#Noise Pollution laws

[lawzapo-legal]

Nuisance caused by steel factory by making intolerable noises of hammering and cutting affecting us mentally and physically?

You can file a civil suit for injunction and damages from noise pollution under specific relief act.

Tort law would also be applicable in your case.

Exact legal opinion can only be given after ascertaining exact facts.

Immediate relief in such cases is hard to come by.

Generally such factory owners are backed up political links through local politician who will make life difficult for anybody against their interests.

It has to be seen whether it actually amounts to public nuisance so that a public interest litigation can work.

Meanwhile, a legal notice can be sent to the factory owner asking him to abstain from creating noise pollution.

Also, a steel factory can not be set up in residential area.

So, you can lodge a complaint in Municipal Corporation of Delhi and residential welfare society.

Later, you can file a suit in the court against the same, as right to clean environment is a form of a fundamental right which is getting breached.

Section 40 in The Specific Relief Act, 1963 talks about damages in lieu of, or in addition to, injunction.

You can claim mandatory injunction under section 39 or perpetual injunction under section 38.

You may claim damages either in addition to, or in substitution for, such injunction and the court may, if it thinks fit, award such damages, as per section 40.

Reference Laws: Specific relief act

[neurotic-sinkhole]

oh boy another hermitcraft court case. watched it and my brain exploded like a cuboom firework. the things i've seen as a real life judicial aid and law school student will never compare to the trial.

so here is my analysis of said case:

- glad the judge kept the plaintiff going first! he is right, the defense doesnt know what case to argue against without knowing the case to begin with

- while i love the addition of a jury, typically juries are selected before either side makes a single argument. theres also a whole jury selection process that takes a while, but seeing how one side chose to not prepare anything (which is a real defense i've seen used in a real case before) maybe this was for the better lol

- also, to my knowledge most of the jury (in some way) was a part of the case - i mean the defense even brought this up. the jury was never going to be impartial. however, what confused me more was the usage of "hermitcraft" in the overarching hermitcraft v mumbo case. this verbiage implies not just beef or xb, but the whole server are claiming harm from mumbo's actions.

- furthermore, outside the courthouse there was a banner boasting "xb vs mumbo" but bdubs said "hermitcraft vs mumbo" so i'm going with the words of the judge and what would be on the theoretical court record. this continues to make me wonder what "hermitcraft" classifies as. is it a sovereign nation? is it a state? is it a confederacy of hermits? if hermitcraft, in this specific case, entailed the server as a nation then this should have been a criminal case.

- i need to stop thinking about this aspect of the case or else my brain will explode but i desperately hope for some case law defining this in the future.

- similar to the zombiecleo v docm77 case, defense's lack of witnessess was alarming. defense having only one witness in comparison to the plaintiff's three is severely unbalanced, it only gave the defense a third of the oppurtunity to prove mumbo's innocence (not that they were claiming mumbo didn't commit the actions accused of him)

- i appreciate the judge not allowing for party reps/witnesses to act as agents of the case (objecting, arguing, ect). when bdubs asked jevin where his bar card was i actually felt tears welling in my eyes from laughter.

- the plaintiff's case did a good job in throwing a lot of stuff at the defense. however, i feel they spread themselves too thin with having so many elements to the case (vandalism, noise pollution, enviromental pollution, lost wages, ect), and if they had focused on one or two aspects their case would have been much stronger

- specifically i think they should have focused on the enviromental damage perspective. the other "charges" focused too much on the social ramifications of actions taken by both mumbo and "hermitcraft"

- as for the defense, i think they could have completely gone with the defense of "freedom of expression".

- every single charge could have been easily knocked aside with this defense. it would play to bdubs' (american) brain's inherent obsession with freedom of speech, protest, assembly- just the first amendment overall. oh, the bricks? that was a protest. it is mumbo's right to protest against actions he does not agree with. the noise? the "toxic" enviroment? that's mumbo's expressed creative thoughts. it's his own individual style. he's expressing his own thoughts.

- i think the defense was right on about the train of the food prices too high, but they focused on it too much.

- i also appreciated their use of their singular witness in cub- it is absolutely right to point out there are no written peramiters for zones of builds and such.

overall i think this trial was slightly more on par with a traditional american trial than previous tall claims court cases!! i think bdubs' judgement was just. and most importantly, i can't wait for more cases to analyse (:

[flurmitcraff]

Half-Foods v Mumbo Jumbo:

Maybe I'm just odd but the whole suit against Mumbo is my favorite ongoing storyline and the one thing I'm most excited for.

Been keeping tabs on its development over the past month or so and what makes it so funny to me is that unlike the previous court case of Cleo v Doc where Cleo was completely innocent and Doc was cartoonishly guilty. BOTH sides of this court case are playing dirty or have ulterior motives for pursuing the case.

It started as a noise complaint and then an environmental pollution complaint and we've seen Mumbo be completely unapologetic, doubling down on the noise and ignoring the contamination. He's throwing bricks through windows! we all know this. His talk with Joel and Scar show he's not above bribery or obfuscating the truth to save his ass.

