#Waterways Institute

[traveltash]

Technology and research on the canal

One of the more spectacular objects that can be seen while travelling on the Landwehrkanal is the Douglas C47 (military version of a DC3) mounted outside the Technik Museum. Together with the single blade of a wind turbine, it gives a taste of the exhibits housed on what had been the station for trains to Anhalt, the Anhalter Bahnhof. The aircraft is one of the many “Rosinenbomber” (raisin…

[dandelionsresilience]

Good News - June 8-14

Like these weekly compilations? Tip me at $Kaybarr1735! And if you tip me and give me a way to contact you, at the end of the month I'll send you a link to all of the articles I found but didn't use each week!

1. Rare foal born on estate for first time in 100 years

“The Food Museum at Abbot's Hall in Stowmarket, Suffolk, is home to a small number of Suffolk Punch horses - a breed considered critically endangered by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust. A female foal was born on Saturday and has been named Abbots Juno to honour the last horse born at the museum in 1924. [...] Juno is just one of 12 fillies born so far this year in the country and she could potentially help produce more of the breed in the future.”

2. The cement that could turn your house into a giant battery

“[Scientists] at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have found a way of creating an energy storage device known as a supercapacitor from three basic, cheap materials – water, cement and a soot-like substance called carbon black. [... Supercapacitators] can charge much more quickly than a lithium ion battery and don't suffer from the same levels of degradation in performance. [... Future applications of this concrete might include] roads that store solar energy and then release it to recharge electric cars wirelessly as they drive along a road [... and] energy-storing foundations of houses.”

3. New road lights, fewer dead insects—insect-friendly lighting successfully tested

“Tailored and shielded road lights make the light source almost invisible outside the illuminated area and significantly reduces the lethal attraction for flying insects in different environments. [...] The new LED luminaires deliver more focused light, reduce spill light, and are shielded above and to the side to minimize light pollution. [... In contrast,] dimming the conventional lights by a factor of 5 had no significant effect on insect attraction.”

4. When LGBTQ health is at stake, patient navigators are ready to help

“[S]ome health care systems have begun to offer guides, or navigators, to get people the help they need. [... W]hether they're just looking for a new doctor or taking the first step toward getting gender-affirming care, "a lot of our patients really benefit from having someone like me who is there to make sure that they are getting connected with a person who is immediately going to provide a safe environment for them." [... A navigator] also connects people with LGBTQ community organizations, social groups and peer support groups.”

5. Tech company to help tackle invasive plant species

“Himalayan balsam has very sugary nectar which tempts bees and other pollinators away from native plants, thereby preventing them from producing seed. It outcompetes native plant species for resources such as sunlight, space and nutrients. [...] The volunteer scheme is open to all GWT WilderGlos users who have a smartphone and can download the Crowdorsa app, where they can then earn up to 25p per square meter of Balsam removed.”

6. [Fish & Wildlife] Service Provides Over $14 Million to Benefit Local Communities, Clean Waterways and Recreational Boaters

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is distributing more than $14 million in Clean Vessel Act grants to improve water quality and increase opportunities for fishing, shellfish harvests and safe swimming in the nation’s waterways. By helping recreational boaters properly dispose of sewage, this year’s grants will improve conditions for local communities, wildlife and recreational boaters in 18 states and Guam.”

7. Bornean clouded leopard family filmed in wild for first time ever

“Camera traps in Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo have captured a Bornean clouded leopard mother and her two cubs wandering through a forest. It's the first time a family of these endangered leopards has been caught on camera in the wild, according [to] staff from the Orangutan Foundation who placed camera traps throughout the forest to learn more about the elusive species.”

8. Toy library helps parents save money 'and the planet'

“Started in 2015 by Annie Berry, South Bristol's toy library aims to reduce waste and allow more children access to more - and sometimes expensive - toys. [...] Ms Berry partnered with the St Philips recycling centre on a pilot project to rescue items back from landfill, bringing more toys into the library. [...] [P]eople use it to support the environment, take out toys that they might not have the space for at home or be able to afford, and allow children to pick non-gender specific toys.”

9. Chicago Receives $3M Grant to Inventory Its Trees and Create Plan to Manage City’s Urban Forest

“The Chicago Park District received a $1.48 million grant [“made available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act”] to complete a 100% inventory of its estimated 250,000 trees, develop an urban forestry management plan and plant 200 trees in disadvantaged areas with the highest need. As with the city, development of the management plan is expected to involve significant community input.”

10. Strong Public Support for Indigenous Co-Stewardship Plan for Bears Ears National Monument

“[The NFW has a] plan to collaboratively steward Bears Ears National Monument to safeguard wildlife, protect cultural resources, and better manage outdoor recreation. The plan was the result of a two-year collaboration among the five Tribes of the Bears Ears Inter-Tribal Coalition and upholds Tribal sovereignty, incorporates Traditional Ecological Knowledge, and responsibly manages the monument for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreation while ensuring the continued health of the ecosystem.”

June 1-7 news here | (all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.)

[reasonsforhope]

"Seven federal agencies are partnering to implement President Biden’s American Climate Corps, announcing this week they would work together to recruit 20,000 young Americans and fulfill the administration's vision for the new program. 

The goals spelled out in the memorandum of understanding include comprehensively tackling climate change, creating partnerships throughout various levels of government and the private sector, building a diverse corps and serving all American communities.

