#cw catastrophic climate change

[unkindhands]

Once again thinking about that fic where Kars finally returns to Earth from space but it's several thousand years into the future after a climate apocalypse has ended human civilization and Santana is the only sapient life left on Earth and Kars is finally forced to confront his grief at losing Esidisi and Wamuu and how all his machinations turn to ash without them being alive to see it and also he finally opens up emotionally to Santana after all that time

anyways please read it

[themarvelhorse]

I Sail, When the Wolf Comes

CW: Death, Mental Illness

A vent, rant, of sorts. I put this here not just to express my feelings, but to let anyone who wants to, know what's up with me, especially right now.

My dad died.

I always feel like I need to say it like that. Not "he passed away", or he's no longer with us. As if I'm trying to force myself to accept that reality.

He died the day I left to visit a friend. He wasn't even over 65. He was left there to rot for four days. The rot. I can't get the smell of the rot out.

We lived together since the pandemic. He saved me from having to live with my mom. I love my mom and she's very supportive and loving but...

She has schizophrenia, the kind that makes her paranoid. The kind that leads her to stop trusting her friends and family, no matter what we do or say.

She's always been stubborn, but that one makes it so much harder.

It's funny. I've felt like I've had more hope of stopping catastrophic climate change than I do of saving my parents from themselves. I know, I've tried so fuckin' hard to do so. But the decay, the rot, started so much sooner, while they were still alive.

I got to watch the car crash in slow motion. I saw as my mom grew increasingly paranoid over time. All the yelling - not at me mind you - but I was the only one she could yell in the direction of. I took a break, spent some time with my dad, and came back. But then she pretty much picked up where she left off.

I couldn't stay, and it broke my heart.

I could stay, with my dad. We would watch sci-fi, retro TV, movies together, share coffee, a drink, our own inside jokes. It was great.

My mom sold the house, lost most of her things, and was a total mess. When she eventually found an apartment, I went to go furnish it since she... couldn't.

She was admitted to a hospital after screaming about aliens in the middle of the night.

They gave her medication, and helped her return to her old self... or at least reduce the damage. But she's always had that stubborn attitude. And of course, the healthcare system wouldn't have been able to help. There's no one left to offer help.

I can see it coming back. She tries to hide it around me so she doesn't get angry, but it'll come back. She invites family to dinner only to get mad at them. Like, she's mad at them when she invites them. Why?

So, my dad saved me from that. I was able to help from a distance. Somewhat. My dad saved my ass from a lot of things that could have gone much worse. He saved me from myself when I spiral.

But we moved again, and there was a new city I didn't want to go to, but he did. I came along eventually and got really into it. He did too, for a time. But then, things started piling up. A lot of things I wasn't even aware of.

It was a cycle of getting better and then worse. Each time I left, I realized he would be worse. Soon, it didn't matter if I left.

So let me whisper you a reminder Before they come to take me away Whenever there's no hope left to inspire Keep shining a light they all need to see

A fire that burns out for the last time A satellite falling from the sky

Another light shines on the horizon With courage and grace you said goodbye

A fire that burns out for the last time With courage and grace you waved goodbye Oh, goodbye

It was a heart attack, but was it? I'm going through his things. I'm seeing everything he was dealing with.

He was always supportive, and rarely judged. But I'm afraid of those moments when he did. When he tried to be open and honest about how he felt about things.

It was often contrary to my thoughts and perspective. And I argued that.

I'll give one example - he wasn't supportive of environmental action. But he was still supportive of me taking it, because I wanted to. Because he was a good dad.

And he did what he thought was best. Shove those feelings deep down so as to not stir up trouble with his son. Or at least I imagine so. I know he did everything and more for his sons.

That's what I am at the end of the day. A villain.

I'm a villain to my friends and family. People who've supported me so much over the years. I never knew how to repay them. I knew I wouldn't get a job that would make enough money to do that, so I wanted to do a job that would make life better for them indirectly. Or stop it from getting worse.

But it feels like so few would agree with me on how I do that. The science and academic literature say otherwise. I know I'm not trying to be a villain. I work to keep myself, my thoughts and opinions open. But some things I just can't move on. Can't move on taking climate change seriously. But ultimately what will happen? Their instant flights will eventually be gone. Their love of red meat limited to far less than they consume now. Their love of cars and giant single family homes. Their support of a politician who'll only drive us all backwards and make things worse. Their transphobia.

Of course it's not all those things for everyone. People are complex. But it's always those red flags.

And there's so much of life that's still supposed to get better after that. Flights and travel won't be gone. Meat won't be gone. Cars won't be gone. We'd have more time to spend enjoying life, or travelling, etc.

They would support me, because they trust me for me. If I got anything done, I'd surely be the villain in their eyes. The eyes of so many people I care about. Maybe it's a good thing I haven't finished so many projects I've started.

They've come out of the woodwork to offer support in this time, but it all leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The taste of rot. I'm sure that overtime, our relationships will rot away. I'll do what I have to, for their own good. Sounds like something a villain would say, eh? Maybe so, I haven't saved anyone. I've only helped where I could to ease the pain. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life when I was younger, so I wanted to do that. Help. Know I was doing something good.

Of course it comes at a cost. Asking for anything always does for me.

And so, my heart breaks yet again.

And yet again, I am alone. Because even for all their support and offerings of wanting to talk, most who do want to talk, I can't talk to. Or I have to tread lightly. Who knows what I'll say to someone that I don't know their opinion on? My issues cross over with climate action and related stuff. So there's so few I have to talk to. All those friends in the sector went their separate ways. I don't judge them for that, we all have jobs to do to get this done. We're all burnt out.

At least my dad's suffering is over. Just gotta pick up the pieces, and find a new place to stay.

"Me was sick and nigh to death

Tili go tili go

Me was sick and nigh to death

tili go tili go

Me was sick and nigh to death but I vowed with my every breath

For go with wisdom ways

When I sail."

[s-------i-------g]

I've Written a Book for No One to Read

If you’ve been paying close attention to the goings-ons through my social media presences (don’t worry, I don’t expect it), you may have seen a few posts alluding to writing chapters of a book. This was actually not a joke! Basically, I was planning on finishing the whole book and waiting for someone to message back with “can I read it?” at which point I would’ve revealed that the each chapter had been uploaded to this very blog from the start [note to self: edit that for tumblr, cohost, and spacehey], but the most interaction on any of these posts that I ever saw was on twitter, and right before finishing off the book I was permanently suspended (for normal reasons) and so that fizzled right the hell up, didn’t it? Let’s be real here, that’s not a great way to get people to actually read your work anyway.

I cannot stress enough how much of my social network was built onto the racist, collapsing platform formerly known as Twitter, and since that’s gone now/I have to start again and I’m being unduly secretive about it, I have to actually promote my own work which is a huge pain in the ass. So now you can know that exists and you can still ignore it! Seriously, I’m not going to be upset either way.

