#coal shortage

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"FEAR COAL FAMINE; TRACTION COMPANY TO RESORT TO OIL," Vancouver Sun. October 9, 1912. Page 3. --- B. C. Electric Applies to City for Permission to Install Auxiliary Tanks on Main Street. --- MATTER IS URGENT, SAYS REPRESENTATIVE ---- Trouble Over the Connection of the Burnaby Line at Commercial Drive ---- Bearing out the reports printed exclusively in The Sun as to the possibility of a coal shortage in Vancouver unless a settlement be soon effected with the striking coal miners on Vancouver Island, the British Columbia Electric yesterday took action that indicates a fear that there will be a coal famine within the next few weeks which will seriously cripple their service. To meet this condition they petitioned the board of works for leave to lay a temporary siding on Union street, on which they could place oil tanks to supply their bollers with a portion of the fuel they require.

In a letter to the board Chief Engineer Conway of the B. C. Electric pointed out that if there was shortage of coal it would be absolutely necessary that they have some other means of keeping their boilers going.

City Engineer Fellowes was in sympathy with the request of the company, but the members of the committee refused to allow unprotected oil tanks on the street.

Might Burn False Creek. Ald. Baxter pointed out that if they should catch fire, the whole bed of False Creek would be in a blaze within a brief interval and half the property along the shore be destroyed.

A representative of the company who was present declared that the matter was urgent. The company wanted the tanks within the next week or fortnight, and could not wait to put in permanent tanks, as certain members of the committee proposed they should.

It was eventually decided that the company should be allowed to put in underground tanks, which would com- ply with the regulations of the Under- writers' association. The privilege is, however, only given for six months, and the tanks have to be so placed as not to interfere in any way with the traffic on the street.

B. C. E. Up Against It. Apparently the B. C. Electric company is up against it in the matter of making connections between the Burnaby line and the city service at Commercial drive.

Three years ago council gave the company permission to make a temporary connection, and now the B. C. E. want it to be made permanent. In a letter to the board of works they stated that an order for the connection had been made by the railway commission, but as the railway commission's jurisdiction ceases at the end of the Burnaby line's private right-of-way, it was evident, and the board satisfied itself that there was and could be no order regarding the Commercial drive connection.

Some of the members of the committee wished to give the company peremptory notice to take their curve out, but better counsels prevailed and finally it was decided that the engineer be asked to write and ascertain just what the company proposes to do. The feeling of the committee is that the company should find some other means of connection with the city.

Street Is Impassable. A deputation from Commercial drive asked the council to have the street made passable as soon as possible. They said that on their part of the street there were twenty-two stores vacated, simply because there was no access to them.

The city engineer placed the blame partly on the Bitulithic company. which has the contract for paving the street, and partly on the fact that material had to be found for other streets, where pavement had been begun first.

Several members of the deputation stated that the sidewalk facilities were even worse than the roadway. Many buildings have to be moved back, and in places there is not room for people to get into the shops. The matter will be taken up a once by the proper officials and all the relief possible given.

It will be two months, according to Chief Engineer Fellowes, before connection can be made between the sewerage system of Point Grey and that of Vancouver.

[wat3rm370n]

Massive power consuming data centers won't save us.

Massive data centers consuming large amounts of energy have eyes on South Dakota By Joshua Haiar, South Dakota Searchlight Route Fifty December 9, 2024 ‘Utilities are getting calls every week,’ state regulator says. “We’re talking loads that eclipse some of the largest cities in South Dakota,” he said. A single data center campus can require anywhere from 300 to 500 megawatts of electricity to operate. One megawatt can power hundreds of homes. By one estimate, there are over 1,000 hyperscalers worldwide, with the U.S. hosting just over half of them. Ryan Long, president of Xcel Energy, headquartered in Minneapolis, illustrated the extreme nature of the demand. “We now have, I would say, north of seven gigawatts of requests across the Xcel Energy footprint for data centers to locate in one of our eight states,” he said. “And I’ll be very frank that there’s no way that we’re going to be able to serve all of that in a reasonable amount of time.” Protecting existing customers from potential costs or energy shortages is another shared concern. Utility representatives emphasized the need for coal and natural gas to maintain a reliable “base load” when renewable sources like wind and solar are unavailable.

Tech is not saving us.