The agencies—which included the departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, Labor and Energy, as well the Environmental Protection Agency and AmeriCorps—also vowed to ensure a “range of compensation and benefits” that open the positions up to a wider array of individuals and to create pathways to “high-quality employment.”  

Leaders from each of the seven agencies will form an executive committee for the Climate Corps, which Biden established in September, that will coordinate efforts with an accompanying working group. They will create the standards for ACC programs, set compensation guidelines and minimum terms of service, develop recruitment strategies, launch a centralized website and establish performance goals and objectives. The ACC groups will, beginning in January, hold listening sessions with potential applicants, labor unions, state and local governments, educational institutions and other stakeholders. 

The working group will also review all federal statutes and hiring authorities to remove any barriers to onboarding for the corps and standardize the practices across all participating agencies. Benefits for corps members will include housing, transportation, health care, child care, educational credit, scholarships and student loan forgiveness, stipends and non-financial services.

As part of the goal of the ACC, agencies will develop the corps so they can transition to “high-quality, family-sustaining careers with mobility potential” in the federal or other sectors. AmeriCorps CEO Michael Smith said the initiative would prepare young people for “good-paying union jobs.” 

Within three weeks of rolling out the ACC, EPA said more than 40,000 people—mostly in the 18-35 age range—expressed interest in joining the corps. The administration set an ambitious goal for getting the program underway, aiming to establish the corps’ first cohort in the summer of 2024. 

The corps members will work in roles related to ecosystem restoration and conservation, reforestation, waterway protection, recycling, energy conservation, clean energy deployment, disaster preparedness and recovery, fire resilience, resilient recreation infrastructure, research and outreach. The administration will look to ensure 40% of the climate-related investments flow to disadvantaged communities as part of its Justice40 initiative.  

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the MOU would allow the ACC to “work across the federal family” to push public projects focused on environmental justice and clean energy. 

“The Climate Corps represents a significant step forward in engaging and nurturing young leaders who are passionate about climate action, furthering our journey towards a sustainable and equitable future,” Regan said. 

The ACC’s executive committee will hold its first meeting within the next 30 days. It will draw support from a new climate hub within AmeriCorps, as well as any staffing the agency heads designate."

-via Government Executive, December 20, 2023

-

This news comes with your regularly scheduled reminder that WE GOT THE AMERICAN CLIMATE CORPS ESTABLISHED LAST YEAR and basically no one know about/remembers it!!! Also if you want more info about the Climate Corps, inc. how to join, you can sign up to get updates here.

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Week

🦾 - High-Five for Bionic Hand

1. Houston-area school district announces free breakfast and lunch for students

Pasadena ISD students will be getting free breakfast and lunch for the 2023-24 school year, per an announcement on the district's social media pages.

The 2023-24 free lunch program is thanks to a Community Eligibility Provision grant the district applied for last year. The CEP, which is distributed by the Department of Agriculture, is specially geared toward providing free meals for low-income students.

2. Dolphin and her baby rescued after being trapped in pond for 2 years

A pair of dolphins that spent nearly two years stuck in a Louisiana pond system are back at sea thanks to the help of several agencies and volunteers.

According to the Audubon Nature Institute, wildlife observers believe the mother dolphin and her baby were pushed into the pond system near Grand Isle, Louisiana, during Hurricane Ida in late August 2021.

3. Studies show that putting solar panels over waterways could boost clean energy and conserve water. The first U.S. pilot project is getting underway in California.

Some 8,000 miles of federally owned canals snake across the United States, channeling water to replenish crops, fuel hydropower plants and supply drinking water to rural communities. In the future, these narrow waterways could serve an additional role: as hubs of solar energy generation.

4. Gene therapy eyedrops restored a boy's sight. Similar treatments could help millions

Antonio was born with dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa, a rare genetic condition that causes blisters all over his body and in his eyes. But his skin improved when he joined a clinical trial to test the world’s first topical gene therapy.

The same therapy was applied to his eyes. Antonio, who’s been legally blind for much of his 14 years, can see again.

5. Scientists develop game-changing vaccine against Lyme disease ticks!

A major step in battling Lyme disease and other dangerous tick-borne viruses may have been taken as researchers announced they have developed a vaccine against the ticks themselves.

Rather than combatting the effects of the bacteria or microbe that causes Lyme disease, the vaccine targets the microbiota of the tick, according to a paper published in the journal Microbiota on Monday.

6. HIV Transmission Virtually Eliminated in Inner Sydney, Australia

Sydney may be the first city in the world to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030. Inner Sydney has reduced new HIV acquisitions by 88%, meaning it may be the first locality in the world to reach the UN target to end AIDS as a public health threat by 2030

7. New bionic hand allows amputees to control each finger with unprecedented accuracy

In a world first, surgeons and engineers have developed a new bionic hand that allows users with arm amputations to effortlessly control each finger as though it was their own body.

Successful testing of the bionic hand has already been conducted on a patient who lost his arm above the elbow.