Meanwhile Xb's been doing everything to get his case going. Opening up customer surveys hoping that just maybe with a little promise of a discount you'll complain about Mumbo's shop? *wink wink*. He chose Doc of all people to be his lawyer, who from the get go saw this case as a way of getting revenge on the legal system for sending him to skyblock prison and (claims to have) just passed the bar in florida for this opportunity. He's determined not to lose this case and has considered planting tnt under the courthouse as a contingency. "If the law fails a baseball bat never does". Keralis is there too and he's in it for the money, which he needs so he can gamble at Doc's underground gambling den. Doc is their lawyer. This isn't a conflict of interests its a car pile-up of interests.

Joe wants to be Mumbo's lawyer (fingers crossed) and is possibly the only one who may be involved who is squeaky clean in this mess.

[leidensygdom]

Fighting AI and learning how to speak with your wallet

So, if you're a creative of any kind, chances are that you've been directly affected by the development of AI. If you aren't a creative but engage with art in any way, you may also be plenty aware of the harm caused by AI. And right now, it's more important than ever that you learn how to fight against it.

The situation is this: After a few years of stagnation on relevant stuff to invest to, AI came out. Techbros, people with far too much money trying to find the big next thing to invest in, cryptobros, all these people, flocked to it immediately. A lot of people are putting money in what they think to be the next breakthrough- And AI is, at its core, all about the money. You will get ads shoved in your fave about "invest in AI now!" in every place. You will get ads telling you to try subscription services for AI related stuff. Companies are trying to gauge how much they can depend on AI in order to fire their creatives. AI is opening the gates towards the biggest data laundering scheme there's been in ages. It is also used in order to justify taking all your personal information- Bypassing existing laws.

Many of them are currently bleeding investors' money though. Let it be through servers, through trying to buy the rights to scrape content from social media (incredibly illegal, btw), amidst many other things. A lot of the tech giants have also been investing in AI-related infrastructures (Microsoft, for example), and are desperate to justify these expenses. They're going over their budgets, they're ignoring their emissions plans (because it's very toxic to the environment), and they're trying to make ends meet to justify why they're using it. Surely, it will be worth it.

Now, here's where you can act: Speak with your wallet. They're going through a delicate moment (despite how much they try to pretend they aren't), and it's now your moment to act. A company used AI in any manner? Don't buy their products. Speak against them in social media. Make noise. It doesn't matter how small or how big. A videogame used AI voices? Don't buy the game. Try to get a refund if you did. Social media is scraping content for AI? Don't buy ads, don't buy their stupid blue checks, put adblock on, don't give them a cent. A film generated their poster with AI? Don't watch it. Don't engage with it. Your favourite creator has made AI music for their YT channel? Unsub, bring it up in social media, tell them directly WHY you aren't supporting. Your favourite browser is now integrating AI in your searches? Change browsers.

Let them know that the costs they cut through the use of AI don't justify how many customers they'd lose. Wizards of the Coast has been repeatedly trying to see how away they can get with the use of AI- It's only through consumer boycotting and massive social media noise that they've been forced to go back and hire actual artists to do that work.

The thing with AI- It doesn't benefit the consumer in any way. It's capitalism at its prime: Cut costs, no matter how much it impacts quality, no matter how inhumane it is, no matter how much it pollutes. AI searches are directly feeding you misinformation. ChatGPT is using your input to feed itself. Find a Discord server to talk with others about writing. Try starting art yourself, find other artists, join a community. If you can't, use the money you may be saving from boycotting AI shills to support a fellow creative- They need your help more than ever.

We're in a bit of a nebulous moment. Laws against AI are probably around the corner: A lot of AI companies are completely aware that they're going to crash if they're legally obliged to disclose the content they used to train their machines, because THEY KNOW it is stolen. Copyright is inherent to human created art: You don't need to even register it anywhere for it to be copyrighted. The moment YOU created it, YOU have the copyright to it. They can't just scrape social media because Meta or Twitter or whatever made a deal with OpenAI and others, because these companies DON'T own your work, they DON'T get to bypass your copyright.

And to make sure these laws get passed, it's important to keep the fight against AI. AI isn't offering you anything of use. It's just for the benefit of companies. Let it be known it isn't useful, and that people's work and livelihoods are far more important than letting tech giants save a few cents. Instead, they're trying to gauge how MUCH they can get away with. They know it goes against European GDPR laws, but they're going to try to strech what these mean and steal as much data up until clear ruling comes out.

The wonder about boycotts is that they don't even need you to do anything. In fact, it's about not doing some stuff. You don't need money to boycott- Just to be aware about where you put it. Changing habits is hard- People can't stop eating at Chick-fil-a no matter how much they use the money against the LGBTQ collective, but people NEED to learn how to do it. Now it's the perfect time to cancel a subscription, find an alternate plan to watching that one film and maybe joining a creative community yourself.

[dyaz-stories]

'You smell nice' — Day one of Inukag Fluff Week

Just a fun lil one-shot for day one of @inukagfluffweek! There is a hint of background SessKagu too because I love them.