The book (can it be called it book if it’s entirely online?) is something I’ve been doing in my spare time for the past few months, mostly combining a great deal of ideas I’ve had floating about forever and actually committing to writing them down in a way so that they can finally be excised from my he. It’s not something I put a ton of thought into, just stuff I had a rough idea about, fleshed out a little, went over again, and then published it as I was writing it. It was the first time I approached a project that’s so “big” so loosely, and it was freeing to do. I’m not pinning all my hopes and dreams onto this thing, I’m just putting it out there for someone to read. Or not read, as it may be. It would be great if it lead to something a bit better than what I’ve got going on now, sure, but I’ve learned to not get my hopes too high. At the very least I’m finished with it for now. If this actually gains traction, there’s a possibility of shoring it up a bit more for proper publication.

So now, in a somewhat more formal way, I’m introducing you/the world to CARETAKERS, an experimental, science fiction work (with maybe some fantasy/unexplained shit) that spans multiple viewpoints, locations, and time periods. It might actually be very difficult to read, and that’s not including what it’s about. It concerns an Earth, not too far in the future, that has been destroyed by both climate change and a world war, the response to which has been to launch most of the population into space with the intent of finding a new home, but the majority of the ships are destroyed about a year into their travels (not that most of the people on Earth know that). This work tends toward being bleak and pessimistic, and often addresses real world situations in ways that might be uncomfortable for people to read. CW: Sex, Light Racism, Drug Addiction, Depression, Death, Suicide, Mass Murder, War, Climate Catastrophe, Nuclear War, The Apocalypse. Use your best discretion to decide if it is for you.

I would also say that as I kept publishing it as I was writing, there are going to definitely be some mistakes and inconsistencies. There are characters who aren’t fleshed out much, and there are things I didn’t do much research on that may be straight-up wrong, especially regarding heroin addiction and cultural backgrounds. My intent was never to be problematic, and if you feel like some aspects are, I’m not going to tell you you’re wrong, but I’m doing my best to mitigate the damage in advance. The work itself is fairly short. I would be hesitant to refer to it as a “novel.” “Novella” may be too much. “Novelette” doesn’t sound like a real word. “Series of interconnected short stories told in the most obnoxious, confusing way possible” now that one seems far more accurate. I’m guessing if you were to properly print any given chapter, few of them would surpass two pages of print. I’m going back to trying to make comics again, thanks.

Anyway, enjoy?

[reclaiming-god]

just thinking about how humans have inhabitated this earth for thousands of years yet 500 years of capitalist greed has managed to almost obliterate it. feeling the wrath of God in this chili's tonight

[hypeaholic]

Ever since I learned that we don't even have half a century before our climate goes to shit in 11th grade my amount of chill has been rapidly declining.

It dips even more everytime I hear someone with an ounce of power and money deny there's a problem.

And it fucking drops everytime I hear some more news from alarm sounders about how everything is going to shit and those who can need to wake up and do something.

But whatever chill I had fucked right off to Alpha Centauri after hearing the Amazon rainforest is fucking on fire

So @alwayslateneedingtea it's either I make (mostly) hypothetical plans about killing everyone responsible for most of climate change on a righteous murder spree

Or

I make 100% serious plans as to my own early demise

Because at this point, death really just feels like leaving before the rush.

Let me have this extremely irresponsible and dangerous fun instead.

I can't do anything

These hypotheticals are all I have left.

Let me have them.

[martsonmars]

Dystopian AU + 24 Hours To Live (gimme dat angst!)

Thanks for asking hehehe.

[CW: eugenics, forced sterilisation/birth control]

So, we're maybe one century in the future.

The habitable surface on Earth is becoming increasingly smaller due to climate change and natural catastrophes and humanity-induced disasters, but the population keeps growing, and overpopulation is the biggest threat to the survival of our species. Laws to control births haven't done much, and now the government (there is only one because everyone lives in the same contained area of the planet) is starting to impose forced sterilisation on people following eugenics criteria to make sure only those with the best genetics are able to reproduce.

But this isn't enough – controlling births isn't enough, and waiting for the excess population to die of natural causes would take too much time, time that Earth, even in all its resilience, and the fabric of society do not have.

So, people are starting to get an expiration date. Individuals that are believed to be expendable get a 24 hours notice warming them they will be terminated once the day is over.

Enter Basilton Grimm-Pitch. He's the only son of the man at the core of the governmental decision making process, and of the woman who, before dying, starting implementing the laws in favour of a stricter birth control. On the outside, he might look like the perfect candidate to carry on the human species – hauntingly beautiful, almost excessively smart, talented at everything he tries. But he is not – he got only 27.3% on his Eugenics Compatibility Test, lower than the majority of the population. He would not be allowed to reproduce, and he would be high up in the list of individuals to terminate, if only his father didn't keep the test result hidden even from his colleagues.

Enter Simon Cadwallader. He's in the top half of the Golden People list – the list of people that not only shall remain alive and able to reproduce, but who are highly encouraged (read: obligated) to do so. At 25, he should've already been assigned to a woman from the list, and they should be on their way to fulfil their duty to the country, but there's a tiny problem – he's nowhere to be found.

Because his father, David Cadwallader, former member of the government, is currently the head of the only resistance movement still around, which hides in the shadows and tries to help those who got a Eugenics Compatibility Test result below 40% – and thus must be terminated – cross the borders of the country to find shelter in one of the communities that still exist in the parts of the planet deemed to be inhospitable.

So, this was just the premise. When the story starts, the rebels are attempting a coup or something, and of course it goes wrong. Simon gets captured, his file analysed, and he's put in a government facility to undergo a period of supervision before he's asked to reproduce.

But! This is also the facility where Baz lives, so they meet, and at first they hate each other – Baz hates Simon because he's perfect and Golden, Simon hates Baz because of his parents' political stance – but then Baz realises that being one of the Chosen Ones is not great, and Simon finds out that Baz hates his parents' politics (especially because according to them he should be dead, and because they're inherently homophobic and racist and classist and all that), and that they aren't so different after all, and they fall in love. Baz tells Simon of his test result, and Simon tells him he doesn't care, and that he'll ask his father (when he comes to rescue Simon) to help Baz escape too.

But then everything goes wrong – David breaks into the facility to free Simon, and he does, but he also somehow finds Baz's file and makes it public. So everyone now knows about his low test results, Baz feels betrayed because he thinks it was Simon to reveal his secret, Malcolm cannot protect his son anymore and he's kicked out of the government.

It's only a matter of time before Baz gets his 24 hours notice. Simon's devastated and wants to save him before he gets killed.

But plot twist! Before getting fired, Malcolm had managed to alter Simon's file, and he gets a 24 hours notice the same day as Baz does. And at this point Simon should just run away – the government killing power doesn't extend beyond the borders – but he wants to save Baz.