[just2bruce]

Red Sea ripples spread across trades

The repercussions of the Red Sea crisis have been longer-lasting and more severe than many shippers thought. Shippers expected delays proportional to the extra sailing time. They may have expected proportional cost increases as well. But they did not count on such factors as the extreme congestion in Singapore and in other ports. And in ports that have become pivotal, there are looming shortages…

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Grist:

Within weeks, the nation will deploy 9,000 people to begin restoring landscapes, erecting solar panels, and taking other steps to help guide the country toward a cleaner, greener future.

The first of those workers were inducted into the American Climate Corps on Tuesday during a virtual event from the White House. Their swearing-in marks another step forward for the Biden administration’s ambitious climate agenda. The program, which President Joe Biden announced within days of taking office in 2021, is a modern version of the Climate Conservation Corps, the New Deal-era project that put 3 million men to work planting trees and building national parks.

During the ceremony, the inaugural members of the corps promised to work “on behalf of our nation and planet, its people, and all its species, for the better future we hold within our sight.” 

The American Climate Corps was among the first things Biden announced as president, but it took a while to secure funding and get started. More than 20,000 young people are expected to join during the program’s first year, according to the White House, with new openings appearing on the American Climate Corps job site in the months ahead. The pay varies depending on the location and experience required, with open positions ranging from around $11 to $28 an hour.

The administration is promoting the corps as a way for young people to jump-start green careers. In April, the White House announced a partnership with TradesFutures, a nonprofit construction company, a sign that the program might help fill the country’s shortage of skilled workers who can help electrify everything. The White House will also place members in so-called “energy communities” like former coal-mining towns to help with environmental remediation and other projects.

“Whether it’s managing forests in the Pacific Northwest, deploying clean energy across the Southwest, or promoting sustainable farming practices throughout the heartland, the president’s American Climate Corps is providing thousands of young Americans with the skills and experience to advance a more sustainable, just tomorrow,” White House climate advisor Ali Zaidi said in a press release on Tuesday.

[iamthepulta]

I work in resources and can help! The transition from Mercantilism to Capitalism varies around the world. Mercantilism came before it. It's similar to capitalism, but much more state-centric. Raw materials were brought cheaply from out of state, often colonies, and then more expensive finished products were manufactured and sold to increase the (what now would be) GDP of the nation.

In Mexico and the Andes, Spanish merchants would often abandon poorly made trade goods, like breeches, jewelry, silk stockings, on natives' doorsteps, and then take by force the 'payment' they were owed. Donkeys, mules, llamas, money, weaving, cloth- anything of value. Colonies were the cheapest way to do this, obviously, because you often taxed the raw material going out (a tenth of silver went to the crown) along with the cost of mercury to produce the silver. And then money was made selling back to the colony.

So, very similar to capitalism with a working merchant-class, but primarily focused on raw goods and "mass produced" items were still hand-made and local.

The switch to capitalism happens when private owners begin to take control of production and work management. We can see this in England in the early-1800s when individual estate owners began to exploit the coal on their property: much more focused on bank loans, investment from other private funds, and depended on technology detaching manpower as the limiting factor of production. If we think of nitrates and gunpowder detaching the amount of people you can kill from the amount of people on either side of the battle, technology did this for production.

When you can create an unlimited number of bedsheets with mechanical looms, you're only limited by raw materials (cotton) and the number of looms you have. Which is why we see an explosion of exploitation for both people and materials.

I guess the TL;DR answer to the question is Neither. Capitalism is a fundamental transition of a state so that their production is only limited by raw materials extracted, and demand for the product.

Thus, improvements in capitalism = improvements in the removal of manpower as the limiting factor of production = increases in the amount of resources necessary to produce one item.

Question, since my knowledge is a bit more shaky in this area:

Would the emergence of 'capitalism' be more of a French Revolution thing (with the transition from a feudalistic to capitalist society), or would it come a bit later with Marx's and Engels popularization of the revolutionary stages of history? Or is it a bit of both/neither?

I’m gonna be honest, my expertise is the Pueblo II-IV periods in 900–1450 CE US Southwest, with some experience in 1800s New England and the Bronze Age Aegean. The emergence of capitalism is not my forte; I was counting the beginning of capitalism from the Industrial Revolution in the late 1700s. I now recognize that that’s a much more complicated question than I gave it credit for!

[yeoldenews]

Can you shed any light on how Santa came to give naughty children coal, when coal used to be a reasonably useful present?? I tried googling it but nothing that came up seemed researched better than folk wisdom, or modern-day people trying to make it make sense.