----

That's it for this week :)

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[sadclowncentral]

How does one get into international regulation of new technologies, it sounds niche and interesting

its easy to get into quite honestly - pick a type of regulation (law/policy/diplomacy) and an emerging technology (AI/autonomous weapons/drones/space/Deep seabed mining) and find universities or Institutions with people researching the same combination. given that these fields are often small, they are really tight knit communities of mostly young people welcoming you with open arms!!

for me it's that i studied space law, worked for my national space agency in the diplomatic department and for the united nations, and now i am part of a research group trying to answer the headache of a question of what law applies when international satellite-based navigation systems provide wrong information on accident.

it's the coolest job in the world and i think everyone should come join me in the wonderful and anxiety inducing playground that is trying to get states to agree to solve future problems BEFORE someone needs to make an app monitoring waterways for the titanic. for example

[mindblowingscience]

Dyes widely used in the textile, food and pharmaceutical industries pose a pressing threat to plant, animal and human health, as well as natural environments around the world, a new study has found. Billions of tons of dye-containing wastewater enter water systems every year, and a group of researchers from the UK, China, Korea and Belgium say that new sustainable technologies including new membrane-based nano-scale filtration are needed to solve the issue, adding that legislation is needed to compel industrial producers to eliminate colorants before they reach public sewage systems or waterways. Published today in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, the study Environmental impacts and remediation of dye-containing wastewater was written by academics from the University of Bath, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, the Korea Institute of Energy Technology (KENTECH), and KU Leuven, Belgium. The research highlights that currently, up to 80% of dye-containing industrial wastewaters created in low- and middle-income countries are released untreated into waterways or used directly for irrigation. The authors say this poses a wide range of direct and indirect threats to human, animal and plant health

Continue Reading

[cognitivejustice]

In an innovative shift towards sustainable transportation, solar-powered boats are making silent voyages through Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest. This green initiative is spearheaded by Kara Solar, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the lives of the indigenous Achuar communities along the Wichimi River in eastern Ecuador.

Kara Solar’s initiative began under the vision of founder Oliver Utne, who recognized the potential for sustainable technology to preserve the Achuar’s territory and cultural heritage. After studying solar energy in the United States, Utne returned to Ecuador, partnering with academic institutions to develop effective electric propulsion systems for the Amazonian waterways.

The benefits of these solar boats are manifold. They travel at speeds up to 12 miles per hour and can cover distances up to 60 miles on a single charge, with the capability to recharge using onshore solar grids. These grids not only power the boats but also supply energy to local schools and community centers, fostering broader societal benefits.

[dailyanarchistposts]

I

“Today we are still preoccupied with creating gardens.Why? To not suffer from hunger. Because having rice, beans, fava beans, maize, peanut — then one can survive.” — Renato, of the Canela community[1]

“The development of what we know as agriculture was not an overnight phenomenon, but rather a several thousand year-long project. In some places in the world, the earliest stages of cultivation were never surpassed, and remain sustainable today. In many more places, the pressures of the global economy have corrupted these practices just in this last century. But in most of the world today, we are witnessing the full-blown colonization of native foodways, and a nearly complete dependence on western industrial practices. To trace this “biodevestation” directly back to cultivation itself, is to ignore the history of conquest and land displacement that pushed the food systems of subsistence cultures to the brink, where they now teeter on the edge of extinction.” — Witch Hazel, Against agriculture & in defense of cultivation

Situated in dense forests and savanna of the Brazilian state of Maranhão lives the indigenous Canela people. In the past they lived from hunting, gathering and gardening but starting from 200 years ago as they were pushed from their traditional territory as settler farmers occupied the land bit by bit. The lush forests are being replaced by industrial eucalyptus and soy plantations, and cattle ranches. They now inhabit an area 5 to 10 percent of their original territory. Traditionally the Canela travelled from place to place as the seasons changed but now adopt a more sedentary lifestyle living in bigger permanent villages. Although the Canela still depend on hunting and foraging they don’t have access to a big enough land base to cover all their needs so they increasingly depend on gardening to meet their needs.

For the Canela gardening is not just to meet their subsistence needs but also a means of resistance against being assimilated into the structures, networks, dependency and the institutional inequality of the Brazilian state, religious institutions, and multinational corporations who are constantly trying to infringe and occupy the Canela’s home.

Other threats to the Canelas way of life are from the environmental effects from the industrialized agriculture of soy and eucalyptus production that causes water depletion which exacerbates drought and soil erosion. The overuse of fertilizers and agrochemicals annihilates plant biodiversity and pollutes the local rivers and waterways with high levels of nitrogen and phosphorus which in turn causes algal blooms which can produce toxins that are harmful to animals and cause dead zones from the reduction of oxygen in the water starving fish and plants. So any flora or fauna living near a eucalyptus or soy plantation is at risk.

The Canela’s subsistence gardening approach is totally different from monocrop agriculture. They work with nature using a conscious ecological and more biodiverse method.Typically in agriculture only a small variety of cash crops are grown in large fields covering acres upon acres of land where in the Amazon large sections of jungle are destroyed. For the Canela gardners instead of being dependent on a small variety of cash crops they cultivate over 300 varieties of plants to meet their subsistence needs. Instead of using destructive hellish machines like bulldozers, ploughs, and combine harvesters they use a slash and burn method to clear small patches just enough for them to use and their tools consist of a digging stick and woven baskets. They only use the same garden for two years and then not use the same area for at least eight years to allow the forest to regrow and return fertility to the soil.

The Canela’s vast knowledge of plants helps them determine which ones make good companions that will help each other grow, which ones are natural repellents to predatory insects that will attack the plants, and which plants to grow which will attract beneficial insects such as pollinizers. And likewise their vast knowledge of soil helps them to consciously plant to suit the 10 different soil groups in their area which will help prevent soil erosion, nutrients depletion, and combat against other harmful effects that are typical of agriculture. Their focus is for caring for the well-being of local biodiversity and the nonhuman inhabitants.