Mild warning for Inuyasha's potty mouth and that should be it.

Public transportation was the bane of Inuyasha’s existence.

First of all, whichever human had come up with the idea that half the population would stuff themselves into tin cans to get themselves to and from places, following the same precise and regular schedules every single day, deserved a trip straight to hell. It was easily the dumbest fucking concept known to man, and no self-respecting demon would have agreed to it.

Then there was the fact that there were people everywhere on public transportation, and man, did Inuyasha hate people. Gross, stupid bastards with no self-awareness and no regard for others. There were the students who’d bump into you without even noticing, the women recounting their day far too loud over the phone, and, the worst of them all, the gaggle of salarymen drunk off their asses after some reunion at work. Those ones were rude, entitled, clumsy, and, what was by far the biggest offense, they fucking stank.

And that part was what took the public transport experience from shitty to downright awful. The smells. Inuyasha was no fan of cities in general, their pollution, the sheer amount of things everywhere, whether restaurants, stores, or, of course, public toilets, and, well, the people. It wasn’t always the lack of hygiene, though that was an issue for sure, but the sweat after a day of work, the deodorants, the perfumes, they all came together to produce the foulest of stenches. He hated it here.

The train veered sharply to the left, and Inuyasha tightened his hold on the overhead bar he favored using. Fewer human hands had grabbed it, and since his height meant he had no issue reaching for it, he preferred that to other solutions. In front of him, Kagome hadn’t been so lucky, standing right against the door with nothing to hold onto. With a squeak, she stumbled backwards on her kitten heels, her back colliding with Inuyasha’s broad chest — not that there was really anywhere else for her to go, with how tightly packed the train was.

His free hand closed around her hip, stabilizing her. It came naturally, just instinct, no need to think about it or how nicely her body slotted against his.

She tilted her head back, pretty eyes looking up to him pleadingly.

“Sorry, Inuyasha,” she apologized, lips forming a cute pout.

“You’re good,” he replied, voice gruff. He sent a nasty look to the man on her right, who’d bumped into her. People usually steered clear of him, so the closer she was to him, the better. “You’re getting off at the next stop, right?”

“Yeah,” she beamed, and as always, he marveled at how easy it seemed to be for her to smile and distance herself from the mess of the world around her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shut down the noises, the smells, the flashes of people’s screens — well, unless he had her to focus on. “I can’t wait to get home.” An eyeroll. “Today was the worst.”

A smirk tugged at his lips.

“Really? You didn’t enjoy Kagura making a scene?”

He knew he had. His sister-in-law was probably his favorite person in the family, actually, with his nieces a close second, and watching her strut into her asshole husband’s office to yell at him about him cancelling their anniversary dinner had absolutely made his day. They could never stay mad at each other very long, so he was sure a very expensive reconciliation was coming, but he’d had his fun for sure.

“No, I like Kagura,” Kagome replied. “But I got cornered by Hojo at the coffee machine and he wouldn’t stop talking about some miracle diet he thinks would cure my allergies and it took me forever to free myself.”

“Want me to do something about that? He never bothers me with that shit.”

“That’s because you terrify him,” she sighed, “so no, that’s not necessary, don’t—” Another turn, but this time he kept her pressed against him, clawed hand on her waist, and her voice barely wavered. “—worry about it. And thanks for that, Inuyasha.”

A knot formed in his throat at the way she leaned back into him without hesitation. He swallowed around it. Where most people cowered away from the hanyo, Kagome had never acted like he was a threat. Sometimes, he felt she was even a little too trusting. Made him feel and think all sorts of things he wasn’t very proud of.

“’s nothing.”

From how he stood behind her, he couldn’t help but catch her scent, especially when she moved and her hair were right under his nose.

And, fuck, she was a breath of fresh air. He’d known that from the first day she’d strolled into the office, of course, gust of wind blowing through the open door and sending her smell throughout the whole office. He didn’t know what it was, if it was the reiki he could guess at under her skin, that gave it such a pleasant flavor. Either way, it could become overwhelming even in the wide open space. Here, on the other hand, it was the perfect distraction against everything else, and it took more willpower than he’d like to admit to not just sniff at her.

“Everything okay?” she asked, catching him off guard, her big inquisitive eyes staring up at him.

“Yeah, it’s—” Damn it, he’d known she was always noticing things no one else cared about. “That’s— You smell nice,” he blurted out at last, and immediately, he wished he could slap himself in the face. What a fucking weirdo. Turned out, everyone who had told him his mouth was too big for his own good, usually before they got their asses handed to them, had been right. Couldn’t he have kept it shut this one damn time?

“Oh,” Kagome said, and her expression turned thoughtful. He waited for the inevitable judgment to fall down. “I read that demons often find perfumes difficult to deal with, so I haven’t worn any since getting hired at Taisho Inc. Is that really better for you?”

There was the knot again, but this time it wasn’t embarrassment, and rather another, deeper emotion. Of course she’d pay attention to that kind of stuff.