Considering that the holiday has come to dominate upwards of 1/12 of the cultural calendar every year in much of the world - there has been shockingly little academic research done on the history of Christmas and Christmas traditions. So unfortunately folk wisdom is kind of all we have on this subject.

Coal has long been associated with various cultural figures who fall under the "winter gift-bringer" archetype. The Italian witch-like figure Befana brings coal or ashes to bad children, and the Basque Olentzero was traditionally a charcoal burner by profession. However, as most folk-lore consists mainly of unwritten cultural tradition, it is very difficult to determine exactly when and how these figures developed, and what, if any, influence they had on one another.

(For the duration of this I'm going to dub any item brought by Santa as a punishment as an 'anti-gift' for a lack of a better term. Also, the following information is specific to the continental US, as that's the area I most focus on.)

To begin with - coal, in the anti-gift sense, does not necessarily refer to valuable high-grade anthracite. It could just as easily refer to low-grade industrial coal or even charcoal. It was also given in such small quantities (small enough to fit in a child's sock, as that's what stockings were originally) as to be worth almost nothing, no matter the quality.

I actually tend to agree with what most modern articles written on this subject theorize - which is that coal was just a conveniently located item that every household had. Stockings were traditionally hung on the mantle or around the stove, so the coal scuttle was right there for any disgruntled parents looking to punish their child's misbehavior.

This theory seems to be supported by other anti-gifts I've come across in Dear Santa letters which appear to be overwhelmingly fireplace related - ashes, sticks, sand (commonly used in fire buckets) and once even buffalo chips.

Ashes in particular were a very common anti-gift in much of the US in the late 19th/early 20th century. Though often the belief was that Santa would throw ashes in your eyes if you peek at him, rather than leave them in your stocking for bad behavior.

By far the most common non-fireplace-related anti-gift I come across in Dear Santa letters is switches (as in branches/rods used for corporal punishment). I've only done the scantest of formal documentation on the subject but, just given my general observations, - I'd say that switches were just as common of an anti-gift as coal, if not more so, up until the mid-20th century when corporal punishment/spanking began becoming less culturally acceptable. I have also noted that switches were noticeably more common in the Southern US, where it is not uncommon to see them mentioned in Dear Santa letters well into the 21st century (though my attempts to document any very recent data on this has been somewhat complicated by the introduction of the Nintendo Switch.)

Coal being a relatively useful and valuable item seems to have been a joke for as long as it has been a tradition, and it is not at all uncommon to see adults pointing out that fact - especially during strikes and shortages.

Even in times of scarcity, I suspect most stocking coal ended up right back in the coal bucket, as I can't imagine most children were interesting in keeping it - thus costing the parents (or Santa) absolutely nothing.

Was coal the traditional anti-gift where any of you grew up, or was it something else?

[octuscle]

Gold and coal

Johannes was a passionate influencer. When he felt like it. Actually, he only called himself an "influencer" because it sounded better than "slacker" or "professional son". He actually made a good living from his parents' money, which he spent at parties, shopping and traveling.

"So, what do you think of my cute new hat? I found it at this very cool market here in Ankara. It goes well with the necklace, doesn't it?" There were fewer likes on the picture than usual. Comments instead. Critical comments. Why he suddenly has such a beard. Johannes grabbed his chin. He had no beard, he had no beard growth at all. And he had carefully retouched the picture before posting it on Instagram. There had been no beard. But still: the photo above the caption clearly showed a beard…

He would have to deal with it later. Johannes had a full schedule. Working out at a gym, which surprisingly enough actually wanted to pay him, a visit to a Turkish bath and cocktails and dinner at a trendy rooftop bar in the evening. Even though Johannes was a hedonist, he was usually well organized and punctual. But at the gym, his schedule started to slip. He trained harder and longer than usual. He felt full of energy. And the traditional Turkish bath and hammam were fantastic. He met super interesting people there. Surprisingly, in the two weeks he had been traveling around Turkey, he had picked up more Turkish than he thought he would. He struck up conversations with people and they got on with each other using their hands and feet. Actually, he should have been up on the roof terrace, styled and with a gin and tonic in his hand, when he left the Turkish bath with a real Turkish stallion. The two of them had shagged like Johannes had never shagged before in his life. Johannes' hair was still oily from the scalp massage. He was sweating. His stallion asked him if they wanted to have another cup of tea and a shisha. They did. And then Johannes was fucked again in the stallion's apartment!