So he finds Baz, and they spend their last day together, and Simon tries to convince Baz they can run away, but Baz is scared and just wants to spend his last hours with the man he loves.

In my mind this ends about an hour before the 24 hours are over, with Baz finally giving in and Simon telling him they just have to cross the border and everything will be okay.

Do they succeed? Do they die trying? Who knows.

[bardic-tales]

HAPPY STS!

What’s your world like and what’s the timeline in that world? This also can apply to fantasy worlds.

The Planes of Existence Universe is made up of three planes: the Arathean Plane (the Life / Mortal Plane), the Death Plane (which is like our Hell), and the Ven Plane (after life).

I am going to concentrate on the Arathean Plane for this one as that is usually where the manuscripts, I am writing is focused.

The Arathean Plane is made up of many planets and universes. The WIPs I am working on usually is set upon Cirel and on the Arathean Continent.

Cirel's topography looks very different in each location on the world. Many factors went into determining the differences of the world: climate, ecosystem, and geographical features.

Also, I had to consider that the surface of Cirel would have change many times as the planet formed, settled, and resettled based upon several catastrophic events.

There are many features of Cirel that feature: lakes, rivers, streams, hills, valleys, volcanoes, cliffs, planes, deserts, and coastlines. For example, Glorendt sits on the eastern coast of the Arathean Continent.

cw: death mention.

Cirel has two moons: Andrea and Amés. Andrea actually blows up when an aging Cyras years after Vaene's death ventures into the Drakl lands with a group from Snowfel to put an end to the Draklian threat once and for all. She stabs their king through the Dragonomicon, setting off a large explosion that reaches into space and takes a chunk of the moon with it.

These moons are powered by the gods of their respective names.

This event will change the climate and take out a large portion of the Arathean continent. It also turns the lush wildlands to the North of the Olessan Empire to a vast wasteland. It also has devastating effects on the Ven Plane, as it corrupts the Goddess of Love.

The timeline is vast as Cirel has been around for about 8 billion years. For example, between Flight of the Dragon and Cold as Ice / Pale Fire is about 2300 years. From CAI and PF to the last novels that I have plan is another 800 years.

NOTE: I keep going back and forth on how long I want between the three WIP. Right now, it's 2300 years.

[fleurdumal117]

Barcelona, ecofeminism and me

CW: climate change, societal collapse, hipsters.

I went to Spain recently for a long weekend to visit some flatmates from years ago. Stefanie now lives in Stockholm and has a successful career at multinational conglomerate. Isa doesn’t work and squats in an abandoned building just outside of Barcelona with thirty other people. I’m the one that makes sure we get together at least once every four years. We’re a mismatched bunch.

Barcelona has always had a tough time with its cultural identity, but COVID-19 and the global rise of populism seem not to have helped much since the last time I visited the city in 2016. On this most recent visit, a general strike and various demonstrations were set to take place in protest against new draconian labour laws. Well, it was January and still a bit too cold for the beach, so we attended a couple of public lectures on various topical subjects. It seemed like the thing to do.

I looked around at the other audience members - edgy, young, covered head-to-toe in tattoos and piercings. There are some spaces where I can pass for ‘alternative’. Barcelona is not one of them.

We sat through a talk on ecofeminism by a woman from Andalucía who lived quasi off-the-grid. She began the talk by saying how, since we’d all sat and listened to academics for ages, she would begin her lecture by playing a short piece of music over the speakers and improvise an interpretative dance “to embody the concepts of eco-feminism and eco-socialism”. She invited the audience members to do the same if they wished.

The music played and the lecturer began to move her body freely before us. I noticed others in the audience stand up and start to move, too.

To my left, I hear Isa wanting to join in – “¿Y si nos ponemos de pie y nos cogemos de la mano?” – British and embarrassed, I complied. We three stood up, too, and held hands as a show of solidarity with… Feminism? Mother Earth? The talk hadn’t actually started yet, so I didn’t know.

The speaker continued her movements. Then all of a sudden she crouched down to her haunches and started screaming.

The talk itself that followed this strange interval was actually pretty good. I learnt that ecofeminism is a rich web of factions, all with competing ideas and priorities, but who ultimately all believe that unfettered capitalism steered by systemic patriarchy are Bad ThingsTM, and that women and the Earth are among those most negatively impacted. The proposed solutions? Economic ‘degrowth’, less consumption, and greater respect for natural resources. I’m sure I’m oversimplifying it, but that appeared to be the gist.

Oh, and the developed world is apparently headed towards some sort of mass societal collapse. Or rather, “estamos en ello” – it’s already started – which I heard again and again, and so it’s not a bad idea to start preparing for massive changes to our way of life. It was all quite alarming. The Russian invasion of Ukraine hadn’t happened yet, but the cost of living was already going up across Europe and it was clear how much Barcelona, long known for its booming tourism industry, was hurting from Covid.

What did it all mean? The dancing, the screaming, the discussing of the ways in which we would all adjust to el colapso? I think overall that “consume less of what you don’t need” is prudent advice, and that greedily harvesting the Earth’s finite resources was always going to bite us in the arse one day. But are we really headed towards global catastrophe?

Before COVID-19 happened, before Brexit, Trump and Russia-Ukraine, I think I would have been sceptical of that idea. But then again, I also wouldn’t have rated our society’s chances of weathering a global pandemic, either. And we did come through it… sort of. The quality of governmental responses to the crisis will be fuel for furious op-eds for generations to come (and rightly so). But as individuals I think that many of us were compelled to find a strength within us that we didn’t know we had.

Maybe that will happen again. Maybe geo-engineering will allow us to avoid the worst of climate change. Maybe Isa had it right and we should all hold hands and sing Kumbaya to defeat populism and late-stage capitalism and the creeping influence of fascism in the West.

I don’t know. And I’m scared of what’s coming. I hope we’re equal to it.

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Pondering: “How did we (the U.S.) get here?”

[Putting the conclusion first, for TL;DR reasons (repeated, in proper prose, below):

The Republican Party is symbiotically bonded with Evangelical Christianity, and, through the vehicle of the GOP, Evangelical Christians are trying to impose Christian religious law across the board;

Evangelical Christianity started its mass infiltration of government during Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign.

Ronald Reagan was the first Republican elected to the presidency since Richard Nixon resigned under threat of impeachment.

The Impeachment proceedings against Nixon, in the Senate and the House, were proof that the checks and balances put in place by the framers of the U.S. Constitution, can actually work.

And (personal opinion, here) I fear the Republicans are trying to make sure the Constitution never works again.]

And I’ll also put this above the line (copied from below):

Therefore: if the Republicans retain control of all branches of government -- especially the House and Senate -- after November 6, this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 tries to revoke presidential term limits. After all, he’s already praised Xi Jinping for doing the same thing. And I don’t have any faith that fellow Republicans would try to stop him.