“Yeah, it is,” he answered, clearing his throat. “Makes it hard to be around too many people.”

“That’s good to know,” she said with a nod. “Let me know if I can do other things to help you, alright?”

He would not be telling her anything about the thoughts that were running through his mind at her proposal. Nuh-huh.

“That’s my stop,” she grinned up at him, grabbing the hand at her waist and squeezing it gently in hers. “Thank you again, Inuyasha. I’ll see you tomorrow!”

She waved at him, and a second later, she was lost in the crowd, and his world was just a little darker, duller, blander. He let his hand fall back to his side, flexing it reflexively as if to remember how it had felt, touching her.

Keh. He couldn’t believe she was making him look forward to another day in the office.

As a lot of you know, it's been ages since I last wrote for this pairing that's still near and dear to my heart, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Don't hesitate to scream at me about it in the tags, in the reblogs, in my askbox... anywhere your heart desires lol. Thank you for reading!

[sashannarcy]

hey, to any of my followers who live in the U.S., you've probably heard of the Supreme Court's overturning of Chevron deference - a 40-year precedent that delegated power to our various governmental agencies and allowed scientific experts to make the decisions on how to keep our water clean, our food safe, our environment free from pollution, etc. now, judges on courts have the power to decide these things, even though they are far from trained experts on the decisions they'll be making.

it's bad. it feels hopeless. you can help, though, by writing an email to your Congress representatives and urging them to do something about this, to legally hand power back to the experts. the National Wildlife Federation Action Fund has just launched a campaign that does the writing for you: all you have to do is enter your name, address, email, and phone number using the form found HERE. you don't have to donate, you can uncheck the box to become a member of the Fund if you don't want updates from them - all you have to do is enter your information and submit.

their goal is to get 10,000 emails sent out - please make some noise! share this, reblog this post, be loud!

[family-blug]

Fgggg

Emergency: Help Evacuate What's Left of My Family From the Gaza War Dear Humanity.🍉🚨🚨

Here is our story - On October 7, our lives changed forever, we witnessed the real tragedy, 45 days we lived in our house surrounding the Al-Shifa hospital Complex with terror and pain every day, new events, and the most heinous crimes were practiced, shooting everywhere, terrifying fire belts that continued for half an hour, the sky lit up red, bombing all the towers and bakeries surrounding us, and all the solar energy on the roofs of the buildings and electricity motors, bombing all the surrounding restaurants and practicing starvation as a weapon, cutting off water, cutting off all types of meat, cutting off communication and communication networks, rising prices. Two days passed and we were unable to obtain potable water, we were drinking polluted water, and after our insistence on not evacuating the house, my family was evacuated from the house under threat and force in the northern Gaza Strip in (Al-Wahda Street opposite Zahran Restaurant), hoping to return soon, but that was not intended. On the same day we left the house, we learned that the house that was once a fortress of hope, is now destroyed and unfit for habitation, but our leaving the house was The real supplication as my room was destroyed, bordered by the living room, which was completely destroyed by the force of the explosion, and all the shrapnel penetrated the walls, where my mother's room, the shrapnel penetrated the ceiling of the room and the missile fell on her bed, where we were with my grandmother hoping that the danger was far away, but we were not spared from the brutality of the occupation. The danger approached two days later, the night when Al-Shifa Hospital was invaded was screaming.

The sounds of bombing were everywhere, causing a loud noise that seemed to penetrate our souls. Each explosion shook the ground like earthquakes, sending waves of fear through our trembling bodies. The air smelled of destruction and blood, making it difficult to breathe. When dawn broke, we saw the destruction around us, and we realized that our home had now become a symbol of loss and despair. We were at my grandmother’s house, hearing the sounds of approaching vehicles and death surrounding us from every direction, telling us, “I am here.” It was a very terrifying night. Flare bombs were everywhere in the city. Everyone was targeted. The occupation was calling all our phones and ordering us to move to the southern part of the Strip, and that we were in a dangerous combat zone. It was sending messages: “You must leave your homes immediately and head south for your safety. You must not return to your homes until further notice, according to the Defense Forces.”

Since that time we left and did not return to our home. Everything was completely destroyed. I was separated from my fiancé and my brothers. My father was killed in this fierce war. Our souls ascended to heaven. I lost everything, all my belongings, my office and my laptop. I left our clothes. The house was destroyed by 80%. The furniture was completely destroyed. My bedroom was destroyed.

In the 3-storey building we had a group of shops for rent that have now been completely destroyed and everything has become ashes and we have no other livelihood

I have no income here, just tell me ، how to live!

