#Copper Nickel Supply

[soon-palestine]

𝗨.𝗦. 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗥𝗧 𝗖𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗘𝗖𝗛 𝗚𝗜𝗔𝗡𝗧𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗢 𝗔𝗕𝗨𝗦𝗘𝗦

Not guilty.

That's the verdict of a US federal appeals court in a case involving five tech companies accused of benefitting from child labour in Congolese mines. On 5th March, 2024, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia made a 3-0 decision in favour of (Google’s parent company) Alphabet, Microsoft, Dell, Tesla and Apple Inc. in a case filed by 16 former Congolese child miners and their guardians.

The plaintiffs accused the companies of "deliberately obscuring" their dependence on child labour, in effect abetting the exploitation of many children to ensure steady supplies of cobalt. Some of the complainants were the guardians of children who’d been killed in cobalt-mining operations.

The court ruled that buying cobalt in the global supply chain did not amount to "participation in a venture," and there was no proof that the tech giants had anything more than a buyer-seller relationship with suppliers or had the power to stop the use of child labour.

Cobalt is in high demand as competition for market leadership in Electric Vehicle sales kicks into high gear. Nearly two-thirds of the world's cobalt is mined in DR Congo. The country has 2-million artisanal miners working under horrible conditions, according to DelveDatabase, an online database. Four critical minerals - copper, nickel, cobalt and lithium - will generate $16 trillion in the next 25 years, according to the IMF.

DR Congo's vast wealth is the key reason for the country's long history of exploitation and conflict - from Belgian King Leopold II running the country as his private estate to Western tech firms churning out high-end goods using Congolese minerals.

Help raise awareness of the exploitation of Congolese children by sharing this video widely.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Mother Jones:

The world generates more than 68 million tons of e-waste every year, according to the UN, enough to fill a convoy of trucks stretching right around the equator. By 2030, the total is projected to reach 75 million tons.

Only 22 percent of that e-waste is collected and recycled, the UN estimates. The rest is dumped, burned, or forgotten—particularly in rich countries, where most people have no convenient way to get rid of their old Samsung Galaxy phones, Xbox controllers, and myriad other gadgets. Indeed, every year, humanity is wasting more than $60 billion worth of so-called critical metals—the ones we need not only for electronics, but also for the hardware of renewable energy, from electric vehicle (EV) batteries to wind turbines.

Millions of Americans, like me, spend their workdays on pursuits that lack any physical manifestation beyond the occasional hard-copy book or memo or report. It’s easy to forget that all these livelihoods rely on machines. And that those machines rely on metals torn from the Earth.

Consider your smartphone. Depending on the model, it can contain up to two-thirds of the elements in the periodic table, including dozens of metals. Some are familiar, like the gold and tin in its circuitry and the nickel in its microphone. Others less so: Tiny flecks of indium make the screen sensitive to the touch of a finger. Europium enhances the colors. Neodymium, dysprosium, and terbium are used to build the tiny mechanism that makes your phone vibrate.

Your phone’s battery contains cobalt, lithium, and nickel. Ditto the ones that power your rechargeable drill, Roomba, and electric toothbrush—not to mention our latest modes of transportation, ranging from plug-in scooters and e-bikes to EVs. A Tesla Model S has as much lithium as up to 10,000 smartphones.

The millions of electric cars and trucks hitting the planet’s roads every year don’t spew pollutants directly, but they’ve got a monstrous appetite for electricity, nearly two-thirds of which still comes from burning fossil fuels—about one-third from coal. Harvesting more of our energy from sunlight and wind, as crucial as that is, entails its own Faustian bargain. Capturing, transmitting, storing, and using that cleaner power requires vast numbers of new machines: wind turbines, solar panels, switching stations, power lines, and batteries large and small.

You see where this is going. Our clean energy future, this global drive to save humanity from the ever-worsening ravages of global warming, depends on critical metals. And we’ll be needing more.

In all of human history, we have extracted some 700 million tons of copper from the Earth. To meet our clean energy goals, we’ll have to mine as much again in 20-odd years. By 2050, the International Energy Agency estimates, global demand for cobalt for EVs alone will soar to five times what it was in 2022. Demand for nickel will be 10 times higher. Lithium, 15 times. “The prospect of a rapid increase in demand for critical minerals—well above anything seen previously in most cases—raises huge questions about the availability and reliability of supply,” the agency warns.

Metals are natural products, but the Earth does not relinquish them willingly. Mining conglomerates rip up forests and grasslands and deserts, blasting apart the underlying rock and soil and hauling out the remains. The ore is processed, smelted, and refined using gargantuan, energy-guzzling, pollution-spewing machines and oceans of chemicals. “Mining done wrong can leave centuries of harm,” says Aimee Boulanger, head of the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance, which works with companies to develop more sustainable extraction practices.

The harm is staggering. Metal mining is America’s leading toxic polluter. It has sullied the watersheds of almost half of the rivers in the American West. Chemical leaks and mining runoff foul air and water. The mines also generate mountains of hazardous waste, stored behind dams that have a terrifying tendency to fail. Torrents of poisonous sludge pouring through collapsed tailings dams have contaminated waterways in Brazil, Canada, and elsewhere and killed hundreds of people—in addition to the hundreds, possibly thousands, of miners who die in workplace accidents each year.

To get what they’re after, mining companies devour natural resources on an epic scale. They dig up some 250 tons of ore and waste rock to get just 1 ton of nickel. For copper, the ratio is double that. Just to obtain the metals inside your 4.5-ounce iPhone, 75 pounds of ore had to be pulled up, crushed, and smelted, releasing up to 100 pounds of carbon dioxide. Mining firms also suck up massive quantities of water and deploy fleets of drill rigs, trucks, diggers, and other heavy machinery that collectively belch out up to 7 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions.

Metal recycling is a completely different proposition from recycling the paper and glass we toss into our home bins for pickup. It turns out that retrieving valuable raw materials sustainably from electronic products—toasters, iPhones, power cables—is a fiendishly complex endeavor, requiring many steps carried out in many places. Manufacturing those products required a multistep international supply chain. Recycling them requires a reverse supply chain almost as complicated.

Part of the problem is that our devices typically contain only a small amount of any given metal. In developing countries, though, there are lots of people willing to put in the time and effort required to recover that little bit of value—an estimated tens of thousands of e-waste scavengers in Nigeria alone. Some go door to door with pushcarts, offering to take or even buy unwanted electronics. Others, like Anwar, work the secondhand markets, buying bits of broken gear from small businesses or rescuing them from the trash. Many scavengers earn less than the international poverty wage of about $2.15 per day.

[darkmaga-returns]

David Blackmon Oct 19, 2024

A new report by Amnesty International “reveals how the world’s leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturers are not adequately demonstrating how they address human rights risks in their mineral supply chains, potentially leaving communities exposed to exploitation, health risks and environmental harm caused by the rapid expansion of mines required for the metals used in batteries.”

Here are some excerpts from the report:

As global demand for battery minerals soars, the report calls for car makers to identify and mitigate human rights risks in their supply chains such as forced evictions, health harms from environmental pollution, and abuse of Indigenous Peoples’ rights in countries where minerals are extracted such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Philippines.

“The huge rise in demand for the metals needed to make electric vehicle batteries is putting immense pressures on mining-affected communities,” said Amnesty’s International’s Secretary General, Agnès Callamard.

“The human rights abuses tied to the extraction of energy transition minerals are alarming and pervasive and the industry’s response is sorely lacking. Communities are suffering from forced evictions, health issues caused by pollution and difficulties accessing water. As demand for electric vehicles increases, manufacturers must ensure people’s human rights are respected.”

…

“Mining for the minerals used in electric vehicles can entail huge risks for people and the environment. Amnesty International’s previous research has shown how industrial cobalt is linked to forced evictions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Car companies need to use their massive leverage as global minerals buyers to influence upstream mining companies and smelters to mitigate these human rights risks,” said Agnès Callamard.

In terms of supply chain mapping disclosures, companies like BYD, Geely Auto, Hyundai, General Motors, and Mitsubishi Motors scored the lowest, failing to provide detailed information about their supply chains. Furthermore, BYD does not disclose smelter, refiner, or mine site names. Geely Auto provided only general supplier locations without specifying mineral extraction sites.