The Canel don’t see themselves as farmers but parents looking after their plant kin viewing their saved seeds and cuttings as their babies and their growing crops as their infants, genuinely loving them in the same way as if they were their human children caring for the plants as the plants care for them. They view the environment as consisting of human and nonhuman “selves”, and gardening as caretaking for themselves and their plant and human families.

[simply-ivanka]

Germany Should Have Listened to Trump

Tuesday 2.27.2024 Wall Street Journal

By Walter Russell Mead

Trump was right about Berlin’s self-defense and risky energy dependence on Russia.

The lower house of Germany’s Parliament voted to legalize the recreational use of cannabis last week. It was a timely move. Germany’s leadership class is going to need all the mellow it can find in a world that isn’t going Germany’s way.

Russian advances in Ukraine and American paralysis over the next aid package are reinforcing the reality that Germany needs to defend itself but lacks the power to do so. So are developments in the Red Sea, where German manufacturers must cope with shipping delays as the Biden administration fails to keep the vital waterway clear.

Forget the 2% of gross domestic product that Germany has repeatedly promised and failed to spend on defense. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius shocked many observers this month when he said that in the new world situation, Germany may have to spend as much as 3.5% of GDP for defense.

The economic news is also grim. Last year Germany’s GDP shrank 0.3%, and last week the government slashed 2024 growth estimates to a pitiful 0.2%. Economists expect negative growth during the first quarter of 2024, placing the country in recession. The outlook for housing is bleak, with business confidence reaching all-time lows. The news in manufacturing is little better. This month the widely followed HCOB German Flash Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 46.1, the eighth month in a row that the index has pointed to decreasing economic activity.

Energy prices are a particular sore spot. The chemical giant BASF announced €1 billion in spending cuts in its German operations, blaming a mix of weak demand in the German market and “structurally higher energy prices.” Enormous U.S. subsidies under the so-called Inflation Reduction Act are leading German companies to look across the Atlantic.

Chinese competition is another massive worry. China long ago passed Germany as the world’s largest car producer. Increasingly, especially in electric vehicles, it is challenging Germany as both a low-cost and high-quality manufacturer. Beijing aims to marginalize German capital goods and automobile companies in China while Chinese exporters challenge German dominance in world markets.

With the associations representing the small and medium-size Mittelstand firms that make up the heart of the German economy warning in a rare joint open letter about Germany’s loss of competitiveness, Economy Minister Robert Habeck isn’t mincing words. The economy is in “rough waters.” The “competitiveness of Germany as an industrial location” is in doubt.

It isn’t all doom and gloom. The outlook for the service sector is brighter than for manufacturing, and as the Journal reported last week, the Ifo Institute’s business-climate index improved slightly this month. The best that can be said for the outlook? “The German economy is stabilizing at a low level,” according to Ifo’s president.

Meanwhile, Germany’s dysfunctional three-party coalition government is paralyzed by internal struggles. The largest party in the coalition, Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), is deeply divided over foreign policy, with many nostalgic for good relations with Russia and allergic to military spending. The SPD also wants Biden-like government spending initiatives to revive the German industrial machine and expand social benefits. The Greens, the next-largest party, are by German standards foreign-policy hawks but continue to press for a rapid energy transition that drives up costs for business and consumers. The third party in the coalition, the Free Democrats, wants to hold the line on government spending. As if this weren’t enough trouble, the conservative opposition parties have a blocking minority in Parliament’s upper house.

This is not where Germans thought they would be. Sixteen months ago, I visited Berlin and heard from a stream of government officials, think tankers and economists that everything was working fine. Russia was failing in Ukraine. The energy transition would boost German competitiveness and employment. Germany’s Mittelstand would handle anything China could throw at it.

Under the circumstances, it’s no surprise that antiestablishment parties are growing in Germany. The far right Alternative for Germany (AfD) currently has more support than any of the governing parties, with one recent poll showing the AfD at 19%, the Social Democrats at 14%, the Greens at 13%, and the Free Democrats at 4%.

The most bitter pill of all for Germany’s establishment may be the realization that on the most important issues facing Germany, Donald Trump was right where they were wrong. Getting in bed with Vladimir Putin for cheap energy was both foolish and deeply disloyal to the West. German defense policy was self-defeating and dangerous. China wasn’t a reliable partner.

“Ich bin ein Berliner,” was President John F. Kennedy’s message to Germany. If Donald Trump returns to the White House, his message will likely be “Das habe ich gleich gesagt,” or “I told you so.”

[marveltrumpshate]

Environment & Natural Disasters

As we've all noticed with increasing alarm, natural disasters are occurring with more violence and regularity. The following organizations focus on responding to the climate crisis and protecting the planet as well as groups impacted by climate issues.

For more information on donation methods and accepted currencies, please refer to our list of organizations page.

Clean Air Task Force

As we've seen for a long time now but especially this year with constant natural disasters and alarming news from all over the world, climate change is real and we need to do something about it. Over the past 25 years, CATF, a group of climate and energy experts who think outside the box to solve the climate crisis, has pushed for technology innovations, legal advocacy, research, and policy changes. Their goal is to achieve a zero-emissions, high-energy planet at an affordable cost.