Pleas if it is not donation, help me with areblog or like and thank you front the bottom of my heart.🍉

‏Iam Diaa‼️🚨

‏I graduated from the Faculty of Sharia Law at the Islamic University with a Master's degree and now I am a doctoral researcher. I was hoping to complete my doctorate degree which I registered for in Egypt, but I will not be able to complete it yet because of the poor internet network. The price of the crossing ticket is very expensive. I was working in a private company in Al-Galaa, but I lost my job since the beginning of the war because my workplace was destroyed. I also lost the family home and my future home which I have not yet celebrated with my fiancée, Lauren, unfortunately. Now I want to leave to complete my doctorate degree in law. I aspire to do so and I cannot sleep because I dream of completing it.

https://gofund.me/142cc793

‏Please help even if it's $10 it can make a difference and if not just share the post

‏Vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #218 )✅️

@90-ghost @sar-soor @sayruq @herecomesthementalmeltdown @words-of-emotion @sar-soor

[itsnotamatterofif]

Cast Recording thoughts that no one asked for!

It’s getting a solid 7/10 for me, and I don’t think it’s any of the actor’s faults. There’s just some strange editing choices that make absolutely no sense to me (freight into act 2 hydrogen with no coda being one of them), and the whole thing just sounds very… earnest? They sure are hitting every note perfectly, there’s just no riffs unless you’re greaseball or Momma, and I am thinking that it’s either a directing choice or just a general lack of confidence from brand new debuting cast. I wasn’t sure at first if this is just due to the improving quality of audio recording since 2009, but like, all the T’s are accentuated and half of the riffs sound like they were pre-agreed, there’s no room for the actors to show off if that makes sense.

There were a few songs that I didn’t like, (I’ll be honest Freight pales in comparison to previous freights, which is sad as a Hydra stan - he doesn’t even get his introduction!!!!) and there were some that smashed it out of the park, and I genuinely think all of the problems are just very strange creative decisions by a team who wanted to make something ‘new’ and ‘modern’ without quite understanding what that is outside of ditching a traditional pit orchestra. I’m a bit sad they don’t have any incidentals, but also that’s rare to find in cast recordings these days.

Outside of that, however, I think the actual singing is great and the cast do their damned best. I’ve never actually heard Jeevan as Rusty (I saw Scott when I saw it) so it was really nice to hear - he has such a good voice. Tom Pigram also comes across better on the recording - some of the megamixes have been DODGY on those top notes, but the recording was super good and I like the editing in AC/DC. The ethereal twink vibes are unreal, they’re giving those rich dudes on instagram who always brag about having £40 cups of tea or whatever.

I’m gonna do an under the cut with a thought on every song (I need to give the music student in me something to do every now and then)

Okay track list run down!

Overture/entry of trains: nothingburger song but otherwise a nice into, could have done with a bit of a break between the mum telling control off and then going into the song but whatever. Slightly strange no trains have nationalities but Greaseball is still the Union Pacific, however big up They/Them Orange Flash.

Rolling Stock: classic, love it, 10/10. We already knew this was a banger.

Crazy: we already knew this was a banger too. Jeevan’s Rusty is so sweet and determined. I don’t know if I prefer it over the doo-wap version from 2009 but it’s still good.

I Am Me: I still don’t actually know whether I like this song, but I also didn’t know whether I liked it in Bochum. It’s a bit generic and it think it’s a bit weird that they’re all like ‘yeah those engines can’t push us around!’ before being pushed around by the engines. I think I just miss A Whole Lotta Locomotion but I can understand why they cut it.

Whistle At Me: this is so sweet but so weird. Why is Rusty not allowed to whistle? Is it because of noise pollution laws? Cat calling allegory? Are steamers second class citizens and have to keep all proof they’re a steamer quiet? What’s the deal here. They’ll remove incidental speech that is essential to the story but keep in Pearl friendzoning him.

Freight is Great: UGH. Tassita is the highlight here honestly. It’s just so EMPTY, I guess that’s a constraint of just how few cast members can be on that stage without there being a health and safety shut down. I hate the chop into Hydrogen, it’s so horrible and janky and that’s not even where Hydrogen is in the show.

Hydrogen: breaks my heart to say it, but I never really liked Hydrogen. I don’t like environmentalist activism in shows since it’s never the audience who needs to hear it, and I find it funny that ALW wants to preach this now when he’s more than happy to take a private jet to a country he doesn’t live in to support a political party who doesn’t really care (ALW is Tory scum for those not in the UK). Jayden Vijn is a powerhouse both vocally and on stage though, and there’s more character in this song than there is in half the first act sooooo

AC/DC: actually a banger? I like the different approach to Electra, and I think the editing covers up for the fact that Pigram isn’t a belter. They did forget to introduce a component though which is just a hilarious oversight.

Pumping Iron: IMPECCABLE 10/10. No notes. Al Knott is amazing.

Make up My Heart: very sweet, very earnest. Montecillo’s Pearl seems to be very innocent, which is different. Can’t really go wrong with this one.

Momma’s Blues: mmmm Jade Marvin has such a nice voice, it takes her a line or two to get into it but once she’s into it it’s very nice and smooth. Classic song, really like it, Lumber’s interrupts however make absolutely no sense without the visuals.

Starlight Express: it’s the song!! Why did they change the melody oh my GOD- Jeevan sings it so nicely but I would give my right arm to hear him sing the traditional one.