Vote!!!

(Links to sources and Wikipedia articles on the history embedded in the post below the cut)

As I was getting up, yesterday morning (28 June, 2018), listening to NPR’s reporting on Anthony Kennedy’s retirement from the Supreme Court, I was thinking about the comment I made to @inthedayglo, in this thread:

I haven’t felt this pessimistic about the future since Reagan – and back then, I high key believed the world – or at least, the majority of human civilization – would end in a global thermonuclear war.

…So that’s saying something.

And realizing that, no -- that’s not hyperbole.

Now, when Reagan was first elected, I was sixteen, going on seventeen -- just like the archetypal (if not the actual majority) blogger of Tumblr, today. And just like today’s teens, I was full of angst and passion.  I thought it very likely I, and much of my cohort, would die before we reached the age of our parents.

So, here I was, listening to the news, and puzzling through why the dread I’m feeling now is worse than the dread I was feeling almost 40 years ago. And then, it dawned on me:

Back in the day, our greatest fear was someone starting a nuclear war by accident.

But ever since 45th’s ascension to the White House, I’ve been increasingly convinced the Oligarchs are pushing us to catastrophe on purpose: Denying Climate Change, starting trade wars, alienating our allies, trying to repeal healthcare, repealing Net Neutrality (And passing Article 13 -- it’s all part of the same trend).

What I couldn’t understand is why. Why would you lock yourself inside your house, and then set it on fire?  Undoing Obama’s legacy out of spite could be a mighty motivation. But you can’t exactly enjoy your gloat if you’re dead. What about all the potential grand-babies the old, white, surviving Baby Boomers are wringing their hands over?

And then, two weeks ago, @ok2befat said this in her video response to Jeff Sessions’ and Sarah Sanders’ claim that stealing children from their parents at the border is the Christian thing to do:

"[Evangelical Christians are] in a literal Death Cult. Like, they want the world to end, and everyone to die -- including themselves -- so that Jesus can come back. [. . .] They don't care if the whole thing goes off a cliff.  [. . .] If we were headed for a metaphor cliff, they would be the ones stomping on the gas, 'cause they want to go off the cliff sooner!" (Source: cued to 16:11 in a roughly 18 min. video; cw for swear words)

As she points out, there are more Evangelical Christians in 45′s cabinet than any previous administration.

So... yeah: it’s not just my imagination. They’re doing this on purpose.

But it didn’t start with 45. Evangelical Christians made their first mass entries into politics, through the so-called “Moral Majority,” in Ronald Reagan’s first campaign (and we come back, full circle, to the start of this post). And they’ve been bonded with the Republican Party, and growing in power, ever since. 

...The demise of the Carter administration, and the way Reagan came into power, is an effin’ trip, and probably deserves at least two posts of their own, just for ranting. ...

And Carter was the only Democrat president between Nixon’s demise via the Watergate Hearings and Reagan’s election. 

Jimmy Carter was far from a perfect president, but among the things he did right, were:

Pardoning all Vietnam War draft dodgers

Presiding over the establishment of the Departments of Energy and Education

(And promoting green, renewable, energy -- we got our solar panels for hot water in those years, with a tax break to help pay for them)

And, even though he, himself, is an Evangelical Christian, he respected the separation of Church and State, because he knew he was President to everyone, not just those in his branch of his faith.

And part of me daydreams about an alternative history, and where we would be today, if he’d gotten elected to a second term, and gotten credit for the freeing of the Iran Hostages.

Maybe we’d still have ended up with Nuclear War... ‘Cause he did escalate things with the Soviets in Afghanistan, and started the gears turning that linked Oil and Capitalism with “national security.” But also maybe his policies to encourage solar and wind energy would have taken root, and the Doomsday Clock would still only be counting down to nuclear war, and not nuclear war plus global warming.

But ever since Nixon’s resignation in shame, Republicans had been saying that the Impeachment Hearings ruined our country, and destroyed our democracy, and I’m convinced that they were so willing to link up with the Moral Majority because allies in the churches would help them make sure the Constitution, which brought down one of their own, wouldn’t ever bring down another.

(In other words, if the Republicans retain control of all branches of government -- especially the House and Senate -- after November 6, this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if 45 tries to revoke presidential term limits. After all, he’s already praised Xi Jinping for doing the same thing. And I don’t have any faith that fellow Republicans would try to stop him.)

[earthstory]

Working For Change

The headlines are generally filled with reports of environmental concerns and catastrophes. To celebrate Earth Day this year, here are some positive efforts to better the environment that are being made by countries around the world.

The International Coral Reef Initiative has designated 2018 as the Year of the Reef. To kick things off, the Prime Minister of Fiji, Frank Bainimarama that large sections of the Great Sea Reef have been nominated as a Ramsar site. Under international treaty, Ramsar sites are designated as “a wetland important to the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life. As part of this initiative, UN Environment and the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) have also announced a collaboration that will focus on a global response the combat the rapid decline of coral reefs around the world. Some people refer to coral reefs as “the tropical rainforests of the sea,” for their amazing diversity and richness. They provide numerous services to humankind, such as protection of our coasts, medicines, fisheries, along with recreation and tourism. The International Year of the Reef will mean increased development and implementation of research and increased collaboration between countries and organizations. (For more information, contact unep.pacific@unep.org )

Another major focus for this year will be efforts to phase out single use plastics. Every day, the news tells of another country, state, or city that has banned some form of single use plastic, such as plastic bags, plastic drinking straws, plastic plates, cups, and plastic utensils, coffee stirrers, soda and water bottles, and most food packaging, as well as microbeads used in cosmetics. Because these items are petroleum based, they are not biodegradeable and when they do break down into tiny particles, the process releases toxic additives used to shape and harden the plastic. In 2016, France became the first country to pass a law, to become effective in 2020, banning the use of plastic plates, cups and utensils and require that all disposable tableware must be made from 50% biologically sourced materials that can be composted at home. Last week, the UK banned plastic straws. Kenya banned plastic bags in 2017. In Malibu, California, one innovative restaurateur has sourced and begun using a drinking straw made of pasta. “When you’re done using it, you can just eat it, cook it, or throw for compost.” More news is expected on this issue during the year.

Major sustainability commitments are being announced by sports organizations. In the U.S., the Philadelphia Eagles have introduced green cleaning products for use by their staff. Since 2010, they’ve increased their rate of recycling by 209%. In order to offset the carbon footprint, they’ve financed tree plantings in Pennsylvania and purchased seedlings for a Louisiana wildlife refuge. The Boston Red Sox had solar panels installed in 2008 that provide 37% of their energy needs. In addition, they had “Big Belly” trashcans installed in the stadium. Big Bellies are solar-powered trash compactors that collect 6 times more trash, but compact it down to take up less space in landfills. The Miami Marlins retrofitted their stadium with new plumbing fixtures. With these and new water usage plans, their water use is reduced by 52%. Changes in their landscaping reduced the need of water for irrigation by 60%.