Hyundai and Mitsubishi Motors demonstrated a similar lack of transparency, with no evidence of comprehensive supply chain mapping or mine site identification for cobalt, copper, lithium, and nickel, making it difficult for stakeholders to verify how these operations affect nearby communities.

[mariacallous]

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine is not only an attempt at military conquest—it is also very much a total war against the Ukrainian people and their economy.

For almost three years, Russia has pummeled Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, ports, and trade routes with thousands of missiles, drones, and other weapons, many of which are supplied by Russian allies Iran and North Korea or produced with components imported from China. Russia has mined Ukraine’s farmland; seized critical infrastructure, including Europe’s largest nuclear power plant; and escalated its attacks on Ukraine’s electricity generation capacity in an attempt to weaponize winter against the Ukrainian people.

Economic resilience has been a central tenet of Western support for Ukraine, and the country’s economic recovery will be a core element of any postwar settlement. Despite the horrific damage that Russia has done, Ukraine’s economy has been remarkably resilient. Real GDP grew by 5 percent in 2023 and an estimated 4.2 percent in 2024, and it is projected to rise by more than 3 percent in 2025.

Kyiv’s incremental but steady economic gains have been reinforced by the opening of official European Union membership talks in June 2024 and numerous successful reviews by the International Monetary Fund. Ukraine registered 37,000 new businesses over the past year, more than half of which were founded by women. Shipments of agricultural products—a mainstay of Ukrainian exports, including sunflower oil, wheat, and corn going mainly to Africa, Asia, and South America—rivaled pre-invasion volumes earlier this year. Iron production in the first half of 2024 was up 21 percent from the previous year.

The energy system, despite suffering severe damage over almost three years of Russian attacks, continues to function, thanks to the tireless efforts of Ukrainian energy workers and coordinated support from the international community. And almost miraculously, Ukraine has reopened its shipping lanes to and from its Black Sea ports despite ongoing Russian attacks.

Beyond these wartime efforts lies Ukraine’s vast untapped economic potential. Take strategic metals and minerals: Ukraine either produces or has recoverable deposits of 32 out of the 34 mineral commodities listed as critical by the EU. These include titanium, copper, chromite, graphite, lithium, nickel, molybdenum, rare earths, and uranium. The investment opportunities are vast, and they would help to meet growing demand in the United States and EU for critical supplies required to power the green energy transition and artificial intelligence revolution.

Ukraine also has one of the world’s largest reserves of highly fertile black soil—the source of the country’s moniker as the breadbasket of Europe. Ukraine can feed large parts of the world, currently producing enough food to feed some 100 million people with the potential to produce for 500 million more. Even as the war has raged, Ukraine at one point supplied 80 percent of the wheat distributed as aid by the U.N. World Food Program; just this month, it shipped 500 metric tons of grain in a humanitarian shipment to help feed post-Assad Syria. Thanks in part to a $284 million grant from the United States, Ukraine has already demined an area the size of Maryland and is restoring thousands of acres of agricultural land to its farmers.

Ukraine’s postwar economy will also build on an extremely dynamic information technology sector, which has tripled its exports from $2 billion in 2015 to $7 billion in 2023—higher than the pre-war peak.

Ukraine has five tech unicorns (privately held companies valued at more than $1 billion), which is more than any other country in Central and Eastern Europe; it also has one of the highest numbers of tech graduates per capita in Europe—more than Britain or France. The country has more than 5,000 tech companies, collectively employing nearly 300,000 developers—from start-ups to the five unicorns: GitLab, Grammarly, Genesis, People.ai, and Firefly Aerospace.

The war has vastly expanded Ukraine’s defense industrial base, which has grown tenfold in some sectors in response to Russia’s invasion. Once the war ends, Ukraine will have one of the most modern, competitive, and experienced defense sectors in Europe, able to take global market share from Russia and supply allies with NATO-standard munitions and equipment.

Galvanized by war, Ukraine’s drone developers, cyber warriors, hacktivists, and citizen programmers are powering digital innovation. Some of the most dynamic innovation ecosystems have developed in small, open economies facing a persistent, existential security threat: Think of Estonia, Israel, South Korea, and Taiwan, all of which have developed globally competitive innovation ecosystems, often closely linked to defense.­

That is one reason why the Biden administration supported U.S.-Ukrainian defense co-production on Ukrainian soil. In effect, security enables Ukraine’s economic resilience. Economic resilience reinforces Ukraine security.

Just as the United States has been a leader in military support—which helps Ukraine defend its economic and energy infrastructure from Russian attacks—it has also supported Ukraine’s future resilience. The Biden administration is rushing $825 million in emergency energy assistance to help fortify power generation, repair the grid, deploy more passive protection of energy infrastructure, provide backup power options, and restore gas storage facilities.

Much of this support is coming online now. And the Kyiv Independent reported that the first shipments of U.S.-produced liquefied natural gas to Ukraine arrived via Greece in late December—not only opening a new chapter in the U.S.-Ukrainian energy relationship, but also helping lay the foundation for a Ukrainian energy system that is free from Russian coercion.

And thanks to the generous support of Congress, the United States has catalyzed Ukraine’s economic comeback so that the country can stand on its own two feet, create an expanding market for U.S. goods, and provide a return on U.S. investments. This includes $74.7 million to support Ukraine’s export-oriented farmers and food processing facilities; $223 million in additional support to upgrade Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, rail links, and land border crossings; more than $105 million in new funding to train and equip Ukrainians for jobs in a postwar economy; and $35 million to help start one of the world’s largest infrastructure reconstruction efforts. In addition, the United States is contributing $20 billion in loans as part of a G-7 commitment to support the Ukrainian economy, serviced by the interest earned by frozen Russian sovereign assets.

Ukraine’s future membership in the EU and integration into global markets will yield massive dividends in terms of future U.S. economic security and private sector activity. Ukraine will be an essential partner as the United States and Europe emancipate themselves from reliance on energy, manufactured goods, and critical raw materials from adversaries such as China and Russia.

The World Bank estimates that Ukraine’s reconstruction will cost nearly $500 billion over 10 years, the largest such undertaking since post-World War II reconstruction. But unlike postwar Europe, where the United States spearheaded the reconstruction of 16 nations with the Marshall Plan, Ukraine’s recovery involves a broad coalition of contributors—many countries plus the international private sector—focused on rebuilding only one country.

Moreover, Europe’s reconstruction only began in 1948, three years after the cessation of hostilities, whereas our administration’s work in Ukraine has focused intensely on compressing the time between hot war and full-scale economic recovery.

The Pritzker plan—outlined by Penny Pritzker, the former U.S. special representative for Ukraine’s economic recovery—notes that addressing the challenges of economic recovery will require five conditions. First, a cohesive, cross-ministry strategy for reconstruction, project prioritization, and planning; second, the facilities to expand the number of shovel-ready infrastructure projects ready to absorb capital; third, more reform, stronger rule of law, and deeper anti-corruption efforts; fourth, greater capital mobilization in terms of insurance, equity finance, and debt; and, fifth, a concerted European effort to help create the conditions for refugees, internally displaced people, and veterans to return home and fully integrate into Ukraine’s economy.

Taken together, these five elements can be the fuel that powers a strong economic recovery and even renaissance. The Ukraine Donor Platform, the club of major donor countries that have joined to support reconstruction and recovery, must provide Ukraine with the steady hand that sets the overarching framework for reconstruction, recovery, and Euro-Atlantic integration in a way that catalyzes private-sector investment.

The Biden administration has been clear: Our support for Ukraine’s economic recovery isn’t charity, but an investment in U.S. economic and national security interests. It is about realigning Ukraine’s economic future—including supply chains, trade routes, business practices, and the immense innovative talent of the Ukrainian people—toward the EU, the United States, and global markets. Ukraine’s success will have a tangible impact on the United States’ bottom line.

Putin’s war is about reconstituting a dictatorial, corrupt empire that seeks to undermine the shared values of the United States and its partners in NATO, the EU, and throughout the world. Friends and adversaries around the world are watching to see how the United States responds.