"as-salāmu ʿalaikum, brothers! Today will be a great day. I'm going on a tour of the insider tips in Ankara with my brother Hakan today. But now it's time to pray. salla Allahu 'alaihi wa sallam."

There was a hail of question marks as comments. Friends asked whether he had gone mad. But he also received positive feedback. Because of his style. Because of his faith. These comments were mostly in Turkish or Arabic. Both languages that Johannes (or Yahya, as he called himself here) understood more poorly than well. But he recognized praise in every language!

Hakan and Yahya had a great day. In public, they were the typical machos, but Hakan knew the places in Ankara where there was good, hard sex. Yahya sucked a minister's cock in the station toilet. And got 200 US dollars for an obviously good performance. Enough money for a good evening in the hammam and a good shisha afterwards.

The apartment that Hakan and Yahya shared was small and stuffy. The housing shortage in Ankara was no different to anywhere else in Turkey. But thanks to their small extra income, they at least had three rooms. Pure luxury for two people.

For Yahya, Instagram and other social media were actually just full of sin and Western decadence. But of course they were important media for receiving news from his brothers. His own account existed. Nothing more. He followed a handful of fellow believers who posted frequently, but he didn't really have any followers himself. He still had an old account from his school days. His name was still Johannes. But he hadn't looked in there for years.

Working at the bazaar as a porter was hard and exhausting. But the bazaar was full of niches where you could earn money with services that his sheikh shouldn't know about. Although Hakan thought he had shagged the sheikh before. But Yahya didn't really believe that. But he didn't really care… The main thing was that he and Hakan had enough money and fun. They prayed for that. Not necessarily five times a day. But about ten times a week. If they sucked more cock, they prayed more often. And Yahya sometimes had to pray very often. He was grateful that he didn't stand out too much with his hairy body and bushy beard. But the blond hair was exotic. And many customers were willing to pay a lot for sex with a blond Muslim.

Yahya and Hakan were minor celebrities in the bazaar. Firstly, because they were oil wrestlers on their way to competing against each other for the title of national champion. On the other hand, because they were only simple porters. But they knew every corner, every trader and always knew everything. "Ask Yahya or Hakan!" was a common saying if you wanted to know anything. Or if you wanted a special service. But they didn't talk about details in the bazaar.

Pics made by @ki-kink

[averagegazan2]

Wind howls outside like something out of a classic horror movie, a cold breeze sneaks through window cracks, and tiny rain drops knock your window in amusing rhythm. While inside, you lie beneath heavy blankets, watch some family movie with your loved ones, and hold a cup of hot chocolate that fills you with warmth and energy. Winter has always been a season of warmth, love and good times with my family. 😍😍

Sadly, all of this sounds now like a distant memory. People don't have a roof over head to protect them, most of them live in tents that barely stand to wind, and suffer from the lack of mattresses, blankets and warm clothes. Even heating devices are now longer available due to lack of power supply and the shortage of wood and coal. Winter is now a season of suffering, coldness and bitterness. 😞😞 But, you can help changing this.

I humbly ask you to donate to my campaign and share my story. Your support can help me buy warm clothes, blankets and mattresses for my kids, keeping them safe and healthy. I'm also expecting the birth of a new baby next January (which usually brings the coldest weather). I need to buy clothes and provide heating for this little one to ensure she stays safe and cozy (Yes, it's a girl 😇).

✅️My campaign is vetted by @gazavetters, my number verified on the list is ( #252 )✅️

Warm regards,

Alaa & his family

[whirligig-girl]

Guz grinned at her model, as it completed the first loop around the layout of her new quarters. Guz explained the contents of the train--solid rocket boosters for the North Meridian Space Launch Facility.

"It's not really prototypical though, is it?" Rutherford asked.

"A steam engine pulling high explosives does seem illogical," T'lyn said.

Guz smiled and flapped her hands. "It is prototypical, and here's how it happened--"

Around the late 2330s, an oil crisis shocked Mellanus. It was a while before it got really bad, and the rationing had to begin, but it skyrocketed the price of gasoline and diesel and plastic products. As Omen approached, the railways identified a problem--there might not be enough oil to migrate everyone and move all the goods that need to be moved to support the migration as the climate changed. With the increasing diesel fuel shortages, railways had to start taking their old coal and wood burning steam engines out of mothballs.