Coalition for Rainforest Nations

Boasting a voluntary membership of over 50 rainforest nations, CORN provides a single voice to countries that didn’t cause the climate emergency but nevertheless feel the brunt of it daily. CORN originated the global conservation mechanism Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) to stop deforestation. REDD+ was successfully mandated in the Paris Climate Agreement (2015) and covers 90% of the world’s tropical rainforests.  

Good Food Institute 

Environmental advocates have long said that the use of animal proteins is one of the least sustainable parts of our food system and mass meat production and consumption put a large burden on the planet. GFI works to create sustainable food sources worldwide, specifically alternative protein sources such as plant-based, cultivated, and fermentation-derived meats. Through their innovation, scientific research, policy advocacy, and public and corporate education, they aim to mitigate the environmental impact of our food system, decrease the risk of zoonotic disease, and ultimately feed more people with fewer resources. 

International Rescue Committee 

Founded in 1933, the IRC is a long-standing trusted partner in supporting those whose lives have been upended by sudden violence, political or natural. They are no stranger to areas of disaster and conflict throughout the world as they currently work in 40 countries. The IRC provides emergency aid and long-term assistance, including refugee settlement, and focuses on health, education, economic well-being, empowerment, and safety. 

Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Odds are you’ve heard of MSF, the global organization that sends trained medical professionals to the places they’re needed most. MSF has been working globally for over 50 years, providing medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare—no matter what. They’re guided by principles of independence, impartiality, and neutrality to global political policies or movements. 

Oceana

Oceana is the largest international advocacy organization for ocean conservation. To protect and restore the world’s oceans, they campaign globally for policies that stop overfishing and plastic pollution, protect habitats and the climate, and increase biodiversity. Oceana conducts its own scientific research and expeditions, is engaged in grassroots activism, and is involved in recommending and supporting policies and litigation.

Waterkeeper Alliance

In 1966, this movement was started by a band of blue-collar fishermen pushing back against industrial polluters, and their tough spirit remains intact through the 300+ local community groups that make up the global Waterkeeper Alliance today. The Alliance works to ensure, preserve, and protect clean and abundant water for all people and creatures. Their programs are diverse, spanning from patrolling waterways against polluters to advocating for environmental laws in courtrooms and town halls and educating in classrooms.

World Central Kitchen

Started by Chef José Andrés, WCK makes sure that people are fed in the wake of humanitarian, climate, and community crises. Their programs advance human and environmental health, offer access to professional culinary training, create jobs, and improve food security. WCK also teaches food safety and cooking classes to native people who live where disasters have occurred, so they may open restaurants and support the local economy more permanently. You can follow where WCK is currently on the ground assisting and feeding people affected by natural and man-made crises here.

[quaintbuilds]

The Kingdom of Mossland

KoM 2-2 | Urban Development

The second major project of season 2 has been a rework of the city's borders and districts. This was a much needed change as the city had become quite cramped, but was still lacking several buildings that every city needs. (certain shops, services, and institutions)

What I consider to be the main entrance of the city received a complete make over, bringing the gate further out and adding a river and waterfalls to let me scratch the bridge building itch that every Minecrafter feels. Some of the buildings by this gate were moved to other areas of the city, and the Red Dragon Tavern was moved up with the gate so it would still be the first building encountered by anyone who entered the city. The mountain was also extended and a tunnel made to go to the ruined watchtower.

The other side of the city has become a completely new area. I turned the large chasm into a tunnel, which has added a considerable amount of building space. I also demolished the industrial district that I never got around to working on, and covered up the mineshaft. I am still not sure if I want a proper industrial area in this city, so I'm not sure what this area will be yet. New gates were built on this side of the city, and I am thinking about a really cool gate system for the waterway below this area, or even re-designing the drawbridge at the mouth of the river.

The pictures are roughly organized as before pictures on the left, and after pictures on the right. I am extremely pleased with how these reworks went and am looking forward to planning out some bigger buildings and exploring further changes to the city layout.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"According to Nietzsche, violence is inherent in the formation of society, a process he describes in terms uncannily similar to those of the Soviet project of re-forging:

The welding of a hitherto unchecked and shapeless populace into a firm form was not only instituted by an act of violence but also carried to its conclusion by nothing but acts of violence—that the oldest “state” thus appeared as a fearful tyranny, as an oppressive and remorseless machine, and went on working until this raw material of people and semi-animals was at last not only thoroughly kneaded and pliant but also formed.

Coupled with physical force (thousands of prisoners died in building a waterway that came to be known as the “road of bones”) was ideological force. As prisoners toiled at Belomor, the regime transmogrified their minds as well as their bodies. Imbedded in the ideals of the Russian Revolution was a sense of aggressive transformation, and the Bolsheviks sought to re-mold forcefully those not willing to submit to their worldview. According to Lenin, Marxism had “assimilated and refashioned everything of value in the more than two thousand years of the development of human thought and culture.” The Communist Party, in turn, served as the vanguard of the proletariat. Their task was to actively lead the workers and peasants to consciousness, to help them make the pilgrimage from darkness to light. Not only Belomor but the entire Soviet project is modeled off of the assumption that perekovka—the potential for human self-transformation—is possible. Marxism-Leninism particularly embraced this possibility, since peasants and workers had to become enlightened, class-conscious citizens in the absence of the full development of capitalism."