This December, representatives from around the world will gather in Morocco to discuss global plans for migrants and refugees from the effects of climate change and degradation of ecosystems.

One environmentally focused theme will be how cities can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and how they can develop ways to adapt to the changing climate. In April, Bonn, Germany hosted the Resilient Cities Conference, where city leaders, partners from the private sector, and civil society stakeholders discussed the resilience of critical infrastructure, the issues confronting those on the frontlines of climate change, the shift towards sustainable and resilient lifestyles, and new data on climate science. San Francisco will be the site of the Global Climate Action Summit, in September. Planners hope that bringing together people to showcase climate action will inspire deeper commitments from national governments, in support of the Paris Accord.

95% of the global tiger population has been lost in the last century. The population of African lions has declined by 40+% in the past 20 years. All of the big cats, such as leopards, cougars, and cheetahs are endangered by poaching, habitat loss, and other factors. The United Nations expects to see a major push this year to protect the world’s big cats.

CW

Image

Made available by the author

Sources

https://bit.ly/2rfMfnI

https://bit.ly/2EMYsSY

https://rainforests.mongabay.com/09reefs.htm

https://bit.ly/2F7WX1T

https://cnn.it/2HkvThh

https://n.pr/2F6gteG

https://cbsn.ws/2vy3O4N

http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/

https://resilientcities2018.iclei.org/program/highlights/

https://globalclimateactionsummit.org/

[sergeantaegis]

Cosmic horror bath thoughts (CW/TW: Climate change, CW/TW: Dark Forest hypothesis, CW/TW: Cosmic horror)

So imagine this unfathomably old alien civilization that would have emerged billions of years ago and came to the conclusion that the very possibility of alien civilizations existing was an unacceptable threat. They don’t have FTL travel, so they decide to create automated probes that detect life-bearing world and assess their potential to create a civilization and then launches a kinetic kill impact vehicle to cause catastrophic damage to the planet in question.

The asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs was one of these, either because there existed a civilization at the time, or one would emerge relatively soon (on a cosmic timescale).

As a failsafe, the impact probe triggers chemical changes to either create or accelerate the creation of fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas) so if life on the targeted planet recovers to a technical civilization level they’ll be tempted to use these resources for energy, which is likely to affect their climate and potentially destroy their civilization or even make them extinct. Either way they can’t pose a threat to the original alien civilization for a couple millions or even billions of years.

Yes I know the concept of self-replicating kill probes already exists but having the Chixculub impact be one and climate change/fossil fuels factoring in their plan is original as far as I know.

[westletter]

January 2021

Dear Friends,  One of Albrecht Durer’s most enduring images is this 1498 woodcut depicting The Four Horsemen of the Apocalyse. It is based on the Bible’s Book of Revelation and can be interpreted variously. But the essentials are fairly basic: as punishment for our sins, mankind will be visited by Pestilence, War and Famine, followed by the ragged cleanup hitter down in the left hand corner, Death. In short, the End of Days is coming!  With resurgent COVID, bloody insurrection in Washington, hunger, hardship and death ravaging the land -- and why not throw in climate change for good measure -- one could be forgiven for concluding that the Apocalypse has arrived. Take away the religious element, and I am nearly there.  Yes, ultimately and somehow we shall overcome these travails, but this is a bleeping depressing mess we are in.  Why do so many seemingly intelligent people selfishly equate wearing a life-saving mask to taking away their freedom?  Why do so many flout the travel and social gathering rules?   Why are there millions who distrust the vaccines and say they won’t take them?  Can this really be happening?  Sadly, yes, and those four horsemen show no signs of slowing down.  Now we have seared in our brains forever the image of Confederate flag-waving “patriots”, egged on by the putative “leader of the free world”,  storming the Capitol in Washington in a violent attempt to subvert the presidential election.   My Great Grandpa Allen Sherman West who fought under Lincoln at Gettysburg is roaring from his grave.  This is not what he fought for.  Nor my father Allen Sherman West III who served in WWII.   My generation, the Boomers, has enjoyed for the most part, life without war.  That has been a blessing in many ways, at least materially.  No generation in history has lived so high off the hog, enjoyed such an expansion of human rights (but not responsibilities) and seen the average lifespan increase so dramatically.    But as the body politic has fattened, has our spirit become flabby?  Where are the social sinews that hold us together and give us the strength to face adversity collectively?  We had them in previous wars.  Are they gone forever, or can we get them back?  I am not sure.   Sometimes it takes a truly epic catastrophe, an Apocalypse if you will, to bring people to their senses.  Let us hope that is not the direction we are headed in now.   Apologies for posing so many questions without answers.  I leave it to the next generation, including Allen Sherman West IV, to guide us to enlightenment.  Watch out for those horsemen and stay well, CW 