This one, No.2475, was taken out of a museum. It only rarely actually ran, so it was in poor mechanical condition, but when it re-entered service its paint and brass was pristine.

The diesel locomotive that had been scheduled to take the train of SRBs ran out of fuel during the first hill climb, and the depot didn't have enough fuel to spare, so 2475 was diverted from its passenger duties to take the train the rest of the way.

Eventually most of the old timer steam engines ended up back in museums or scrapped, but as the oil crisis waxed, the railways invented Advanced Steam engines to be as fuel efficient as possible.

"--like that tank engine, Sam," Guz finished, pointing at the little yellow switcher that Rutherford and T'lyn had been inspecting.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2020 to 2021, Bitcoin consumed 173.42 terawatt hours of electricity - enough to rank it 27th among nations, trumping the likes of Pakistan with a population of over 230 million people. The resulting carbon footprint was the equivalent of burning 84 billion pounds of coal. To offset this, a study by the United Nations University found 3.9 billion trees would have to be planted, covering an area almost equal to the Netherlands, Switzerland, or Denmark.

Globally, bitcoin mining used 1.65 million liters (about 426,000 gallons) of water in 2020-2021, enough to fill more than 660,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. China, the U.S. and Canada had the largest water footprints. Kazakhstan and Iran, which along with the U.S. and China have suffered from water shortages, were also in the top-10 list for water footprint. “These are very, very worrying numbers,” Madani said. “Even hydropower, which some countries consider a clean source of renewable energy, has a huge footprint.”

[mapsontheweb]

End of Nuclear power in Germany this week. Energy production from 2000 until today.

by u/Detektiv_Mittens

Closed nuclear power plants replaced mostly by coal power plants.

The ‘intensive use’ of German coal power plants lead to additional emissions of 15.8 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022, according to a report by consultancy Energy Brainpool commissioned by Green Planet Energy. Due to the energy crisis caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, Germany temporarily reopened decommissioned and soon-to-be decommissioned coal power plants last year to avert gas shortages, which resulted in more CO2 being released. According to the authors, the emissions are ‘additional’ because they are not accounted for in the European Emissions Trading System (ETS). Germany's total emissions amounted to about 750 million tonnes last year.

[if-you-fan-a-fire]

"MASTERS AND MEN CONTINUE FIGHT IN COAL STRIKE," Vancouver Sun. October 28, 1912. Page 4. --- Situation Is Becoming Acute and Statement Is Made That Mineral Is Now Scarce --- TROUBLE SPREADS TO OTHER CENTRES ---- Non-union Men Have Been Engaged But Are Sent Back to Vancouver by Society ---- Efforts to end the coal strike have not yet accomplished as much as was hoped and expected. A week or ten days ago the position of the miners believed then that the strike would be at an end within two weeks at most. The employees of the Western Fuel company had refused to join in a sympathetic strike, and the United Mine Workers of America had not at that time come to the support of the Nanaimo union. Under such a situation it was thought that as soon as the inine owners attempted to put new men at work there would be a rush of the strikers to get their old places.

Coal Is Scarce. No such rush, however, has occurred; and meantime the scarcity of coal is becoming more acute. Ordinarily the British Columbia mines export more than a million tons per annum to the States; but such exports have now been reduced or cut off, and at least one of the important Vancouver dealers is importing from the States.

Customers of this firm are handed a notice saying in part:

"During the continuance of the present labor trouble in the coal mines on Vancouver island, we are bringing in carbonado coal from Tacoma to help us out. This coal is a bituminous small pea, well washed and cleaned. It makes an excellent coal for any kind of heating system, but in firing, care should be taken not to smother the fire, but use plenty of kindling."

Imports from the interior also continue; but all these devices do not offset the shortage caused by the strike against the Canadian Colleries Co. The trouble has not spread to the other companies, but the labor leaders declare in contradiction from despatches received from other sources that should the employees of the Western Fuel Co. be called out, they would obey the call.

The total yearly consumption of Vancouver and suburbs, including that of railway and steamship lines having terminals here, is estimated at a million tons, or somewhat less, whereas the output of the Canadian Collieries company even in 1910 was 898,888 tons.