[lindsohalloran]

general information.

full name lindsay amos o’halloran

nicknames linds / uncle linds ( only by maisie )

age 41

date of birth may 1

place of birth elderslie, scotland

zodiac taurus sun cancer moon virgo rising

gender cis male

nationality scottish

religion raised catholic / non-practicing

orientation homosexual

physical attributes.

face claim richard madden

voice claim richard madden

height 5’10

weight 176 lbs

build athletic / muscular

exercise habits whenever possible but mostly circumstantial

allergies cats + nickel + medical adhesive

hair color dark copper with faint grey + a mallen streak at his hairline

hairstyle short

eye color blue

glasses/contacts no

dominant hand right

tattoos a small black orchid on his inner left bicep

scars too many to count

piercings none

jewelry/accessories garmin instinct 2x solar watch + dog tags

background information.

hometown elderslie, scotland

current residence new york, ny

spoken languages english / gaelic / spanish / belizean creole / igbo / hausa / yaruba / a few other languages very minimally

driver's license yes

occupation private security / previously scottish royal regiment

familial information.

relationship status single

mother eilidh o’halloran ( nee buchanan ) 

father graeme o’halloran 

siblings niamh o’halloran / sister + deceased

other maisie o’halloran / niece and current ward

children none

pets none

personality.

positive traits steadfast + astute + observant + loyal + selfless

negative traits guarded + overbearing + distrustful + suspicious

likes  earl grey + cutobrute + air-dried laundry + live music + runner’s highs

dislikes disorganization + rainy weather + selfishness + coffee + sunburn

moral alignment lawful good

mbti entj

Lindsay has always been private, especially when it comes to matters of his personal life, and the outbreak has only seemed to amplify this about him. In his prime, he was a skilled leader and communicator; his nearly two decades spent in service with the Scottish Royal Regiment have left him vigilant and selfless, always at the ready to keep a sharp out for the sake of those close to him, whether friends, family, or battalion. Professionally, he had a sternness about him that was not unkind, often softened by a quiet charisma and sudden and unexpected bouts of dry humor, and own his own time, he lived a life surrounded by vibrancy, more an observer than a participant. He’d frequent bustling bars and cafes and music venues, existing as a stoic fixture in the background, enjoying and observing with a simple smile twitching at his lips. He doesn’t take time for the simple pleasures anymore, and those glimpses of humor, of the lighthearted man he could have been, they’re rarer now than they ever have been.

supplies.

95-ltr. capacity tactical backpack / rucksack

first aid kit ( nearly empty )

two stainless steel water bottles

water purification tablets

utility knife / swiss army multi-tool

solar powered flashlight / power bank

hand-crank emergency radio

lighter / magnesium fire starter

signal mirror

tarp / rope

a children's sleeping bag

small plush rabbit

glock 17 + ammunition

machete + thigh holster

biography.

tw: brief mention of homophobia + abuse + drug use + death

From the outside looking in, the O’Halloran household is almost picturesque; with a modest but lovely two-story in the heart of Elderslie and two children, a son and a daughter, it would appear that Graeme and Eilidh have it all! Graeme has a government job that provides well enough that Eilidh can stay home and mind the house and the children. Lindsay Amos O’Halloran is younger than his sister Niamh by two years, but the pair are incredibly close; their father is strict — they’re mindful of their manners, their marks in school, for fear of his reaction if they don’t — and their mother is … well, Lindsay suspects she hasn’t been in her right mind in years. ❛ The pills will do that, ❜ Niamh tells him, ❛ numb you right up. ❜ She tells him this is why their mother never says anything. Lindsay expects all children must live like this — quiet, obedient. They protect each other, Lindsay and Niamh — best they can, at least. He walks her to class, she helps him with his coursework, and then they hide away in her bedroom and make up stories, elaborate tales of all the places they’ll go once they only get out of Elderslie.

To his credit, Lindsay does well to appease his father and keep relative peace in the house for many years. He learns when to mind his tongue, how to behave. If he yearns for approval, he quickly learns what it feels like to go without. Praise comes in the form of a quiet night — no shouting, no dishes thrown. He is careful to make no mistake significant enough to not be forgotten after his father’s spent a few long nights at the pub. Not until he turns fifteen. All his life, he’s been keeping it a secret; from his parents, his sister … sometimes it almost felt like he was keeping it from himself. For a while, it isn’t hard to keep it locked away; between school, church, and chores, he doesn’t have time for sinful thoughts. He can almost pretend …

His world ends on a brisk September afternoon at nearly three p.m. He’s sitting on his bed with Colin Bigbie from trigonometry, trying desperately to figure out how to calculate angles. And Colin’s tutoring him, which should be helping. It should, but Colin’s sitting so close Lindsay can smell his spearmint gum and he can’t stop looking at his lips, the way he grins around the eraser of a pencil. He still remembers the way his mother shrieks when she opens his bedroom door to find her son pinned under another boy in his own bed, a tangle of lips and limbs. ( How could he have let himself get carried away? How could he have let himself get caught? ) Colin has the common sense to scramble out of the house long before his father comes home. Lindsay is not so lucky. He has nowhere else to go.

Only a few months shy of his sixteenth birthday, Lindsay enlists in the Royal Regiment of Scotland. His mother nearly worries herself into an ulcer over the idea alone, but his father is supportive. Thinks it’s a ❛ wise move, ❜ in fact, that Lindsay could use the structure. She weeps over afternoon tea the day he brings home the forms, cannot even bear to look her husband in the eye as he fills them out. The more unpalatable truth need not be said aloud, for Lindsay already knows it in his heart — as far as Graeme O’Halloran is concerned, he no longer has a son, not in the eyes of God. Perhaps if he leaves now … learns what it means to really be a man, to bring his family respect in lieu of shame, of disappointment … well, perhaps he might return home to more welcoming arms.

This, Lindsay thinks as he packs a sparse duffel the night before he leaves for phase one training, that’s what he wants out of enlisting. He wants to feel like he belongs again. ( Has he ever? Has his father ever actually been proud? ) ❛ No but for christ’s sake, fuck ‘em all, Linds! Honestly! It’s all a bunch a’ shite, and anyway, you’ll always belong here with me,❜ comes a tearful reassurance from his sister over a shared rooftop cigarette the very same night, a possible last ditch effort at convincing him to stay. It doesn’t work! His mind is made up, and when she pinky swears that she gets it, that she understands and she could never hold it against him, Lindsay believes her. He cries when she hugs him goodbye the following morning. In spite of his best efforts, he cannot hide red eyes and mottled cheeks from his father as he climbs into the car. He says nothing, but Lindsay can feel his gaze; he cannot bring himself to meet it for the entirety of the six hour drive from Elderslie to Berkshire.

The Royal Military Academy Sandhurst provides twelve months of intensive training to all prospective young officers. Lindsay is desperate to succeed because, in his mind, there is no other option. He learns to operate on a strict schedule and quickly becomes regimented, disciplined. But Lindsay does not socialize with the other young men in his barracks. Many of them are quick to make friends — he sees them being raucous in the mess hall, hears them slagging off their superiors when they’re out of earshot — but Lindsay always keeps to himself. He never joins in. In his spare time, Lindsay pens letters. They’re mostly to Niamh. He tells her of his successes, embellishes his happiness in neat lines signed with love. The letters he receives back are the highlight of his time at the academy — they keep him going. Occasionally, he’ll write to his mother and father; to those letters, he hears nothing in return. his mother takes his phone calls on holidays — he expects that’s the only grace his father allows — but beyond that, they make no effort toward significant contact.

At least not until he graduates. They all show up, all three of them, but make no mistake it is not a grand affair. He knows from his sister’s letters things have not grown better in his absence but worse; his father’s temper flares and without Lindsay there to take the heat, his mother and sister suffer in his place. At dinner that evening, Niamh announces her plans to move overseas. She’s nearly twenty now, and after all, they’ve got relatives in America, distant cousins in New York, and she intends to relocate with their help. Her news doesn’t go over well; their father shouts, their mother wails, and when they leave, it is with the assurance that the entire lot of them are banned from what was Lindsay’s favorite Italian place in Berkshire for life. In the end, it doesn’t actually matter though, does it? He’s leaving again anyway.

Lindsay returns home for two weeks while he awaits his assignment. He helps Niamh pack and does his best to avoid conflict with their parents. When she leaves for New York, Lindsay is the one who takes the family car to drive her to the airport. ( He finds out that day that maybe he doesn’t know how to say goodbye to his sister without crying. Once can be written off as a fluke, but twice? ) He doesn’t know what to expect when he receives the call specifying the location of his first tour, but Lindsay can be certain that Belize does not even make the list. He didn’t even know they had anyone stationed in Belize. ( If he’s being honest, before he knows he’s going, Lindsay couldn’t have confidently pointed the country out on a map. ) Within seventy-two hours, he’s on a plane. Unlike with Niamh, when his parents leave him at the terminal, Lindsay sheds not a single tear. On the flight, he thinks of this mother’s outpouring of emotion and wonders if it’s sincere. Does she mourn the loss of both her children?