- Julie Draskoczy, Belomor: Criminality and Creativity in Stalin’s Gulag. Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2014. p. 28

[drysaladandketchup]

The Terror, The Franklin Expedition, and The Humanity Lost In Interpretation

I’ve seen one too many posts about The Franklin Expedition and The Terror with regards to colonialism and how the intentions of the British Empire at the time means that none of the characters---nor their real life inspirations---deserve sympathy or to be seen with even an ounce of kindness, and the way some folks talk about the men on these ships, real or fictional, really rubs me the wrong way.

These men were not martyrs. Of course not. The damage done by British colonialism is massive and far-reaching, to say the least, and very apparent in the show. It’s obvious in what the Tuunbaq represents and how it suffers more with each interaction with the crew right up to its death by their hands. It’s made apparent during Goodsir’s discussion with Silna about why they’re in the Arctic, framing the futility of their actions. It’s seen when people like Franklin or Dr. Stanley or Fitzjames, among others, turn their noses up at the Inuit people, their customs, or their knowledge, because of a perceived ‘superiority’ to those they deem as lesser. Hell, we see it plain as day when all these men are suffering and dying in a land they deem ‘savage’ and ‘inhospitable’, despite the fact that we see the Inuit people living and surviving just fine in that same land.

So of course I am not arguing the message about the damage done by imperialism and colonialism under the Empire. I’m not denying that their refusal to learn from the Inuit or past mistakes did not aid in their downfall.

However, where I start to get irked is when people talk about these men as if they were not human beings. All of them. As if they were an irredeemable hive mind of brutish men who were there for the sole purpose of doing harm. Which is simply not the case.

First and foremost, I think some people need to remember one very important thing: the Franklin Expedition was not in the Arctic for the purposes of settlement or assimilation. In fact, had all gone to plan, they had no intention of setting foot on land in the Arctic at all. Britain was a coloniser, yes, but this specific expedition was to find the Northwest Passage. A waterway through the ice, a faster route to the Pacific for the purposes of trade. This expedition wasn’t to set roots or colonise anything. I’m not saying that had they succeeded in finding a viable route, that it wouldn’t have led to more colonising of the Arctic, I just mean this group of men were not there for that. They were not there to claim and conquer people or land. They were literally just sailing ships through the ice. Were they doing it under the flag of the British Empire? Yes. Were they wholly unprepared for the environment? Undoubtedly. But ultimately this expedition was one of exploration, science, and cartography.

The British Empire colonised, exploited, and abused many countries around the world. Plenty of people at home believed in the rhetoric of the ‘white man’ as a superior race; the white Englishman, specifically. Religion had a strong grip on the population. Classism played a major role in many facets of life. Laws and rules and institutions sometimes reflected harmful values and beliefs. But that doesn’t mean every single living, breathing, thinking individual at the time believed it or subscribed to it or acted upon it. Often the worst rhetoric is the loudest remnant of its time, but it rarely paints a full picture. The darkest parts of our history often overtake other narratives.

People today have a plethora of thoughts and opinions, regardless of---and sometimes in oppositions to---their leaders and governance. Yet we forget that that was the same in the past. Individualism has always existed. Tolerance and empathy are not modern concepts. Who you are as a person is not inherently defined by where you were born. Can the tenants and teachings of where you grow up and those you grow up around affect you? Of course. But people are fully capable of thinking for themselves, and changing. Growing.

What is often lost within the argument of whether or not to look at history through a modern lens, is that regardless, you cannot paint everyone with one brush. Few arguments are black and white, and never have been. History, and the people who came before us, were just as diverse, and fallible, capable of good and bad and everything in between. I find myself somewhat unnerved when we talk about people as if their very existence in a particular time or place is reason enough to denote their entire character or personality or intentions in life. Rather than just seeing them as people, living lives that were messy, fluid, complex, unique to them. It is a simple fact that we cannot hold every individual accountable for the actions of others or a group or a nation.

My point in all this with regards to the Franklin Expedition and the The Terror is that people who say ‘they were all there to do harm and therefore deserve no sympathy’ are missing a huge bit of forethought. As well as a bit of compassion, I think. Most of the men on those ships (aside from the officers and Marines, who were commissioned) were volunteers. But whether commissioned or volunteered, these men were sailors. They were there to do a job. I can guarantee that none of them signed onto this expedition thinking, ‘This sounds like a good opportunity to snatch up a chunk of land and kill a bunch of Indigenous people.’ It was simply sailing; it was how they made a living.

This expedition wasn’t ‘Manifest Destiny’, to use the American term. Find a passage to the Pacific, measure the magnetic readings to improve navigation, map as much of the still unmapped Arctic region as possible. Those were the goals. Nothing more. To the crews, it was to be a few years aboard a ship with good pay and a chance to see the world. Many likely thought it was an opportunity to be a part of what was to be an important voyage, which could earn them better standing within the Navy.

And again, I am not arguing the ultimately imperialistic intentions of the British Empire with regards to the potential results of this mission had it succeeded. I am simply saying that to vilify all 129 men aboard these ships simply for a job that, in this particular case, was not intended to do any harm to anyone, is extremely careless and misguided.

Hubris was a factor in their failure, undoubtedly. But even then, there were those on the Expedition who had traversed the Arctic and/or Antarctic before, like Crozier. They knew more than most what to expect. Of course it’s hard to say whether or not these men would have made changes to their approach or supplies or tactics had they the freedom to do so (after all, Franklin too had suffered terribly in the Arctic on a previous expedition, yet he seemed confident that nothing need change for them to survive this time around). But the fact is the rules and practices of the Empire and the Royal Navy were set in stone. In a sense, these men were also victims of their own Empire. That, and the reality that what ultimately sealed their fate was the unprecedented deep freeze during the winter of 1846 which trapped their ships.