Can Support Strike. A new development in the situation is that the United Mine Workers of America are now supporting the strike at Nanaimo. "This powerful organization," said an officer of the Trades and Labor council, "is so big and rich that it can support a little strike like this on the island for an eternity without feeling the strain." In describing the struggle an officer of the United Mine Workers of America makes the following assertion:

"The situation at Cumberland and Ladysmith, so far as the miners are concerned, remains unchanged, except that the company is resorting to every means in its power to put scab coal on the market. Just how successful they have been you will see from the following: For ten days now they have been trying to work No. 7 and No. 4 mines, and they have produced 800 tons of coal in that time. When working under normal conditions the output is 2.500 tons daily. They have shipped twenty scabs into Cumberland, but we have been successful in sending eighteen of them back to Vancouver."

[srovtl]

(Working a Refreshing Sweat) Lennox SSR Card Story Translation

They are completely different In every way - Episode 1

Lennox: ………

As I went to bring some water bottles to the wizards helping out at the mine, I found Lennox working silently.

Akira: Lennox, you've done well. I've brought some water, so please help yourself.

Lennox: Master Sage...Thank you. I was just starting to get thirsty.

Lennox: Gulp… Ah, this is delicious.

Akira: That's great! ……Um, can I just watch for a bit, of course while making sure I get out of the way?

Lennox: Of course. There shouldn't be any danger from that position.

After handing me back the water bottle, Lennox picks up the pickaxe again and begins working again with a serious look on his face.

Akira: (There's no hesitation in his movement, and he knows what he has to do. I guess he's used to it.)

Bradley: Aaah... it's always such a nasty wound.

Akira: Oh, Bradley. Welcome back.

Bradley: Oh, so there's Sage here too. Just saying but I was blown away by a sneeze, I wasn't slacking off.

Bradley: I'm here for a pardon. Before I was blown away, I was trying to think of ways to help the guys here work more efficiently.

Akira: I heard about that from Shino and Lennox. I'll make sure to let Snow and White know that Bradley is helping us out.

Lennox: ………

Bradley: …Is he still digging steadily with a pickaxe?

Bradley: There must be an easier way than doing it bit by bit.

Akira: ……What do you mean?

Bradley: Like making a tool that can cut a larger area at once, or using gunpowder to blow away the unwanted rocks. There's loads of options if you start brainstorming about it.

Bradley: Maybe he thinks that working steadily is a virtue... But if there's a manpower shortage, doing things the same way as before just won't get the job done.

Akira: That's true… It might be a good idea to think of a new method and consult the villagers about it.

As I nodded along to Bradley's story, Lennox turned around, wiping the sweat off his face with his pulled-up clothes.

Lennox: Thank you for thinking about this mine, Bradley. It's encouraging to hear you lend us your wisdom.

Bradley: That's gonna cost ya. If you don't like it, why don't you come up with an idea of ​​your own?

Lennox, Akira: An idea…

Akira: ...Oh, how about a drill?

Bradley, Lennox: A drill?

Akira: It's a tool that existed in the world I came from. It has a sharp blade that spins around in a spiral shape, and you use it to dig holes...

Akira: That might be close to what Bradley was talking about earlier, "a tool that can cut a larger area at once."

Bradley: Really now?

Akira: But if the drill is too powerful, I wonder if it will break things other than rocks...

Akira: Do you get anything else from a coal mine besides coal?

Lennox: ...Let's see….

They are completely different In every way - Episode 2

Lennox: On rare occasions, if you dig up or down, you may find a fossil.

Akira: A fossil! It would be a shame to accidentally break one.

Lennox: It could be an ancient creature or plant we've never seen before... The adults were having a great time drinking with the view of the fossils they unearthed as a side dish.

Bradley: Not a bad idea for a drink.

Bradley: Fossils are the stuff of romance*. Ancient life and thousands of years of time are trapped in stone in their original form.

(tl note: it's not romance as in love, the romance in this case sometimes means adventure and sometimes means finding the beauty in everyday life. google Romanticism if you want to know)

Bradley: I for one would leave the coal alone and look for fossils.

Bradley: Digging up the same old black lumps...What a boring life the people here live.

Lennox: ……....Boring...

Lennox muttered to himself, as if ruminating on Bradley's words.

Lennox: ...It's true that for someone like Bradley, digging coal in silence might seem a bit dull.

Lennox: But that may not be the case for the people of this village.

Bradley: What do you mean?

Lennox: Even though they work in a cave, where danger is always close at hand, they take pride in their work.

Lennox: What may seem boring to you is a life they spend helping each other and laughing with friends who share the same pride.