UNCOUPLED: Eve Humphries is so so so good. The loss of the accent is worth mourning, but I’d rather she did it like this than put on a shit southern accent for the bit.

Wide Smile: not even gonna lie this is a JAM. Emily Martinez is such an underdog and she fucking went for it. Ending is a bit weird but I guess we can’t have everything.

The Races: I’m gonna include them as one since they’re functionally identical. It’s nice to have them in, I wish we could have had all four since I think the first one is actually race 1, 2, and 3 jammed together. I REALLY LIKE the chorus in the final race singing to get Rusty over the finish line, that’s such a sweet touch.

I am the Starlight: impeccable. This is one of those songs you have to get right and I think they both aced it. I think there’s room for both of them to be a bit more vocally adventurous, but it’s a solid performance, and it’s fantastic live which adds to my theory that they were all being held back by vocal direction.

One Rock N Roll Too Many: amazing, funny as fuck. Greasy’s and Electra’s ‘NO’ is amazing. 10/10.

I do: I feel a bit bad saying this is a bit generic, it’s a fantastic vocal performance, I just think next time you fall in love is much more theatrically interesting and gives some character depth. Pearl spends most of the musical not really giving a shit about Rusty so it’s suddenly a bit weird that she’s absolutely head over heads for him, and at least in Next Time she admits she liked him all along and just didn’t know it.

Light at the end of the Tunnel: classic and good, and I actually like the environmental changes here. Marvin shows again how strong of a singer she is and a good time is had all round.

Megamix: ELECTRA HIT THE NOTES YES LAD GET ON!!!!!! I have been listening to this on repeat for months on YouTube so it’s nice to have an official recording finally. Just an absolute tune.

Yeah anyway rant over feel free to disagree with me on most of this

[rosszulorzott]

To the European Commission, European Parliament and Council of the European Union

Petition

We need fossil free politics before it’s too late. If EU decision-makers really want to introduce policies that benefit people and the planet then they need to stop listening to the fossil fuel industry.

We the supporters of this petition demand institutions enforce a firewall between the fossil fuel industry and decision-makers: 

by ending decision-makers’ interactions with the industry (that means no lobby meetings, no seats on expert and advisory bodies)

by avoiding conflicts of interest for government officials and employees, including closing the “revolving door” between the public sector and the fossil fuel industry

by ending the preferential treatment of the fossil fuel industry in climate negotiations

and by rejecting partnerships and sponsorships with the fossil fuel industry

We need to cut fossil fuel interests out of politics.

Why is this important?

EU Commissioners and high-level officials meet with fossil fuel lobbyists almost every single day. [1]

Politicians are talking out of both sides of their mouth - promising us the ambitious climate laws we’ve fought for while having daily meetings with Big Oil and Gas. The EU even put an ex-Shell consultant in charge of their climate policies. [2] You couldn’t make this farce up. 

But we can break up this cosy relationship. These weeks will see the new ‘ministers’ called Commissioners for the EU nominated. Who is chosen for these powerful positions and who they’re friendly with, will determine how much fossil fuel lobbyists can pollute our plans to address climate change.

Conversations are underway right now over who gets the powerful Commissioner jobs. We want those writing the rules to know we are watching them. If we create a huge noise, it’ll rule out any politicians in the pocket of the fossil fuel industry. 

Add your voice for a strong firewall between the EU and the fossil fuel industry.

[conegestalt]

in the beginning, there was void. then, the cosmos invented carnage. amid the strife and rubble of the dawning twentieth century, one man rose above the clamor with a note so pure it echoes to this day throughout the industrialized world: the sublime Traffic Cone.

these illustrious animals have come to populate highways and parking lots across the globe. extremophile invertebrates subsisting via chemosynthesis of car exhaust and geek bar vapor, before the dawn of the cell phone these beings communicated via 5G signal but tragically the pollution of the airwaves has rendered them mute and isolated, lost in a sea of noise.

YOU can help! if you are so wise as to disregard the laws of colonial entities you could, in theory, rescue one of these glorious creatures from your local pothole or freshly-paved sidewalk tile. when enclosed in a secure Faraday cage and provided with enough dab fumes to synthesize fuel the cones will begin to emit a gentle orange glow not unlike a fading match. this is because they love you and you are their savior, but act with caution, because the bodies of these beasts are used for measures incredibly vital and practical for humankind, such as preventing a cybertruck from shutting down and locking its inhabitants inside it because it hit a ditch. many such cases.

[rjzimmerman]

Where Compassion and Conservation Meet. (Sierra Club)

Tango, a humpback whale calf, was killed by a ship strike off Juneau, Alaska. | Photo by Heidi Pearson

For 13 years, marine biologist Heidi Pearson has spent her summer weekends aboard a research vessel near her home in Juneau, Alaska—a long-lens, rapid-fire camera at the ready. The Iowa-born professor keeps tabs on humpback whales returning to their feeding grounds from Hawai‘i and Mexico. Her computer contains thousands of images of giant, dripping tails set against the backdrop of Sitka spruce and hemlock trees ringing Southeast Alaska’s bays.