                                             §

You probably recognise this fine fellow.  He is Mark Carney, the brilliant former Governor of the Bank of Canada who was a key figure in reforming the global financial system after the collapse in 2008.  He then went on to the governorship of the Bank of England and deftly stickhandled his way through the thickets of Boris Johnson and Brexit. What you may not recognise is that Mr. Carney has long been a champion of “impact investing”; i.e., investing that takes into account social, environmental and governance factors, so-called ESG investing.  In particular, for years he has been advocating the need to take what he has termed “the climate emergency” into account on private enterprises’ balance sheets.  He has argued on the one hand that there are enormous shareholder liabilities for companies that do not include environmental costs in the liabilities column.  On the other hand, he has proclaimed from the rooftops that there is a massive opportunity for shareholder gains in companies that are prepared to put capital to work in addressing climate change and reducing carbon output. Last August the elite banker found a new home where he is putting his philosophy  to work.  Brookfield Asset Management has appointed Mark Carney Vice Chair and Head of ESG and Impact Fund Investing.     Canadian-based Brookfield has over $550 billion in long-life assets under management and its subsidiary, Brookfield Renewables is home to a growing portfolio of hydro, solar and wind investments around the globe.  Said the visionary CEO of Brookfield, Bruce Flatt: “Over time we see ESG and impact funds matching the size of our existing platforms.”  “We are not going to solve climate change without the private sector,” said Mr. Carney in the Globe and Mail.  “We are in the early innings of a very long game.”   He is not talking small potatoes.  According to the industry publication Pensions and Investments: “The value of global assets applying environmental, social and governance data to drive investment decisions has almost doubled over four years, and more than tripled over eight years, to $40.5 trillion in 2020.”                                            §    CLASS OF 2021 MID-YEAR REPORT CARD  Sparkling returns mock the Apocalypse Apocalypses come and go, as do wannabe fascist autocrats.  The markets don’t care.  As the Headmaster has often remarked, he has no insight into where the markets are going in the short term.  All he knows is that a basket of well-managed companies with competitive advantages in promising sectors will rise nicely over time.   To wit: since the beginning of the school year, July 1st, 2020, the Class of 2021 turned in an average investment performance of 20.3% vs. 21.1%, 17.4% and 12.3% for the S&P 500, the Dow and the TSX respectively.  “Bravo Class!” declared the Headmaster.  “You stared the four horsemen down and matched or bested your benchmarks.  Keep up the good work.” Class results for the calendar year (January 1, 2020 - December 31st, 2020), that included the stomach-turning contraction last March, were similarly impressive.  The Class returned 13.6% vs. 15.5%, 6.5% and 2.8% for the S&P, the Dow and the TSX.   Here are the sector by sector results. Financials - A  Each of these blue chips -- TD Bank, ScotiaBank, RBC and BlackRock -- bore out its pedigree, with an average return of 21.8%.  BlackRock was the leader of the pack with a sterling 32.6% gain.  Remember, as previously reported, BlackRock is the largest investment fund company ($7.8 trillion under management at the end of September) in the world and CEO Larry Fink, echoing Mark Carney, has been an industry leader in demanding that companies do a better job of incorporating ESG into their strategic planning and financial reporting.  All promoted.  Resources - A plus The lone Class member in this highly cyclical category is Nutrien, the Calgary-based fertilizers and agricultural supplies retailer.  As the owner of the world’s largest, and lowest cost, potash reserves, the company enjoys the advantages of scale.  Adds the Headmaster: “When commodity prices are on an upswing, as they are now, Nutrien can do very well.”  Hard-working Nutrien’s return was 40.4%.  Promoted.  Energy - B  Quoth the Headmaster: “Enbridge has been a loyal, blue chip pipeline performer almost since this Class was formed 13 years ago.  It is with regret that I had to let him go this past October.  There was no pivotal event. Rather, the advantages of being a dominant conveyor of fossil fuels, in my humble view, came to be out-weighed by the disadvantages of same.”  “My timing may not be perfect, but it is inarguable that the production of fossil fuel, and businesses tied to it like Enbridge, are approaching or in decline.  It may be a long decline, but in the meantime, we need to give our precious Class space to an energy candidate with the winds of change behind it.  Last October I replaced Enbridge with Brookfield Renewables.”  From July 1st to October 10th, Enbridge  returned minus 5.5%.  From October 10th to December 31st, Brookfield Renewables returned 16.5%.  Promoted. Classmate Algonquin Energy, with investments in solar, wind and hydro, didn’t miss a beat during these pandemical times, with rising revenues and profits.  Its stock appreciated 19.3%.  Promoted.  Infrastructure - B Once again, Brookfield Infrastructure proved the value of its business model, investing in long-term assets like rail, toll roads and cell phone towers, with regulated cash flows largely immune to the vicissitudes of the markets.  The company’s stock price advanced 12.7% over the past six months.   Adds the Headmaster: “I am delighted that CEO Sam Pollock has reiterated his commitment to recycling assets, selling mature businesses when prices are high, and buying new ones that are out of favour when prices are low.  No one plays the game better than Brookfield.”

The company is forecasting $2 billion in new investments annually for the next three to five years, all financed without issuing new shares.  Promoted. Retail - C Classmates Alimentation Couche Tard (convenience stores) and Metro (groceries), as one might expect, benefited from being deemed “essential” in the pandemic and to date have been largely unscathed.  Their share prices, however, don’t reflect this achievement, up a very modest 1.6%.   Adds the Headmaster: “There’s excellent value there.  Metro, in particular, reaped large gains in revenue and profits at the expense of the locked down restaurant sector.  It will be interesting to see how much of those gains they can hang onto.”  Both promoted.   Industry - A plus Workhorses CCL (containers and labels), CNR and John Deere showed the Headmaster their mettle with an average return over the past six months of 39.8%.  He says: “That average masks the spectacular performance of Deere, which had a gain of 71% fuelled by rising farm crop prices and the promise of major infrastructure stimulus spending on the heels of the US election.”  All promoted. Healthcare - C plus “I must remind myself that patience is a virtue,” gripes the Headmaster.  Yet again, the markets have failed to ignite under the Class healthcare trio, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Merck.  “Not to worry,” he quickly adds.  “While an average gain of 4.1% is nothing to write home about, each of these wonderful businesses is riding the pandemical wave with ease.  In fact, both J&J and Merck are in the thick of the vaccine race, although they don’t need a winner there to do well.  That would be icing on the cake." Final comment: “I have no doubt the market will better appreciate the value in these companies in the months ahead.”  All promoted. Telecom - B “Class member Telus,” says the Headmaster, “is nothing if not a model of consistency, once again boasting the lowest “churn rate” (customer turnover) in the industry.”  Telus also owns PC Magazine’s “Fastest Canadian Mobile Network” title.  These, and other virtues, underlie the company’s more than respectable return of 10.7%.  Little known fact: Telus derives about 15% of its revenues from Telus International, a global outsourcing and digital solutions company.  According to the the Headmaster: “There’s a possibility Telus will spin out International.  If they do, I would expect a nice bump in shareholder value.”  Promoted. Information Technology - A Classmates Visa, Apple, Microsoft and Open Text combined for an average return of 17.1%.  It must be noted, though, that Apple did more than its share of the heavy lifting, with a return of 45.5%.  “Of this foursome,” says the Headmaster, “only Visa has failed to grow its revenues and profits through the pandemic.  It’s almost perverse how well Apple and Microsoft have done.  Granted, luck has something to do with it, but good businesses make their luck.  Both these companies have spent years and billions making it easier for people to work, and learn, and be entertained remotely.  COVID-19 has only accelerated the trend they were already on.”  All promoted.  Entertainment - A plus  “I sometimes get asked,” says the Headmaster, “why I don’t invest in so-called ‘disruptive technology’ companies, the ones grabbing the headlines like Tesla and Square and Shopify with their sky high stock prices and stratospheric valuations to match. Too risky, I answer.  And I don’t need to be greedy.” “There are a number of companies in the Class of 2021 that give us plenty of exposure to innovation and disruption, without the nosebleed valuations and the attendant risk.  Look at good old Disney.  The growth in their streaming business is screaming, but I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it.”     Disney expects its streaming subscriber base to triple to about 250 million by 2024.  The stock is up 62.5% since last July 1st.  Promoted. If you would like further information on any of the investing ideas raised in this issue, or a complimentary consultation, please call or email.  CW     

[emweaver]

The Artist

Title: The Artist Genre: CliFi Noir/Science fiction (horror, maybe?) Words: 2,015 CW: Death, murder, blood, starvation Notes: So, Chuck Wendig runs this flash fiction challenge sometimes, over on his TerribleMinds blog. This story came out of one such challenge, wherein a writer was asked to choose (at random or not) between two lists of genres, making this a genre mash-up. They’re fun to do! And I picked (more or less at random) CliFi and Noir.  And the result is, frankly, one of my favourite stories of mine, and also a precursor to Wildfire in some ways (as this was the first time I “borrowed” @kbcypher‘s most excellent Bad Guy character).  I really do like this story, and I’m proud to share it with you all. 

