters to a senior there, to help brighten their day. You sign up, go to their portal and pick a facility (or up to 200 per campaign) and write a nice letter to someone who lives in them. No names are exchanged because of privacy regulations, so the letter have to be fairly generic.

https://www.lettersagainstisolation.com/faq

That is just one of a few penpal/letter writing sites I’ve found, I’ll probably do a post on it sometime soon.

Rocco Buttliere

Rocco Buttliere makes landscapes with RoBlox. Above is one of them. See more here: https://www.roccobuttliere.com/portfolio/landmarks

Art, inspiration

How many hobbies is too many? • Buttondown

 

Hobby is capitalism’s word. It’s a crumb from capitalism’s table. Capitalism is happy that you have a hobby, especially if it can sell you HO-scale train sets to complete it, but that hobby can never be taken as seriously as what capitalism might need from you. (Oh, and that thing capitalism might need from you? Well, design is your passion, so they don’t really need to pay you adequately for that, do they?)

Sadly, capitalism is still with us, and we need to earn. So when you have to clock in, clock in. And when you clock out, clock the fuck out. Take off that stupid watch that sends texts and emails to your wrist. Toss your laptop in the basement. Get behind that drumkit, get in front of that easel, get your ass in the garden, straddle that potter’s wheel, strap on the messenger bag with all your paint cans and nozzles in it, and get the fuck to work.

Source: How many hobbies is too many? • Buttondown

Art, books, copyright

Ursula K Le Guin’s speech at National Book Awards: ‘Books aren’t just commodities’ | National Book Awards | The Guardian

My love for LeGuin knows no bounds

In a passionate speech at the National Book Awards, the science fiction author, who was picking up a lifetime achievement award, takes aim at publishers who put profit before art

Source: Ursula K Le Guin’s speech at National Book Awards: ‘Books aren’t just commodities’ | National Book Awards | The Guardian

Art, research, Writing

Transracial Writing for the Sincere – SFWA

Putting this here to refer to. As an old, cis, white guy, I need a refresher once in a while. Especially since I want a diverse cast in my comics.

 

I’d never write about a person from a different ethnic background. The whole story would probably be full of horrible stereotypes and racist slurs.”Amy closed her mouth, and mine dropped open. Luckily, I was seated when my friend made this statement, but the lawn chair must have sagged visibly with the weight of my disbelief. My own classmate, excluding all other ethnic types from her creative universe!I think this sort of misguided caution is the source of a lot of sf’s monochrome futures. You know the ones I mean, where some nameless and never discussed plague has mysteriously killed off everyone with more than a hint of melanin in their skin. I wonder sometimes what kind of career I’d have if I followed suit with tales of stalwart Space Negroes and an unexplained absence of whites.But of course I don’t. I boldly write about people from other backgrounds, just as many of the field’s best authors do. Suzy McKee Charnas, Bruce Sterling, and Sarah Zettel have all produced wonderful transracial characters, as I show in examples below. Before getting into their work, though, let’s discuss how to prepare for your own.

Source: Transracial Writing for the Sincere – SFWA