Last summer, Pearson took pictures of things she didn’t want to see. A whale calf named Tango was swimming alongside his mother with bloody lacerations on his back from a ship strike. An adult named Manu was tangled in a crab pot. She spotted Herbert, another calf, trailing a jumble of twisted rope, making it hard for him to swim. Then, in August, Tango was struck again by a boat. His body washed up on a beach two days later with gruesome damage to his flank from the ship’s prow.

Pearson photographed Tango’s mother, Sasha, shortly after her calf’s death, feeding in her usual spots alone. “This summer has been a hard time to be a whale researcher in Juneau,” Pearson said at the time.

That expression of compassion reflects an ethos that some biologists are identifying as essential to their work. Known as compassionate conservation, the approach has a simple premise: It’s just as important to protect and live harmoniously with individual animals as it is to prevent the extinction of their species.

Compassionate conservation is not a new methodology, but it does differ from the established wisdom that drives most conservation efforts, according to Arian Wallach, an ecologist at Queensland University of Technology in Australia. Traditional conservation is focused on preventing extinction. If a species is not in danger, the thinking goes, then all is well. But for scientists like Wallach and Pearson, the well-being of individual animals, not just their species, is equally important. They argue that our ability to successfully protect a species hinges in part on our capacity to understand, relate to, and know individual animals and their stories. Humans, Wallach said, are naturally empathetic creatures. If we focus that empathy on the animals we study, we’ll learn more about their species and how to protect them.

This is not just sentimentality. Personal knowledge of particular whales, Pearson said, is essential to the study of behavioral ecology. Researchers need data on how a whale responds to its environment over time. After all, natural selection works at the individual level. Camera-trap images, cellphone videos, and GPS data from around the world make it easier to tune in to the lived experience of individual animals.

In addition to tracking humpbacks’ movements and behaviors, Pearson looks for underweight whales with their shoulder blades poking out. Climate change is altering the behavior and biology of prey, making it harder for whales to find the herring and krill that make up their diet. That’s one possible reason there’s been a spate of recent whale deaths up and down the Pacific coast.

Lawful commercial whaling ended with the International Whaling Commission (IWC) ban in 1986. But despite the ban and the decades of public affection showered on whales, humans have not stopped killing them. Ship strikes, fishing-gear entanglements, and noise pollution take the lives of thousands of marine mammals annually. Ropes and plastic webbing can tangle up and weigh down a whale to the point where it drowns or starves. The IWC estimates that fishing gear and other marine debris kill 300,000 whales and dolphins each year. As many as 20,000 are killed in collisions with boats.

[trekwiz]

I recently learned that Europe has laws against loud lawnmowers and similar lawn care products.

The manufacturers who make them in the US have production lines with quiet lawncare tools. ...they just don't sell them here because they don't have to.

🙃

Heard this from someone who toured a lawnmower facility. Found this source:

[scattered-sense]

Somewhat going against the whole faces theory I put forward, I guess this is what a face would look like on an F unit. I imagine the B unit is faceless, but does have intelligence and can talk with other engines via the MU cable. Or maybe it doesn't and it's just a regular, mundane piece of machinery.

Tennessee & Atlantic Railway really didn't buy that many diesels; in 1940, Charlotte, NC (followed by Asheville in 1946) banned steam and diesel workings within city limits for pollution reasons; so, many routes in the Appalachian Mountains that were already better suited to electrification were staffed by, initially, Baldwin-Westinghouse 2-C+C-2 boxcabs (pictured below in service with the NYNH&H):

and later on, in the 1950s through 1970s, by converted FTs, F2s, F7s, and English Electric-built units to the same design (but regauged) as the ones they built for Victorian Railways:

Until eventually they ended up buying EMD AEM-7s in 1986, having 98 delivered in 1987-93, which displaced their older units.

As such, diesels tended to be reserved for routes avoiding the Blue Ridge Mountains and western North Carolina in particular. Eventually, the cities lifted these laws, but not before the Tennessee & Atlantic was merged with two other neighboring railways into the North Carolina Western Group on January 1, 1968. T&A was the largest merging entity, and so the other railways' operations were restructured to fit theirs.

As for the lore of this/these engine(s) in particular, they're diesels reserved and painted for use with the Mockingbird, a Memphis-Nashville-Atlanta-Jacksonville train (continuing to Miami via SAL) that ran twice a day in both directions (four total), alongside 2A/B, 3A/B, and 4A/B. Built in 1946, F3 1A/B was delivered new to the T&A, where they (or she if we're going by only the A units being alive, which I will write as if is the case from here on) and their sisters started on fast agricultural freight while the steam engines rode out their last few years on the Mockingbird, gaining experience to ensure even higher passenger safety.

During one of these trips, on a stop at Atlanta coming from Jacksonville with Florida agriculture, 1A, or Margaret E. C. French, had a careless driver accidentally top her fuel tank off with water from a pipe still up for their steam; since 1B was still providing power they could still move at first but eventually, French had to stop after her engine block started making noise; the water bent her piston rods. A steam engine that had treated her with open disregard at the yard and 1B had to haul her train to Bowling Green, and her to repair shops in Chattanooga, TN.