And to the point I’ve seen people make about how the crews refused help from the Inuit: I will politely ask you to read some more books, or the oral accounts passed down by the Inuit themselves. The Franklin Expedition did have interactions with the Inuit. They did look for help once they were on foot. And by the accounts of the Inuit, help was offered. The issue wasn’t that the crews refused it, the issue was the Inuit simply did not have enough food or resources to support 100 men as well as their own community. And before someone interprets this the wrong way: no, I am not at all saying the Inuit caused the deaths of the crew who made it to land. It was a simple fact of life: the Inuit survive in the Arctic, yes, but it is still a harsh land where resources are scarce. You mind your supplies, every bit of food, every tool, every fur, every scrap of material. Nothing wasted. And you care for your community, your people. The crew sought help, and the Indigenous peoples offered what they could, but the situation was simply not ideal for anyone.

As an aside, I would like to point out that there are many cases throughout history where Europeans had normal, positive, and prosperous interactions with Indigenous peoples, not just in North America, but across the world. Not to say that makes up for the irreparable damage that’s been done to many of those same Indigenous cultures by colonialism and various Empires, I simply mean we need to remember that not every single moment in history is dark and dismal. You cannot assume some binary ‘good vs. evil’ when discussing someone or something simply because of who they are or where they came from.

But to my point with regards to the Franklin Expedition and The Terror: the Empire’s refusal to learn and adapt resulted in the loss of these men’s lives. But that should not translate into, ‘Every man on those ships deserved to suffer and die simply for being there.’ I think some people miss that side of The Terror as a show.

While it is clear in its message about colonialism and the worst things that people can do to survive, it is just as clear in its humanising of the men. It is just as clear that they were all people with lives and families, their own hopes and thoughts and wants and dreams. Men who could care and help each other as much as they could harm each other. This show is about people. About surviving. About suffering. It is a warning about hubris, but it is also a tale of humanity, and all the ways that manifests or withers. Good decisions are made, bad decisions are made, extreme decisions are made. Sometimes perspectives change, reasoning shifts, outcomes are different than expected. Because people are complex, diverse, fallible, ever-changing, imperfect.

So at the end of the day, talk your head off about the impact of imperialism and colonialism, both the messages from history and it’s message within the show. It’s very important.

But if you cannot also look at these men---their real life selves or their fictional counterparts---with even an ounce of sympathy, or empathy, then I genuinely fear how you treat people in the present, in the real world. Because if you believe death and suffering are ‘deserved’ as a solution to the world’s larger injustices (even by people who themselves are not committing those injustices, simply living under them), then you have condemned yourself to nihilism and a refusal to gauge human kindness and hope.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Bends of the Alabama River

An astronaut aboard the International Space Station shot this photo of large meanders of the Alabama River while orbiting over the southern United States. The river’s smooth water surface reflects sunlight back toward the astronaut’s camera, producing an optical phenomenon known as sunglint. When photographing Earth, astronauts often take advantage of sunglint’s tendency to increase the contrast between water surfaces and surrounding land surfaces.

The river’s large meander at the center of this image is known as Gee’s Bend, named after Joseph Gee, who founded a plantation there in 1816. The nearby community of Boykin (Gee’s Bend) has become known for its “vibrant folk art,” which since the early 2000s has resulted in major exhibitions in 12 of the largest art institutions in the United States.

The Alabama River flows southwest towards the Gulf of Mexico and connects with the Intracoastal Waterway along the Gulf Coast, which in turn allows barges to reach destinations in many parts of the United States. Damming of the Alabama River in the 1960s created Dannelly Reservoir, located 65 miles (100 kilometers) west-southwest of Montgomery, Alabama’s capital. Before the dam was built, the Alabama River was a comparatively narrow waterway, as seen on the far left of the image.

Construction of the dam raised water levels upriver. This resulted in flooding at several points along the river, such as Chilatchee Creek. These flooded zones are typical of floodplains—the low, flat areas immediately next to larger rivers. In this image, flooded zones appear as irregular, bright shapes extending away from the river. The widest flooded sector along the river appears in the area of Gee’s Bend southwest of Boykin.

Astronaut photograph ISS069-E-25553 was acquired on June 26, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 400 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by members of the Expedition 69 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Justin Wilkinson, Texas State University, Jacobs JETS Contract at NASA-JSC.

[fatehbaz]

“This makes me very happy, this is why we came down from the Sierra, to see the people celebrating the guáimaro tree,” says Orfelina Perez Restrepo, an Indigenous Yupa whose ancestral lands overlap with the lush valleys and rugged ridges of the Serranía del Perijá, a mountain range that runs along Colombia’s northeastern border with Venezuela.

Perez Restrepo has made the three-hour trek down the mountain [...] to attend the  Festival of Guáimaro in the bustling highway town of Becerril. Held annually for the past nine years, this all-day festivity is filled with dancing, games and even a cooking competition, all centered on guáimaro (Brosimum alicastrum), or the “tree of life,” according to the Yupa.