The stifling heat of the South American sun — surely impossibly the same sun that casts clouds over his village back home — fries pale, freckled skin within hours of landing, but Lindsay quickly learns that he enjoys the pain. It provides a welcome distraction. A lucky break, it would seem, because it is found here in no short supply. Tropical Environment Training, it’s called. Or, how to fight in the jungle! From dawn to dusk, he and his battalion trudge through gnarled, swampy undergrowth; they learn to camouflage themselves in the wild, how to use nature and the elements to their advantage. He learns to blink past the burn of sweat in his eyes, to claw his way forward when his limbs threaten to give out. His limits? Clearly he’s been underestimating them all his life! Out here in the harsh wild, nobody cares about his story, where he came from. Nobody cares who he loves. They only care that he can perform. Endure. It matters not who he is, only what he is capable of.

Belize teaches Lindsay O’Halloran that he is a very capable man.

When he first enlisted, it was without a clear, intentional path in mind; he’d known then that he wanted to serve his country, but he hadn’t the foggiest what he could even offer. would he be sent to kitchen duty or put on the frontlines? Were there even front lines? Six months after arriving in Belize, Lindsay completes his training. He’s adapted extraordinarily well to the environment; his superiors watch as he takes lead of his battalion, seizes control to lead his brothers- and sisters-in-arms to safety. He watches his team with the fierceness and precision of a hawk. When his entire battalion completes the program with flying colors, Lindsay is asked to remain in Belize. For someone so young, he displays potential. For the next ten years, Ladyville becomes his new home. He immerses himself in its culture just as much as its jungles; his accent twists the words in a funny sort of way, but he learns to speak spanish and Belizean creole. He drinks belikin and shares panades with locals. He becomes familiar with the forestry, teaches it to hundreds. And he writes to Niamh about all of it.

One day, when she writes back, Lindsay learns he’s an uncle. When his tour ends, he hops on the first plane he can catch to New York so he can meet his niece. Her name is Maisie O’Halloran and Lindsay is convinced he falls in love the second he holds her in his arms. He spends several weeks in the states with Niamh; he sleeps on her couch and spends day in and day out with her to make up for all the time they’ve lost. She tells him Maisie’s father isn’t in the picture, and Lindsay makes her pinky swear that she’s safe, that she’s okay. He wishes he could stay, but he’s given another assignment far too quickly. He tells himself he won’t cry this time when Niamh and Maisie leave him at the terminal, that he can keep it together. He can’t, and they’re both laughing through their tears as she makes him promise they’ll meet here again in a few years and he relents on one condition: she sends him weekly updates on Maisie in the meantime.

When he lands again, Lindsay is in Nigeria. He has been assigned to the UK’s permanent outpost Abuja to aid in the training of the Nigerian military. What he lacks in knowledge about the country and terrain, he makes up for in a passion for the sharing of knowledge, of valuable, life-saving skills. Hausa and Yaruba are more difficult to learn than spanish, he’ll admit, but he spends enough time there that he becomes at very least conversational in a few different local languages. When he returns to Elderslie after another six years, he does not sound the same and the streets no longer look like home. His country beckons him back before he can visit Niamh, but he promises soon. He still writes every chance he gets; she convinces him to start video calling because Maisie is talking more than ever. His parents don’t see their only grandchild, don’t get the privilege. He visits them once while he’s back on home soil. Once in two years. It’s tense. His mother doesn’t recognize him. His father shakes his hand.

It takes fifteen years, but Lindsay can finally feel the weakness in his grip.

Time slips through his fingers faster than Lindsay can stop it and before he knows it, the year is 2023. He’s back in Berkshire and, as it turns out, that little Italian restaurant? They don’t even remember him anymore. Lindsay is in his flat when he receives a phone call from an unrecognized number. It’s his cousins from New York, bearing news of his sister. Grave news. He can barely make out the details over the ringing in his ears the moment he realizes what they’re trying to say. ❛ …it was a break in … she’d just gotten back from work … didn’t even know she’d been struck …’m so sorry … ❜ And just like that, Lindsay O’Halloran’s whole world shatters.

By some grace of God, Maisie isn’t home when it happens. Their cousin had been watching her while Niamh was on shift, had just gone to take her back and opened the door when … ( oh, she saw it, the poor girl saw it! ) Lindsay requests immediate discharge and his years of dedicated service allow him to catch the next flight out of Heathrow to New York. He has to begin making arrangements. It takes six days to find a flat in the city and get Maisie moved into it; with his cousin minding her for a few hours, he packs up his sister’s apartment in a single night. Delicately, he tucks away years of memories into boxes — some he’s seen, many he’s missed out on. He does this alone, and he realizes a truth he’s known his entire life. He will always cry when he says goodbye to his sister. This night is no different. He weeps openly on the floor at the center of her apartment, surrounded by sweaters and pillows and photos — he cries for every little piece of her that he is forced to say goodbye to. His grief echoes off the walls. He gives so much that by the time they bury Niamh, Lindsay has no tears left to shed. He is exhausted. And for this, he is grateful. It allows him the ability to stay strong — he does not do well with emotion, but he knows how to push through fatigue. For Maisie, he will. From this day forward, his needs will forever take the back burner to hers. He is no father, but he will raise her the best he can. He owes as much to Niamh. 

To provide for them both, Lindsay secures a position at a private security company called Sentry Solutions. His extensive military and combat training make him the perfect fit for private security, and he finds that he approaches his new career with an inherent sort of dedication. Blame it on the guilt — he wasn’t there to protect his sister, couldn’t save her, but he’ll be damned if he can’t protect everybody else. Most of all, he intends to protect Maisie, to provide her with anything and everything she could ever possibly need and keep her safe. He wants to keep her happy, too, but he knows that’s a more difficult battle won. Though he could count the number of times he’d seen her face to face before moving to New York on one hand, they were hardly strangers; he used to call weekly at minimum to speak to her and her mum, often sent her gifts from Nigeria and then again from Berkshire. This does not make the process of familiarization any easier or less awkward, but Lindsay does his best and eventually, they fall into a routine. He learns what Frozen is and how to dutch braid hair. He wakes up early on Saturday mornings to make chocolate chip pancakes and commits the details of a traditional tea party menu to memory. Every Wednesday starts with a visit to Maisie’s grief counselor and always ends with gelato from the little Italian place on the corner of their block. After a few months, Lindsay starts to believe he can actually do this. That they both can.

And the moment Lindsay thinks he’s finally started to find his footing again, it’s as if the rug has been ripped from beneath his feet again. The world is ending. If it was dangerous to live in the city before, it begins to feel like a death sentence the moment he hears the news. He immediately begins formulating a plan. They need to get out of the city. The population is too dense, the layout of the city too labyrinthine to feel safe. He packs a bag and instructs Maisie to do the same. ❛ Only take what ye can carry, Mais, ❜ he says as if he’d not carry the moon on his back had she told him she wanted to take it along, ❛ only take what’s important. ❜ Her backpack is pink with faux-fur straps, stuffed with crayons and fruit snacks, plushes and photos of her mother; the matching sleeping bag is attached to his own rucksack. 

Lindsay expects it will take them some time to leave New York, but no amount of training or planning can prepare him for the chaos and bloodshed that ravage the streets. The streets are gridlocked but the cars are abandoned, some with windows smashed or doors left wide open. Driving out of the city is an impossibility, and every sidewalk, every building is like an active war zone. To think he'd been worried about the barricades. Moving through the city is slow. Every new street, every building promises new threats; if it's not the undead, it's the living trying to ransack them for supplies. Desperate people. Lindsay tries not to fault them ― fear can make people do all sorts of irrational things. He knows this. But if Maisie's safety is threatened, Lindsay does not hesitate to exterminate said threat, living or otherwise.

Distances Lindsay expects might take hours to cover instead take days. Weeks, even. Maisie is scared, confused, but she holds up better than he expects her to. He should've expected she'd be resilient like her mum. He keeps watch while she sleeps, operates on bare minimum and learns how to whittle his exhaustion into something functional and sharp under the cutting edge of adrenaline. He's never been in survival mode for this long. He thinks back to Belize, to the way the sun blistered his skin and the way his muscles screamed for mercy. He'd been able to push through it then for family who didn't give a damn about him, and he'll dig his heels in and survive this too. For Maisie.