Lennox: Nothing much changes in the day to day life, but I think these times are a form of happiness.

Lennox's voice echoes gently through the mine, slowly and carefully choosing his words.

Bradley, who had been listening to him in silence, chuckles and shrugs.

Bradley: ...That's such a you answer.

Bradley: If it's a talk about romance, the tiny one from the east would probably get it more.

Akira: Wha...?!

Bradley: Sage, tell me more about that drill thing you mentioned earlier later.

Akira: Eh, even if you ask for details, I can't tell you anything more than what I told you earlier...!

After he put his arm around me and whispered to me, Bradley didn't finish listening to my answer and just walked away.

Akira: Haha… Did he go to Shino's place?

Lennox: ……..

Akira: Lennox?

Lennox was staring at where Bradley had disappeared to when he heard my voice.

They are completely different In every way - Episode 3

Lennox: Ah... my apologies. I was lost in thought.

Akira: ... Are you thinking about what Bradley said earlier?

Lennox: Yes. Haha... I guess it's obvious to Master Sage.

Lennox gave a bitter smile and looked down at his own palm.

Lennox: ... borrow and lend each other as much strength as we need. In the days that are shaped by these accumulations, there may not be any events that shake our hearts.

Lennox: But it's those ordinary days that allow us to notice the little joys.

Lennox: To me, that kind of discovery is enough of a romance.

Lennox: ...But I couldn't explain the thought inside me very well.

As I listened to Lennox's words, I pictured Lennox smiling gently while tending to the sheep he was entrusted with in the southern country.

That image seemed to perfectly express the romance he was talking about.

Akira: ...It's okay. Your feelings are reaching me, Lennox.

Lennox: ……….

While replaying the conversation between Lennox and Bradley in my head, I carefully weave together my own feelings, just like Lennox.

Akira: For example…. Every day, I would wake up in the morning sun, work, eat delicious food, and sleep at night.

Akira: If I could have some luxurious sweets or souvenirs during those days, I would feel very happy.

Akira: Of course, like Bradley said, spending my days adventuring and searching for rare treasures would also be nice but…

Akira: As Lennox says, there's just as much fun to be had in the days when you find and appreciate all the little joys.

Lennox: Master Sage...

Lennox: Exactly. I've also been healed by the accumulation of those little joys in my daily life.

Akira: If Bradley is about an exciting romance, Lennox's is more of a gentle romance.

Akira: When I meet Bradley, I'll tell him too. It may be a small thing, but it's also a kind of romance!

Lennox: Haha, that's very reassuring.

Lennox smiled and turned forward.

Lennox: I'd like to share my thoughts with him of course…. But I hope to talk to Bradley a bit more and understand his thoughts better.

Lennox: ...So, Master Sage, would it be okay if we went after Bradley together right away?

Akira: Yes, of course!

Lennox: Thank you. ...Oh Also.

Lennox: I'd like to talk about improving work efficiency. I'd be happy if you could tell me about drills while we're walking.

Akira: …….!

Akira: (They're both interested in drills)

They have completely different ways of living and thinking. But seeing them drawn to something they have in common made me smile.

A creature full of romance - Card Episode

Akira: Hello, Lennox. You seem to be holding something in your arms, but what is it...?

Lennox: Master Sage. This is a sculpture that recreates the fossil of an ancient creature I saw in a coal mine a long time ago.

Lennox: The other day, Bradley told me, "If you want to understand me, try to experience more romance," so I tried carving it from memory.

Akira: I see... We did have a talk about how fossils are the epitome of romance didn't we. Can I have a closer look?

Lennox: Yes. Go ahead.

Akira: Wow, it looks so strong. The things that are growing out of both hands are scythes...I think.

Akira: And it has many impressive legs...So there were creatures like this in ancient times.

Lennox: No, I don't think such a creature exist.

Akira: Eh?

Lennox: I got advice from Shino and Mithra about the scythes and legs, and added them so I could learn about various romantic ideas.

Lennox: The more of those there are, the stronger it is apparently.

Akira: (That's the most them idea...!)

Lennox: I wouldn't have thought of it on my own. Everyone has their own romance, after all.

Akira: It certainly looks strong and impactful, and it feels romantic!

Lennox: Great. So this sculpture is the epitome of the romance of Shino, Mithra, Master Sage, and me.

Lennox: I'll go and show it to Bradley with confidence.