“We cook these nuts and eat them because they have high nutritional value and even help to heal from sicknesses,” Perez Restrepo says. Known as ramon or nuez Maya (Maya nut) in Mexico, and ojushte in El Salvador, guáimaro has been a dietary staple and source of natural  medicine for pre-Colombian societies in the tropical Americas for millennia. But in recent decades it’s become increasingly harder to find, according to Perez Restrepo

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The guáimaro tree is a keystone species of Colombia’s tropical dry forest, an incredibly biodiverse ecosystem with species adapted to surviving long dry spells between rainy seasons. The tropical dry forest is located predominantly along and near the country’s Caribbean coast, but is also found further south in smaller, disconnected patches.

One of Colombia’s most threatened ecosystems according to the Humboldt Institute, the tropical dry forests are home to more than 2,600 species of plants, 230 species of birds, and 60 mammal species. The latter include seven species of primates, including the critically endangered cotton-top tamarin (Saguinus oedipus), a squirrel-sized monkey with a thick white mane found only in a handful of patches of primary tropical dry forest in Colombia’s Caribbean region.

The guáimaro tree, which thrives along riverbanks, can grow to a height of 45 meters (150 feet) high, provides food and shelter for both humans and animals in the tropical dry forest, and helps fix the soil and protect waterways. But deforestation threatens the tree’s survival: about 65% of the cleared land within the dry tropical forest has become affected by desertification [...].

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But for Perez Restrepo, the Festival of Guáimaro brings hope that the forest is making a comeback. “We are making products from the forest like dulce de guáimaro, dulce de orejero, hummus de orejero, and marmalade of pineapple with camajón, all of which go deliciously on these breads and cookies made with guáimaro flour,” says Ana Flor Hernandez from behind one of the stalls at the festival. [...]

Tapping into a [...] bioregional culinary scene in Colombia, Tamandua now supplies several restaurants in the country’s capital with raw products like guáimaro flour. “We use guáimaro flour for everything, from crusts for chicken and meats, to flour to make empanadas, to dough for other baked goods, and even as colors and flavoring for things like ice cream,” says Eduardo Martinez, chef, agronomist and co-founder of [...] a [...] restaurant in Bogota’s [...] Chapinero Alto neighborhood. [...] “Our dominant forms of food production, both cattle grazing and monocultures, are destructive to our biodiversity and it is time that we address this,” [Felipe Garcia Cardona of Humboldt’s Biodiversity Sciences Program] says. In the case of guáimaro, almost every part of the tree can be used, Garcia Cardona tells Mongabay [...].

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Headline, images, captions, and all text by: Ocean Malandra. “Colombia’s ‘tree of life’ births a new culinary and conservation movement.” Mongabay. 23 January 2023. With photographs by Juan Carlos Valencia and Ocean Malandra. [Some paragraph breaks added by me.]

[noneatnonedotcom]

@suncrysthyper so with the modern set up of hyperboria being local republics federated into larger and larger citizen republics under the social and religious rule of the suncryst church with only warriors who've served their tour of service given franchisment, lets look at how industrial era institutions take hold and evolve towards more modern times. tax: with the publishing of progress and poverty by irishman Colm J. mac Kavanagh. in 1590 A.D the only tax is a land value tax based purely of of the price of the land itself and not any private property on it. this tax along with various terrifs on outside goods is more than enough to fund all government expenditure while still incentivising individuals to work harder and not taking away capital from people. furthermore what taxes do not get used are granted back to the people as a citizen's dividend. there are still rich people and poor but those who have fought for the empire will have not only their pensions but their citizen's dividend to pay for their needs after. and given the nature of the land value tax the various large landowners and incentivised to sell non productive land to citizens who will in turn develop it increasing the land value and thus the tax received. with the empire's continued defense of the republic of jerusilum there will always be a need for more warriors. "what is earned by the individual is given to them but what is earned by society is given back to society"

trade: free trade within the church is enforced but terrifs on other peoples like the french germans russians romans and Spanish ensure that internal development is encouraged rather than dependence on outside economies. unions: are allowed but they must be able to prove they actually work in the shops they are said to represent. banking: credit unions with members receiving dividends based on successful investments by the board. each ting-meet has it's own credit union which work together to form and fund the greater credit union of the kingdom which all work to form and fund the credit union of the empire. the stated goal of the imperial credit union is investment in the development of the empire's territory via industry and expansion of home ownership. political parties: there are only two, libritarians who argue that the government works best when not trying to insert itself into everyday life and focusing only on it's stated responcibilies, and the imperialists who feel that the empire has a responsibility to set up and protect suncryst republics across the globe in the same way the did with the americas. environmental protection: the church and royal family own certain areas in trust tax free that are basically national parks and have rules about pollution of waterways and air. since business men being rich grants them no greater power in the political system it's much easier to crack down on people who violate these regulations. meaning that the environment is far healthier in this industrial society than the environments of even the agrarian cities of medieval Europe their closest competitors. active wars: currently there's only one active war but it's one that seems to have no end in sight. the defense of Alexandria and jerusilum for the continuation of pigramages to these holy cities, though only jerusilum is a holy city for the church of suncryst the areas around these holy cities are under the rule of the republic of jerusilum a sister republic to the hyperborean empire. constant war is a result as the caliphates of the ottomans and and mamlukes have declared an eternal jihad against the empire and republic. the republic of constantinopal is also under the protection of the empire acting as a gateway into the black sea and it's trade. though the city itself is still greek orthodox. lemme know if you think of anything else that should be touched upon