When the snowstorm hits, they take shelter in an elementary school. It appears as though it had been used at some point in the recent past as a makeshift shelter, but aside from the biters that Lindsay methodically removes, it has been thoroughly abandoned. ( Some of the ones Lindsay exterminates, they look fresh. He does well not to dwell on this. ) The winter is long and cold and grueling but they survive. Lindsay is careful to ration what food he can scavenge from the cafeteria and, by some grace of God, it's enough to last the pair of them through the coldest months. He's grateful for the sense of familiarity the location provides Maisie; there are books and toys in the classrooms to keep her entertained and enriched. She has the chance to be a child and Lindsay finally has the chance to rest. At least for a little while. Come spring, they'll be getting out of this city.

Lindsay thinks so, anyway, but he's beginning to realize that what they say about the best laid plans of mice and men might actually be true. Maisie falls ill sometime in late February. It's not that he hasn't been keeping track of the passage of days, either, only that he doesn't know for sure when it actually begins. Her sniffles are easy enough to write off as a symptom of the colder weather, of course, but the cough is admittedly concerning. She seems unfazed, so he keeps an eye on it for a few days and intends to wait for it to resolve itself. Only it doesn't resolve itself. Maisie gets worse.

When the fever appears, Lindsay can no longer deny his concern or the way it steadily seems to morph into panic. He's never dealt with this before. He's only been responsible for her less than a year. There are no useful medications to be found in the nurse's office, nothing more than old antihistamines and cough drops in the desks. He's not familiar with this part of the city, and even after scoping from the rooftop, there's not a pharmacy in sight, not that he can tell. It isn't as if he can leave her, either, to go looking further, or even take her along in this condition, out of fear he'll come up empty-handed and make her feel worse in the process. But he's been surveilling the area, watching. He's seen survivors at the Wexley, coming and going. They must have supplies. It's a short enough distance that he could run it from the school even with his pack on his back and her in his arms, and, with no other options, that's precisely what Lindsay does.

[tecnoloy]

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[ourpendelleuchte]

The Florian Schulz Inas is a classical reading lamp. It is adjustable in height between 132 cm and 170 cm. The conical lamp shade of the Inas consists of beige silk being at the bottom 35 cm in diameter while the lamp base is 24 cm in diameter. The light intensity is controlled with the help of a dimmer attached to the supply line. Florian Schulz offers the Inas with the surfaces being either polished and lacquered brass, matt brushed and lacquered brass, nickel-plated brass, chrome-plated brass, brass burnished lacquered, brass dark burnished lacquered, copper-plated brass, brass nickel-plated lacquered, brass polished unlacquered, brass copper-plated matt brushed lacquered or matt brushed nickel-plated brass. The shade has a conical shape, on request it is also available in straight, cylindrical shape. In addition, the Inas sd floor lamp is available with a dimmer on the lamp rod.

[mechafinch]

gregposting #2

I'm back with more greg! I've made some major progress since last time.

Playing Nomifactory CEu. MV age, 54 hours playtime (9 hours since last gregpost)

First off, DML. I've expanded it to produce some resources in addition to power. It now produces iron, copper, nickel, redstone, sulfur, and tin. I had one of the fabricators producing lead for a while, but switched it to sulfur to support polyethylene.

Next, we have the PPC line. In order to keep up with the newly increased demand, it's been upgraded to MV (only the chemical reactor was MV originally), and it has a second furnace for glass. It's also been moved into a more permanant spot, inside the factory floor.

Finally, the huge progress: Automated polyethylene! It converts sugar, sulfur, and water into polyethylene. If I wanted to have the ethylene -> polyethylene chemical reactor running constantly, I would need 12 brewers and 15 electrolyzers. That's way too much, so I went with 3 and 4 respectively. It wasn't mentioned in the first gregpost, but the sugarcane farm that now supplies it is the stone brick thing hanging off the primitive blast furnaces.

With this setup, we're well on our way to HV! Next I'm going to be upgrading the EBF to dual MV input for stainless steel, then get my first batch of HV circuits done. They'll be used for an MV circuit assembler and then autocrafting patterns.

[amaiguri]

Zavlakya

Alright, today, you're getting THE MOST incoherent city-dump. Sorry. I could try to format this but like... energy. So this is just what I actually just wrote in my notes for New City November a few years back.

Here are the prompts:

Day #3: Resources in this city?

-Lots of water-based plants and woods like Salt Palms, Mallow, Sacred Feathers, Cherimanus, Witch's Hours, Olives, Seaweed

-Sulfur & Hot Springs

-Salt from the ocean

-Peat moss & coal

-Seahens/seacocks, Solbirds, Monk seals, sardines, frogs, solbirds, deer, goats, squat lobster

-Gold, minor amounts of silver and copper, nickel, aluminum

-Somenium is a type of silk that flows down through waterfalls and rivers nearly year round--but most prominently during the warming of spring. Somenium is extremely durable, holds and protects dyes from the sun, and is also very lightweight. Due the structure of the fibers, catches and holds Ysse--the extremely cold particles that makes up my magic. Somenium is produced by a specific kind of caddisfly on the Upper Contient. But the Aftokratorian scientists have not confirmed this specifically. Seeresses and illuminators have woven somenium into as many things as possible for forever in this town...

Day #5 Architecture:

The traditional Svanihk styles are not generally as advanced as those in Telethens--the architectural height of the world--but since the growth of this city was largely guided by Yeulia, they stand out sharply from other structures built at the same time period (I imagine this city was founded... oh... 200ish years ago?). The rooftops are typically mildly conical--inspired by their yurt-based roots. Blue-toned glass windows are a newer addition--but due to the humidity, they are typically left open anyway except in the winter. While moss definitely overgrows the buildings and trees, the people make a point of cleaning it off at least once a year to maintain the stonework set by their precious Seeress.

Day #6 --Governance Historically

In Svanihk culture, Tsars and their Tsarinas have ruled the land. (Tsars and tsarinas are essential landed nobility but without the gender roles found in the traditional meaning--Tsars are the rulers, tsarinas are the relatives) However, under the new-ish laws of the Aftokratoria over the last 70-odd years, the Tsars have progressively lost power in favor of elected officials.

Today, the Tsars and Tsarinas in this city have say in government through monetary means and land-ownership. While some senators, particularly those in Telethens such as Senator Diacaius and ex-Senator Tarchus, are very pro-wealth redistribution, traditionalists and the Senate at large oppose the motion to simply "steal" wealth from the rich and give it to "random people for no reason".

The Seeresses of Telethens also have quite a bit of say over laws as well--seeing as they control large swaths of the airship supply in this city. If Yeulia ever arrives in town, her word becomes law unofficially.

And lastly, the head elected official is the Governor. The Governor is supposed to be in charge of enacting the people's will, and then will appoint everyone else they want in the government. They are reelected every year at the end of Spring--at the beginning of the safest travel season. There are no term limits. Their power is quite broad, as they can set taxes, laws, and such as they please within the city HOWEVER anything they do can be vetoed by the Senate or the Philosopher King or angry mobs. The Governor of this city in particular is known for being pretty in-line with the desires of the Senate and the local Tsar and Tsarina

Day #7--Most Famous Person

I already told you about the Seeress and the Stonemason (whom I'm officially naming Somenia and now the city's silk is named after Yeulia's lover). I have decided to name the city Zavlakya and the reigning Tsar family, Ivodra. But today, let me tell you about a more modern famous person: The elected Senate representative of Zavlakya is a Telethenian (pale skinned, pale haired) girl named Pythas.

Senator Pythas has basically formalized the theory of modern mathematics. Born to a rich shipwright family, Pythas was tutored alongside an Ivodra family Tsarina. Pythas was always very shy but very intelligent. Her tutor always encouraged her to speak up, and thus the Tsarina got very jealous of her. As such, she decided not-to go into Philosophy at first--despite that being her passion. While working a terrible gig with long hours as a secretary at the Tsarina's shipmaking company, she discovered the Pythasian Theorem at age 17. She told the Tsarina who published the work and claimed the discovery as her own.