The Artist

The pouring rain made short work of the artwork I'd created, washing away the blood in only a few minutes as I crouched beside the body of the young man. A shame, really, that he had to die so soon. I wouldn't have minded spending some more time with him, but circumstances had necessitated a change of plan and I'd had no choice in suspending our relationship sooner than I cared to. Reaching out, I brushed a strand of soaked dark hair away from his pale forehead before slipping my fingers down to close the lids over his pale blue eyes. He'd been dead for only a few minutes, but the chilly wet weather had already turned his skin cold and there was no longer any enjoyment in touching him.

"Goodnight, sweet prince," I whispered, quoting the old bard as I took one last look at the piece I had left for the authorities to find. The young man had been a street dweller; skinny and pale, but attractive with his pale blue eyes and dark hair in stark juxtaposition to each other. He wore the new clothes I'd given him and he wore them well even now that the rain had soaked them through. The designer jeans fit him perfectly, as did the charcoal grey shirt with the black tie to go with it. The black leather shoes still held a shine, which certainly said something about the quality of them, not to mention the cost.

The cost had been worth it, of course. In the grand scheme of things, money and wealth meant nothing when the world was ending in a slow but catastrophic climate disaster. Leaving my little pieces of art on the streets was merely one of a thousand ways to protest the inaction of previous generations that had left us with a dying world. My contribution was simply to say that no matter how much money was spent on external and material matters, death came to us all, and that included the world itself. Just as death had come to this young man in front of me all too soon.

The statement I'd made with this piece was in the quick and violent end that the young man had faced. The long gash across his throat had severed both carotid arteries and he had died in less than a minute. A much faster and less painful way of dying than what was offered to the world and the rest of humanity. You might say I was doing the boy a favour by taking his life in such a manner, keeping him from living through the death spasms of the world, but I'm not so philosophical or vainglorious. I'd killed him to make a statement, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less.

It was time to go. I stood, took a last look at my latest masterpiece and smiled in appreciation. The rain might have washed all the blood away, leaving a relatively clean body behind. Lying like that on his back with his hands on his chest where I had carefully placed them, he looked at peace, at least as long one could ignore the gaping wound across his throat. It marred his beauty, but that was the point, wasn't it? To take something beautiful and turn it ugly, just the way our predecessors had done to our planet. My work here was done for the night. Now it was only a matter of time before the authorities came to view it.

* * *

I ordered a whiskey as I sat down at the counter of the dimly lit bar. The place was all done up in dark woods, leather upholstered seats and tarnished mirrors. The shades of the lamps were green glass and there were candles in red glass bulbs on the tables. It was the kind of place where you could expect to be left alone with your drink, where no one asked you any questions or even bothered to notice you in any way. I liked the privacy this place offered, but mainly I had chosen it for the television that was permanently tuned to a local news channel.

The news was the same as it had been for years now: constant rain and flooding in our part of the world, eternal drought in most other parts of the world, all resulting in famine, wars, and refugee crises everywhere with nothing but talk about what to do about it. The latest and most ridiculous plan put forth yet was to evacuate the whole planet and resettle the entire population in the already established colonies around the solar system. Some even suggested striking out for interstellar space, looking for new systems to settle. I very much doubted that those colonies would want to accept more than eight billion new souls in their midst even if it was at all possible to get them off the Earth's surface before it was too late. I supposed it had to do with hope. People needed that, and the media was all too happy to provide it, right alongside all the dismay.

Two drinks and an hour later, I had waited long enough. I paid up my bill and left the bar without so much as a glance back, letting a small smile play across my lips as I heard the news anchor on the television report on a body found, and though the police declined to comment, they had it from an anonymous source that this was very likely another victim fallen to the serial killer they had named The Devil's Designer. Stupid name, but it had sprung up out of the way the killer - that is, I - dressed their victim in expensive designer clothes. I suppose it could have been worse. There were some reporters who still insisted on comparing my work to Jack the Ripper's, after all. Quite insulting, that, but I chose to simply ignore those ignorant bastards and go about my business. A true artist couldn't expect the press to get it right, could they?

* * *

I took my time with my next piece. Starvation, by its nature, necessarily takes a long time. And as I wanted this masterpiece to have a particular aesthetic, it took even longer, as simply starving the boy to death would not have accomplished the skin and bones appearance I was aiming for. And so for some time when no new victims turned up, the press speculated about what might have happened to the Devil's Designer. Some said that the killer had died in the flash flood that had occurred shortly after the last murder, others were convinced that the killer had moved on, found new killing fields either abroad or out in the colonies. So little patience the press had, and soon enough the stories about the Devil's Designer vanished from the television screens or were buried deep in the digital media's online editions.

For three months I kept the boy alive on a bowl of rice a day, all the water he could drink, while every now and then, I gave him a treat in the form of a candy bar in order to keep his hopes up. I lied to him, of course, telling him that once I had accomplished my goal of turning him into an image of starvation, he would be free to go, that he would become famous for what he had gone through and what he had survived. The media would love him, I told him, and he would never have to live on the streets again. In the beginning, he hadn't believed me; he was a smart kid and had knew well enough that people weren't to be trusted. But in the end, with his body and mind weakened, he began asking me questions about what it would be like to be famous and whether he would like it or not.

Comforting him, I continued lying, telling him that everything was going to be just fine, though at the same time, I began cutting back his rations, feeding him less and less every day. His face was gaunt now, to a point where I could almost see the skull through near-translucent skin. Skin which had a rather unhealthy yellowish colour now, that was mirrored in the whites of his eyes. The rest of his body was now at the point I had aimed for: skin sagging around bones with the joints sticking out as hard painful looking angles with no fat at all, and barely any muscle. I could count all the ribs and all the vertebrae in his spinal column just by looking. It was a cruel and horrendous change from the slender but well-muscled young man I had picked up three months prior, but the statement such a change made was beautiful and powerful. It was, in fact, hard to imagine how I could possibly go on from here. Perhaps, indeed, this masterpiece would be my last. Perhaps I could retire now.