Homescreen voiceline 

231, 232... Ah, Master Sage. Is there something?... A snack for after my training? Thank you very much. I was just about to take a break, so I'm glad. If you don't mind, Master Sage, why don't you take a little time to relax too? There's a nice breeze blowing here.

[nightpool]

it continues to be illegal to care about climate change in texas

BlackRock Inc., Vanguard Group Inc. and State Street Corp. were sued by a group of states led by Texas for allegedly breaking antitrust law by boosting electricity prices through their investments, in the highest-profile lawsuit yet against the beleaguered ESG industry. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and 10 other states claim the money managers, as part of their green agenda, combined their market clout and membership in climate groups to pressure coal producers to cut output. Shortages have caused Texans and residents of the other states to pay higher power bills, according to the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Texas. … BlackRock said in a statement that the lawsuit “undermines Texas’ pro-business reputation” and added that “the suggestion that BlackRock invested money in companies with the goal of harming those companies is baseless and defies common sense.”

[txttletale]

Why is communist “materialist history” so fucking worthless? If you asked a fascist about World War I, they would tell you about how domestic shortages in the German coal industry contributed to their defeat. If you asked a communist about it, they’d tell you some meaningless word vomit like “the dialectic contradiction of the inherent mode of the dialectical capitalist class creates inherent contradictions within the oppressive sociological framework, hence, the je ne sai quoi of the bourgeois class”

[scotianostra]

On October 17th 1850 James Young obtained the patent for the extraction of paraffin from shale.

The following year the world's first commercial oil refinery followed opened.The chemist-cum-businessman James Young, later known as "Paraffin" Young, opened a works near Bathgate that produced lubricating oils and naphtha (for use as a cleaning solvent) from the shale found among West Lothian's coal deposits.

Soon he developed technologies that produced paraffin for lights – Bathgate oil lit a quarter of London's lamps – and paraffin wax for candles. In the 1860s, when many of Young's patents expired, Scotland became gripped by oil mania as dozens of hastily established companies dug pits and erected retorts and refineries in a small stretch of countryside to the south of the Forth.

During its first boom, the shale oil industry employed more than 30,000 people, many of them migrants from elsewhere in Britain. Existing villages grew at a rate bewildering to those who lived in them – Broxburn's population went from 660 to 5,898 in 30 years – while entirely new settlements of brick cottages, with perhaps a store or a working men's institute at their centre, appeared suddenly where no one had previously thought to live. By the 1910's West Lothian shale produced 27.5m barrels of crude oil, which was roughly 2% of then world production.

As the 20th century progressed oil from the Persian gulf became more abundant and cheaper to produce, the second world war and oil shortages prolonged the shale business but the writing was on the wall. The last shale mine closed in 1962, and then it was gone. The pitheads, the retorts, the refineries and the narrow-gauge electric railway that connected them: all vanished, leaving the spoil heaps, the bings, as the most visible evidence that industry had ever existed.

Just north of my home town of Loanhead lays Straiton, not retail parks and most famous for the large Ikea there, but back in the day it was part of the shale works that stretched across the Lothians, all that is left of the Straiton Oil Company are a row of cottages, the head office was in a building that eventually was converted into a pub, The Callyr Inn, sadly the people that bought it years after it closed let it rot, deliberately making it so unsafe that it was pulled down to be replaced by more warehouse type units.

Two of the bings remain, Greendyke and Five Sisters, as industrial monuments protected in law against excavation and reshaping by road builders who want their red waste as hardcore. Whether you love them or hate them the bings are there to stay, as a reminder to a once thriving mining industry around the lothians,, my fave is Greendyke, if you like a good walk, apparently they call it Bing Bashing, it offers great views, you can see the Ochils to the north and the Pentlands to the south, the strange cone of North Berwick Law away to the east and it's possible to make out the shape of Ben Lomond to west, on a clear day. Edinburgh Castle and the Forth bridges are easily picked out and if you walk to the northern edge,you can look down on Niddry Castle, a 15th-century keep where Mary Queen of Scots once spent a night.

There's loads of history, first is the official Shale Oil Museum webpage, promoting the museum itself, it will take you weeks to get through everything here https://www.scottishshale.co.uk/index.html

Pics are James "Parafin" Young, some old pics of the industrialisation, an old Farm eaten up by the plants and pics of the Greendyke bing, with Niddry Castle and Five Sisters Bing from the air