Pythas allowed it but secretly published her own, superior book titled the Symphony of the Planets--in which she not only demonstrated the Pythasian Theorem more clearly but used it to explain the movement of the stars at age 19. The Tsarina was furious and bitter and fired her, so Pythas had no choice but to pursue her dream as a Philosopher--standing on streetcorners and tutoring those who would listen. She was wildly courted by every shipwright company in town, thirsty to sponsor her, and even the Seeresses were impressed.

Gaining confidence and with the help of the Tsar himself, she ran for Senate which she won at age 24--5 years junior to Senator Imedea, the second Senator of Zavlakya

Day #8: What do people value?

In the Svanihk culture generally, people value humanity, life, and education. Telethenians (those from the Isle of Telethens and generally the group with more representation in the government) tend to value rationality, truth, and the acquisition and application of knowledge. Both cultures work well together in the Aftokratoria.

In Zavlakya specifically, they value truth and creation. The value of these things is largely due to their reliance on and prosperity from ships and their sails. However, more than anywhere else in the Svanihk cities, this leads to an emphasis on acquisition of wealth and prosperity.

Like everywhere in the Aftokratoria, it's a meritocracy of sorts but there is definitely more "merit" to being a shipwright or someone who makes physical things and less value on more abstract arts. Even Philosophers have less social clout here than elsewhere because their work is more abstract--with the exception of Senators Pythas and Imedea.

Day #10 - Transportation

While airships exist, they are basically all used by the military and the government with almost none available to the general public. Normal ships and fishing boats, on the otherhand, are far more commonly available to civilians--though the military is also responsible for building roads and running the mail and other major engineering feats and don't necessarily just fight things. Roads are, of course, the necessary precursor to easy carriage transportation. They use horses to pull their carriages.

The Aftokratoria is a largely Communist nation with universal basic income determined by one's job sector and government coordinated transportation. So most of this stuff is free. It's not like civilians can never ride on or fly airships--sometimes they do but it's usually through luck or circumstance.

DAY #11 Imports & Exports

Primary Imports:

Grains

Lumber

Dyes

Medicinal things

Ores & Metal

Golems Primary

Exports:

Sails

Ships (Air and Sea)

Sailors

Day #12: Art

Known primarily for weaving Somenium silk, different weaves and patterns have different meanings based in Svanihk fortune telling tradition. Often, the seeresses weave their memories and visions of the future into the fabric--and help sailors who visit the city to do the same.

Also, they also sing a lot of sea shanties, have an opera based on organs, singing, and street organs, and are the first city to paint primarily on canvas instead of wood. The Aftokratoria invented realism as a painting method and they primarily use turpentine and safflower oil

Day #14--Professions

People in Zavlakya are known for being sailors and shipwrights and then all the sub-categories of things that go into that--particularly engineers, carpenters, and sailweavers. Zavlakya is also known for having an especially safe place for women--especially women who have been hurt by sailors or have lost husbands--amongst the Seeresses at their city Shrine.

Day #15 -- Wealth Distribution

There is not that great of a wealth gap between the rich and the poor--though it still exists. 70-odd years or so ago, the first Telethenian-style elections were held in Zavlakya and at this time, Communism/government-imposed minimum wage took hold. However, part of getting the Tsars to cooperate was allowing them to keep all their wealth. That being said, there are very few who are overlooked by the system--the government accounts for all citizens except in case of clerical errors or other extreme circumstances. Crime is incredibly low because why would you steal if you can more or less have whatever you need at any time? That being said, not every citizen has the opportunity to make lavish donations to the government or the Ecclesia or own several acres of orchards or convince artists to make art specifically for them... Only the rich do.

Senator Diacaius Praefori and many citizens in Telethens are pro-wealth redistribution for the Tsars but the Tsars are not so inclined

Day 16--Current Affairs

The biggest current issue in the Public Discourse in Zavlakya is the kind of power we want our leaders--elected and not--to hold. Should our Senators really dictate the transition of conquered peoples into our rule? Should our Seeresses and Illuminators dictate our values or should our Philosophers and forward thinkers? Should the Philosopher King be able to blow up entire cities with her ring finger? These are all questions being discussed with poor Svanihk and Telethenian people being pro-Philosophers and pro-not-blowing up things while rich Svanihk people tend to be pro-Seeresses and pro-Conqueroring people. That being said, they really love the Philosopher King here, just think maybe she shouldn't have nuked an island out of existence...

Day 17 Zavlakya's Outsiders

Due to the production-focus of the culture, they often are competitive with outsiders and proud when they outdo the other cities who aren't competing with them. They're kinda like New Yorkers who are like "Oh, you haven't seen NEW YORK busy". The kind of people who have side hustles to their side hustles. The government might dictate what kind of raise they get, but it's also a moral obligation to work hard.

Also, Zavlakihks aren't a fan of sporty, countryside towns with lots of horses--they consider horse racing to be the biggest waste of time. You know, unlike boat races. Those are great and perfect and useful

Day 18: Outsiders' Opinions of the City

(Idk if these aspects are cohesive cuz I just made em up but I like it so far)  Most outsiders of the city see Zavlakyihks (as I realized it would be because they're NOT A ROMANCE LANGUAGE) as overly obsessed with their work and, in plays and such, those with Zavlakyihk accents frequently take on the "neglectful parent/spouse" stereotype.  They being said, Zavlakyihk Seeresses are also fetished in the whole western half of the Aftokratoria for being beautiful ladies high in the mountains and who weave silks. Due to their history as a women's shelter, these women are known for being especially chaste and uninterested in men. To win one's trust is a sign of incredible nobility. That being said, a majority of the Seeresses in Zavlakya are VERY VERY gay just because of the legends in the city. There's a general expectation in the city that young people will meet their SO and then do incredibly productive things together as a power couple. This Zavlakyihk Romance has also become a trope in Western art.

Day 19: What's currently threatening the city?

There's also an election in Spring in which the Tsar is running against both Imedea and Pythas. They are expected to win, but it would be a hit against the democracy of the Aftokratoria to have the  Svanihk elite win instead...

Day 20: Languages

In Zavlakya, they speak Svanihk and Telethenian.

Davyevi, minihk ken Belle ziri. Svan kevos'hi ziri.

Day 21: A Shop

Filia and Syeva's workshop is higher on the mountain, at the edge of the lake. The vaulted space is filled with elegant looms and more elegant voices. Filia sings and you can hear her high, sweet voice even down at the waterway below. Her singing is timed to the churning of machines and to the boiling pots of safflower, pomegranate, and mallowblooms. Syeva weaves and grinds. Filia pans for somenium and spins. Together, the Seeresses turn their creations into great sails and wings stretched across those thin, strong frames.

Belle's Note: I don't remember this at all lololol

Day 24: The City's Heart

Zavlakya is a city for the beautiful and the practical. The fast paced bustle is the Gem of the West, a haven of religion and industry. From the shipwrights and the trade port in the harbor to the weavers and spinners at the mountain lakes, water flows through the heart of Zavlakya. And the rising middle class here make the most of every drop. That is the essence of what Zavlakya is about

[ausetkmt]

World Indigenous leaders meeting this week at an annual UN summit have warned that the west’s climate strategy risks the exploitation of Indigenous territories, resources and people.

New and emerging threats about the transition to a greener economy, including mineral mining, were at the forefront of debate as hundreds of Indigenous chiefs, presidents, chairmen and delegates gathered at the 22nd United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

“It is common to hear the expression to ‘leave no one behind’. But perhaps those who are leading are not on the right path,” the forum’s chairman, Dario Mejía Montalvo, told delegates on Monday as the 12-day summit opened in New York in the first full convening since the pandemic outbreak.

The longtime advocacy group, Cultural Survival, in partnership with other organizations, highlighted how mining for minerals such as nickel, lithium, cobalt and copper – the resources needed to support products like electric car batteries – are presenting conflicts in tribal communities in the United States and around the world.

As countries scramble to uphold pledges to keep global warming to 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial levels by 2030, big business and government are latching on to environmentally driven projects such as mineral needs or wind power that are usurping the rights of Indigenous peoples – from the American south-west to the Arctic and the Serengeti in Africa.

Brian Mason, chairman of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes of the Duck Valley Indian reservation in Nevada said that the 70 or so lithium mining applications targeting Paiute lands have come without free, prior and informed consent – what is considered the cornerstone of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. He described the lithium extraction efforts as being on a “fast track” to supply the Biden administration’s net-zero strategy to create a domestic supply of EVs . “It’s kinda just being rammed down our throats,” he said. “At the cost of Indigenous peoples once again.”