Another notable incident happened on January 8, 1955, when 1A nearly collided with a slower passenger train, barely avoiding coupling at a speed difference of 30 mph, after noticing the train before her driver and warning him.

Eventually, on May 31, 1955, the Mockingbird's last steam-hauled trip (pulled by one of the company's many 4-8-4s, which they called "Generals" rather than "Northerns") reached Jacksonville and back, with engine changes at Atlanta, where 1A/B, freshly repainted in the red/maroon/silver scheme depicted at the top of the page (previously in the silver/maroon scheme depicted later down) began to pull the first northbound (train 10). They would handle this job, albiet not necessarily on the same timeslot, for roughly 45 years, before being replaced by custom SD60M-based units in 1999. Amtrak wouldn't take the train over until 2010, at which point, Amtrak's power replaced NCW's, and the SDP60Ms were sold to shortlines.

Generally, these trains had exceptional safety records, with fewer than 10 total incidents over the 1955-99 span. However, 3A/B taking train 14 did collide with the car of the Secretary of Transportation of Georgia in 1974, having left it after it stalled on the level crossing. Nobody was hurt, but train 14 did need to be towed to the station in downtown Atlanta, where the train was taken over by an SD40-2.

Based on Clarabel's face from Tramway Engines - Mavis.

[softle0]

People in my country are canceling an american girl because she was complaining about the “horrible sound” of a music box played in Mexico city which is part of our culture and she was calling this noise pollution. People were mad about this, cause one thing about Mexicans (or any country I’m sure) is that we’re very proud of our culture lol

People called her out and she didn’t give a fuck, she was joking around and said she didn’t regret anything about what she said. Someone also found her twitter account and she had a looooot of xenophobic tweets about Mexicans which made people get more angry about the situation.

This is a sensitive topic for us since gentrification is impacting our cities, is making locals to move out of their cities because it’s getting so expensive since our laws suck and there’s no one regulating the prices on everything, thing that is not really affecting to foreigners cause they be gaining in US dollars/euros and our Mexican peso is not as valuable. Another thing that makes us mad is that all this foreigners are always criticizing our culture, they don’t want to learn our language but get mad if people here don’t speak english, among other things that hurt us as locals.

Thankfully she got fired from her agency here in Mexico since she was being xenophobic towards Mexicans and she’s so cancelled at this point 🫠🫠

WHAT I DONT LIKE about this situation is that some people are using this as an excuse to be racists, since she’s a black girl. This makes me really mad cause MY BROTHER IN CHRIST YOU’RE LITERALLY BEING AS DISRESPECTFUL AND HORRIBLE AS HER. This is not an excuse to be a racist piece of shit, this is not a competition to decide who is more of an asshole. She did wrong and she’s paying the consequences by getting fired. That doesn’t mean you have to be racist towards her. This doesn’t mean you have the right to be an awful being as well. People like her and this racist motherfuckers are the ones that give bad reputation to entire countries. They’re just making things worst for everyone, it’s a shame and it’s very sad. I’m personally ashamed of this situation and I don’t share the same thoughts as them. They’re hurting our country with this kind of behavior. Ofc we don’t deserve the xenophobic comments but she totally don’t deserve racists comments…. Ugh, this is so mad. Why can people just shut the fuck up if they don’t have nothing good to say?? :( I’m soooo ashamed.

[vomitdodger]

Mayorkas admits, “There is presently an acute and immediate need to construct physical barriers and roads in the vicinity of the border of the United States in order to prevent unlawful entries into the United States in the project areas…” and in order to complete the project, the administration is waiving the following statutes for the entirety of the project:

National Environmental Policy Act

Endangered Species Act

Federal Water Pollution Control Act

National Historic Preservation Act

Migratory Bird Treaty Act

Migratory Bird Conservation Act

Archeological Resources Protection Act

Paleontological Resources Preservation Act

Noise Control Act

Solid Waste Disposal Act

Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act

Archaeological and Historic Preservation Act

Antiquities Act

Historic Sites, Buildings, and Antiquities Act

Farmland Protection Policy

National Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956

Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act

National Trails System Act

Administrative Procedure Act

Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act

American Indian Religious Freedom Act

Federal Land Policy and Management Act

The wall seems to be fairly important to permit the polluting of our environment, possible destruction of our historic sites and desecration of Native American Graves, and polluting of our waterways.

Im going to predict this section of wall is completely inconsequential in the grand scheme of things or useful for some other commie purpose. Including just a distraction. And in doing so they are violating 26 federal laws.

I don’t know if this was the same proposed location as “trumps wall” or if he would have needed to waive the same laws….but where’s the green agenda outrage in all this? Conveniently silent yet again of course.

[smolgaycat]

is it rude for people to watch videos in public on their phone with volume cause to me it is i absolutely hate it and then they will talk over the video they have on but it is the office, still i think their should be a law of public noise pollution basically just don’t be a dick in public