Gunn-Britt Retter of the Saami Council, an organization representing the Sami peoples of Finland, Russia, Norway and Sweden, said she had been raising awareness about what she calls the “green colonialism” driving harmful sustainability projects on Sami and Indigenous lands. The most recent example has been the Fosen onshore windfarm that was built despite a supreme court ruling in Norway in defense of Sami reindeer herding grounds.

“They look to us to carry the heaviest burden and it’s a disproportionate part of the burden,” she said of Indigenous peoples caught in the middle of a climate conundrum. “We need to reduce CO2 emissions globally, and we need to seek alternative energy sources, but we also need to protect the Indigenous cultures because we are the guardians of nature, which is part of the solution.”

Mejía Montalvo, who belongs to the Zenú peoples of San Andrés Sotavento in Colombia, said global climate talks have failed to properly include Indigenous peoples, yet at the same time, such dialogue has relied on a well of Indigenous knowledge systems to imagine future climate goals. “The issue of climate change and biodiversity cannot be resolved without the real and effective participation of Indigenous peoples.”

He urged the 193 member states affiliated with the UN, as well as its international governing bodies, to set a quota for actions that guarantee Indigenous peoples can take part in decisions affecting our planet, and in a way that puts them “on equal footing” with states – meaning, voting power, which Indigenous peoples lack.

The most recent example of the disparity came last fall in the historic “loss and damage” fund for vulnerable countries reached at Cop27 in Egypt. Indigenous peoples lacked explicit reference in the agreement, despite many world leaders, including the US president, Joe Biden, acknowledging the importance of Indigenous peoples in mitigating and adapting to climate change.

But there has been progress. The rights-based Paris agreement within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the environmental treaty to combat the climate crisis – has provided a rare opportunity for formal Indigenous participation in the creation of the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples’ Platform (LCIPP). The constituent body held its first meeting as a recognized working group in 2019, and engaged in dialogue with the Cop presidency last year in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Of the short cast of international leaders who spoke at the start of the global event on Monday was the first ever appearance by a UN secretary general, António Guterres, at a permanent forum opening ceremony. Also present was Deb Haaland, US interior secretary and tribal citizen of the Pueblo of Laguna, who received a standing ovation following her remarks where she acknowledged a litany of historic injustices against Indigenous peoples and a collective need to heal, saying Indigenous peoples must be brought into the fold in global human rights decision-making.

Lahela Mattos of Ka’Lāhui Hawai’i and a representative of the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus, urged the permanent forum chair to work with UN agencies like the World Health Organization to develop and implement comprehensive policies to better protect the safety of Indigenous women and girls as a way to protect the planet. “The destruction of and violence committed against our Earth Mother perpetuates, violence against Indigenous peoples, specifically Indigenous women who are protectors and bearers of life on this planet.”

The recommendation regarding “environmental violence” on Indigenous women and girls was first featured in a recent human rights treaty body outcome and represents one of the first fundamental links between human rights abuses and environmental catastrophe – a connection that most stakeholders grappling with the climate crisis have yet to make.

“Let us not forget that climate is the language of Mother Earth,” said Mejía Montalvo.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

Germany looking to strike deal with Brazil on critical energy transition minerals

Germany is working to forge stronger trade relations with Brazil in order to increase investments in exploration and prospecting of minerals critical for the energy transition, especially lithium. 

“If we manage to guarantee that lithium is extracted and processed in Brazil, we will make [Western] production more independent, we will create jobs, added value, and that makes us less dependent [on China]," Annalena Baerbock, German minister of foreign affairs told reporters during a visit to Brazil. 

Brazil has been facing pressure not only from the European Union, but the US, Canada, Japan, South Korea, UK and others as they seek to find alternative mineral sources to China, which dominates supply chains of industrial components made with nickel, copper and lithium. 

Continue reading.

[tvccreator]

Replaying Subnautica - Have Some Tips

...I should be doing college work, yet here I am. o-o’

Oh, well.

SUBNAUTICA!!

I really love this game. It’s terrifying as all hell, but I love it so much. I haven’t really played through Below Zero due to being a goddamn coward, but I have put nearly 100 hours into OG Subnautica. Here are some little tips for anyone who maybe hasn’t played it in a long time or hasn’t played it at all but wants to later on. Here are Ellie’s Top 10 Tips for New/Returning Gamers Playing Subnautica.

1. Make fins and an oxygen tank as soon as feasibly possible and keep upgrading them when you can. You’re going to want that extra O2, and the fins, while not the best, can be upgraded to either Ultra Glide Fins or Swim Charge Fins - the latter being able to charge your electronic devices and the former being twice as fast as normal fins.

2. Harvest a lot of salt deposits and coral tube samples. While you can use salt to cure your food, I’d recommend saving it and making bleach out of it. While Bladderfish water gives you +20 to your fluid intake, bleach can make two water bottles that give +30 each. It’s a little thing, but one I find handy until you can make the Water Filtration system.

3. Use the vehicles and the Seaglide sparingly. Most of the enemies in Subnautica are attracted to lights, sound, or both, so moving through the water as silently as possible is key. Especially around the damn Reaper Leviathans.

4. Build bases in the different biomes. This one’s a given, but it helps to have a habitat at the ready in most biomes, especially ones that are deeper underwater. It’s a great storage place, you can fix up your vehicles if you have a Moonpool, and you can build things with a Fabricator if you need emergency supplies.

5. BEACONS. Those will be your best friend, so get the Beacon fragments as soon as possible. Believe me, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve lost my way trying to find the damn mushroom forests and, when I finally find it, I lose it almost immediately after. (My most recent escapade to find the mushroom forest ended up with me going right to the giant-ass gun island by accident. That was not fun for my heart when I started hearing Reapers and I immediately thought I had gone into the Dunes.) 

6. You can desensitize yourself to the Reapers’ roars. It’s been too long since I last played, so I have to get used to them again. However, it’s pretty easy to desensitize yourself. Go into a creative world, go build a base in a Reaper-infested area (I used the Crash Zone for mine, but I plan on using the Dunes next) and just sit down and watch the Reapers for a few minutes. The roaring will be really loud, but it will help you warm up to the Reapers so that way you don’t go into “deer in the headlights” mode when you hear one in a survival world.

7. Don’t be afraid to stock up on supplies. You will find that, as you get further into the game, some resources become pretty damn scarce, so make sure you stock up. Most common things to stock up on would be copper, cave sulfur, silver, diamonds, ion cubes (and tablets), nickel, table coral, and most types of growable flora. 

8. To quote Jacksepticeye: “Okay, do not tempt fate! Fate will come back and bite you in your hairy ass!” For God’s sake, if you see a hostile leviathan or any variation of hostile creature, do not approach them. Leave them the hell alone to do whatever they were doing beforehand. If you haven’t seen Jacksepticeye playing Subnautica, then go watch his playthroughs if you want - both the early release and the full playthrough. He tempts fate way too many times.

9. Stasis Rifle + Scanner + Survival Knife = Safety. Almost everyone who has played Subnautica knows this general rule, but I thought I’d still say it. The stasis rifle, when you get it, will be an absolute necessity if you want to go scan the more dangerous creatures of Subnautica, especially the hostile leviathans. Make sure to charge the blast all the way, then get in close as fast as possible if the shot connects and scan that fucker before the stasis field dissipates. Then, if you really need to, use the survival knife in tandem with the stasis rifle to kill the hostile creature if it still poses a threat.

And Number 10. Don’t be upset if you’re afraid. Believe me, that feeling is very normal. It’s alright to be scared of Subnautica, even if you’re not a thalassophobe. It’s supposed to unnerve you; it’s survival horror where you can’t really defend yourself against the threats. That’s the entire point of the game. I love the ocean, but even I’m terrified of going anywhere near the Reaper Leviathans and the Sea Dragons because of the threat they pose. A lot of people will say that there’s nothing to be scared of when you play the game for a long time, and sure, that may be true for some people, but it’s not true for everyone. Don’t be mad at yourself for getting spooked by a crashfish or by backing away when you see a crabsquid. You’re not alone.

[smmindustries]

MONEL 400 ROUND BARS IN AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS: A DEEP DIVE

Monel 400, an alloy composed primarily of nickel and copper, is renowned for its exceptional resistance to corrosion, especially in high-stress environments. It plays a pivotal role in various industries, including aerospace, due to its remarkable strength, durability, and resistance to seawater and acidic environments. At SMM Industries, we specialize in providing high-quality Monel 400 round bars, which are extensively used in aerospace applications, making them ideal for critical components in aircraft and space vehicles.

The aerospace industry demands materials that can withstand extreme conditions, including high temperatures, pressure, and corrosive environments. Monel 400 round bars meet these requirements with outstanding performance, offering high tensile strength and good weldability. This makes them suitable for manufacturing components such as valves, pumps, and high-performance fasteners used in aircraft engines and structural parts. The alloy’s resistance to saltwater corrosion also makes it a preferred choice for aerospace applications in coastal or marine environments.

Another key attribute of Monel 400 round bars is their ability to perform under extreme temperatures. The alloy can endure both cryogenic and high temperatures without compromising its structural integrity, ensuring reliability and safety in critical aerospace components. Additionally, its resistance to oxidation and scaling at elevated temperatures ensures that the material maintains its mechanical properties even in harsh conditions.

At SMM Industries, our Monel 400 round bars are meticulously crafted to meet the stringent standards of the aerospace industry. We ensure that our products undergo thorough testing for quality control, ensuring they are free from defects and meet the precise specifications required for aerospace applications. Whether it’s for turbine components, pressure vessels, or specialized aircraft parts, our Monel 400 round bars are the trusted solution for manufacturers and engineers looking for superior materials.

The use of Monel 400 in aerospace is not just limited to its mechanical properties. The alloy’s ability to withstand corrosive gases, including sulfur and carbon dioxide, ensures longevity and performance in aircraft systems exposed to the atmosphere. This makes Monel 400 round bars an indispensable part of the aerospace supply chain, particularly in parts exposed to the harsh conditions of flight.

In conclusion, Monel 400 round bars continue to be an essential material in aerospace applications, offering unmatched corrosion resistance, mechanical strength, and performance under extreme conditions. SMM Industries is proud to supply these high-quality round bars, providing aerospace engineers and manufacturers with the material needed for precision-engineered components that meet the most demanding specifications.

For more information on our Monel 400 round bars and their applications in aerospace, feel free to contact SMM Industries today!

To Know More   https://www.smmindustriesllp.com/monel-400-round-bar/

[batteryrecyclingcompany]

The Future of Lithium-Ion Battery Recycling and Second-Life Applications: A Sustainable Path Forward for EVs and Energy Storage

As the world accelerates its transition to renewable energy, lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have emerged as the powerhouse behind electric vehicles (EVs), smartphones, laptops, and large-scale energy storage systems. However, the rapid adoption of these batteries brings with it a pressing concern: the management of lithium-ion battery waste. As demand for EVs and battery-powered devices grows, so does the need for effective and sustainable lithium-ion battery waste management rules and advanced recycling technologies.

The Growing Demand and the Need for Recycling

With the global electric vehicle market expected to grow ten-fold over the next decade, the demand for lithium-ion batteries will only increase. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the battery market may expand dramatically, making recycling a critical component of the supply chain. By 2030, analysts predict that battery retirements could exceed 2 million metric tonnes annually, creating an urgent need for lithium-ion battery waste management rules that promote safe disposal, reuse, and material recovery.

This demand comes at a time when traditional mining of key minerals like lithium, nickel, and cobalt is struggling to keep up. Mining not only depletes valuable local water resources but also leads to pollution and environmental degradation. The solution lies in closing the loop by turning to lithium-ion battery second-life applications and advancing recycling methods to reclaim valuable materials from spent batteries.

Closing the Loop: Lithium-Ion Battery Second-Life Applications

One promising strategy for handling used batteries is lithium-ion battery second-life applications. Once a battery reaches the end of its useful life in an EV, its still-functional components can serve a second purpose. Batteries that have degraded beyond optimal EV performance still retain significant capacity and can be repurposed for energy storage solutions. In fact, these second-life batteries have been deployed in solar energy systems, grid storage, and even off-grid applications. By repurposing batteries, we can extend their life by another 6 to 10 years, offering a sustainable solution to the growing need for energy storage.

These second-life applications are especially crucial in the context of integrating renewable energy sources. As solar and wind power are intermittent, energy storage is necessary to smooth the fluctuations in supply and demand. Repurposed EV batteries offer a cost-effective way to store this energy, allowing us to maximize the potential of green energy solutions.

The Future of Battery Recycling

Despite the promising potential of second-life applications, lithium-ion battery waste management rules must also evolve to ensure that when batteries can no longer be reused, they are disposed of or recycled efficiently. Pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical processes are currently used to extract valuable metals such as cobalt, nickel, and copper, but these methods are energy-intensive and come with environmental drawbacks. New innovations in direct recycling methods, such as those developed by researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, could help reduce the environmental footprint of recycling.

Their approach focuses on refurbishing the cathode—the most expensive component of the battery—rather than completely breaking down the entire battery. The result is a more efficient, environmentally friendly recycling process that preserves the quality of the cathode, leading to batteries that not only last longer but also charge faster.

As we continue to improve recycling technologies and regulatory frameworks, the recycling of critical materials like lithium, cobalt, and nickel will become increasingly profitable and environmentally sustainable. Recycling can reduce dependence on mining, which often involves exploitation of vulnerable communities, particularly in regions like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where over 60% of the world’s cobalt is sourced.

Policy and the Path to a Circular Economy

Governments play a key role in shaping the future of battery recycling. California, for example, is pushing for policies that ensure 100% of electric vehicle batteries are recycled or reused at the end of their life. Policy mechanisms like extended producer responsibility, deposit systems, and responsible sourcing can alleviate barriers to creating a sustainable, circular economy for lithium-ion batteries.

By investing in infrastructure and establishing robust lithium-ion battery waste management rules, we can create a sustainable and secure supply chain for the minerals required for future batteries. The role of policymakers will be crucial in ensuring that we not only reduce the environmental impact of used batteries but also create a more equitable system for all stakeholders involved.

Looking Ahead: Economic, Environmental, and Social Benefits

The benefits of recycling lithium-ion batteries are clear. Not only does it reduce the need for new mining, but it also lowers manufacturing costs by reusing critical minerals. This will help stabilize volatile commodity prices for materials like cobalt, nickel, and lithium, whose prices can fluctuate by as much as 300% annually.

Recycling also promises to have significant environmental benefits. By reducing the amount of battery waste going to landfills and recovering valuable materials, we can mitigate the pollution caused by discarded electronics and extend the life cycle of essential resources. Furthermore, it presents an opportunity to create jobs and stimulate economic growth in the burgeoning recycling sector.

The future of lithium-ion battery recycling is bright, and with the continued development of lithium-ion battery second-life applications and sustainable recycling methods, we are on the verge of a more sustainable, circular economy. With the right policies, technologies, and investments, we can ensure that the electrification of transportation and the storage of renewable energy will not only drive a cleaner future but also promote environmental and economic sustainability on a global scale.

Conclusion

As the demand for lithium-ion batteries grows, so too does the need for effective recycling and sustainable management of battery waste. By fostering the development of lithium-ion battery second-life applications and promoting robust lithium-ion battery waste management rules, we can move closer to a circular economy that benefits both the environment and the economy. The innovations in recycling technologies and the promising future of second-life battery applications hold great potential for creating a more sustainable energy future, one where used batteries continue to power our world long after their initial use.

Visit us at: Lithium-ion battery

Originally published on: Medium

[atplblog]

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[ourpendelleuchte]

The Florian Schulz Elas s table lamp is adjustable in height between 50 cm and 70 cm. The lamp shade is in contrast to the Elas made of beige silk. This shade is 28 cm in diameter at the bottom and 15 cm high. The lamp stand of the Elas s is 17 cm in diameter. The pull switch is attached to the socket. The table lamp can be dimmed via a dimmer on the supply line.

Florian Schulz offers the Elas s with the surfaces being either polished and lacquered brass, matt brushed and lacquered brass, nickel-plated brass, chrome-plated brass, brass burnished lacquered, brass dark burnished lacquered, copper-plated brass, brass nickel-plated lacquered, brass polished unlacquered, brass copper-plated matt brushed lacquered or matt brushed nickel-plated brass.