By the time I stopped feeding him completely and cut off his water supply, the boy was too weak and confused to realise what was happening and in those last few days, he simply cried and when he could cry no longer, he just lay there quietly, dry and cracked lips moving though no sound came from them. At that point, he must have known that he wasn't going to live, but there was no fight left in him and one thunderous night, he slipped away peacefully as I sat by his side, holding his hand. "To die, to sleep," was my whispered quote for this young man, who was now at peace, in pain no more. I sat with him for a while before I got to work, dressing him in the clothes I had purchased for him that first day when I had met him and lured him in with the promise of new clothes, a hot meal, and a warm bed for the night. The expensive slacks, the designer t-shirt and jacket, as well as the shoes had fitted him perfectly then, but now they sagged unflatteringly around his emaciated starved body, just as I'd planned.

The very last, and most important, touch I made to this piece was to slip a handful of photographs into the pocket of the jacket. They pictured the young man in his new outfit, beaming happily at the camera, clearly thrilled to not only be photographed but feeling comfortable and sexy in the clothes he wore. He had been quite beautiful then with his short blond hair, chocolate brown eyes and a deep, albeit fake, tan. He had worn the surfer look well, and I smiled as I recalled talking with him as I took the photos. He'd wanted to go to California, learn to surf and just lie on the beach when there were no waves, soaking up the sun. I hadn't had the heart to tell him that the image of Southern California as a paradise had long since been shattered by drought and rising sea levels. I had allowed him to keep that dream safe and sound to take with him to the grave. It was the least I could do, after all, in return for him to become part of my own legacy.

I left him in public, lying on a bench near a high-scale and expensive restaurant that specialised in gourmet burgers and made my usual wait at the bar, watching the news and waiting for the report on my latest masterpiece. When it finally came, after almost three hours of waiting, it was buried between a story of record high temperature average for the month of December, and an item speculating on the building of space elevators in order to assist in the evacuation of the planet. I sighed, finished my drink with a feeling of defeat and left the bar to walk home in the pouring rain, trying to assure myself that most of the great artists had rarely been appreciated by their contemporaries.

THE END

[cannibalguy]

“I know that babies taste best”: SNOWPIERCER (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)

“I know that babies taste best”: SNOWPIERCER (Bong Joon-ho, 2013)

Verschlimmbesserung: a word I found in the Urban Dictionary. It means an attempted improvement, which just makes things worse.

How can we make the frightening prospects of global catastrophe due to climate change even worse? Well, apparently the best way is to come up with a half-arsed way of fixing it. In Snowpiercer, a corporation has come up with a substance, CW-7, which is sprayed into the…

[radthursdays]

#RadThursdays Roundup 04/11/2019

Mural of a brown-skinned person in vibrant clothing kneels and holds a cup-and-string to their ear, while their head explodes into abstract shapes. Mural by Bicicleta sem Freio, part of the project Titanes. Source.

Issues

Raising Boys With a Broader Definition of Masculinity: "The key, he writes is 'a relationship in which a boy can tell that he matters … A young man’s self confidence is not accidental or serendipitous but derives from experiences of being accurately understood, loved, and supported.' I spoke with Reichert about how parents, teachers, and other adults can strengthen their relationships with boys, even when those boys act out, and in so doing help them create a broader expression of masculinity for themselves."

What Just Happened? Ohio Just Effectively Banned Abortion: "Since January 2019, 12 states have introduced so-called heartbeat bills that outlaw abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. Today’s decision makes Ohio the fifth state to sign that bill into law, alongside Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, and North Dakota. Georgia’s ban, passed in March, is likely to be next in line."

Nobody’s history is innocent. We must be brave enough to claim it: Youth activists speak out about what matters to them: from societies admitting their mistakes, to climate change and race.

A tessellated, rainbow-colored face and body abut a rainbow patterned column. Mural by Okuda San Miguel, part of the project Titanes. Source.

Messaging

Down to Earth: Why is the story of climate catastrophe so hard to tell?: "How do you talk about an emergency when it seems as if no one is listening? For years, journalists, scientists, and activists concerned with the ongoing horror of climate catastrophe have faced this problem. Arguably the most important issue of our time, climate change is a known ratings killer. If you aren’t already a victim of climate-related disaster, the issue can feel far away, and many readers find the unrelenting rise of global warming too disturbing, or simply too overwhelming, to contemplate. 'No one wants to read about climate,' a literary agent once told me, 'It’s too depressing.'"

The radical possibility of common sense: "Love Trumps Hate and the Resistance and We’re Better Than This America and Immigrants Are Welcome Here and We Believe In Science and the Future Is Female. The supposed obviousness is the point. All these slogans are built on top of this country’s foundational myths — about American democracy and the inevitability of justice and of meritocracy. Their appeal depends on the extent to which you find these myths compelling, because common sense is really just the everyday form of ideology."

A face in profile with its tongue sticking out shoots lasers out of its eyes at a colorful, pixellated wall. Mural by Demsky J and Smithe, part of the project Titanes. Source.

Stories

Stories of transracial adoptees must be heard – even uncomfortable ones: "As an adoptee, I’ve been asked to make this distinction over and over: only one family can be 'good'. Only one family can be 'real'. So I must choose between the white adoptive parents that have been regularly portrayed (by others) as selfless saviors, and the Korean immigrant family that, by default, has been relegated to illegitimacy, selfishness, otherness. And if I am not prepared to choose and love only my white family and forswear all others, then I am unworthy of any family’s love."

[CW: war trauma] As ICE cracks down on Cambodian communities, a mother says goodbye to her son: "TJ’s immigration status has been in a state of limbo for years. Immigrants can be stripped of their green cards for a range of different crimes, but Cambodia was one of 23 nations that refused to repatriate its deported citizens. As a result, TJ and other Cambodians immigrants have remained in the United States for decades after they were stripped of their legal status."

The Death of an Adjunct: Thea Hunter was a promising, brilliant scholar. And then she got trapped in academia’s permanent underclass. "To be a perennial adjunct professor is to hear the constant tone of higher education’s death knell. The story is well known—the long hours, the heavy workload, the insufficient pay—as academia relies on adjunct professors, non-tenured faculty members, who are often paid pennies on the dollar to do the same work required of their tenured colleagues."

Direct Action Item

Substitute alternatives for ableist words and terms: "Being aware of language—for those of us who have the privilege of being able to change our language—can help us understand how pervasive ableism is. Ableism is systematic, institutional devaluing of bodies and minds deemed deviant, abnormal, defective, subhuman, less than." There's a list of replacement words in the link. Some favorites: contemptible, insipid, ridiculous, vomit-inducing.

If there’s something you’d like to see in next week’s #RT, please send us a message.

In solidarity!

What is direct action? Direct action means doing things yourself instead of petitioning authorities or relying on external institutions. It means taking matters into your own hands and not waiting to be empowered, because you are already powerful. A “direct action item” is a way to put your beliefs into practice every week.

[drferox]

20 questions with Dr Ferox #2

 Greetings Vetlings! Ready for a second round of 20 questions (and answers) as I work through my inbox? If you’re not sitting comfortably, doing so now would be a good idea. these are in no particular order. If you’ve asked on anonymous, see if you’ve been answered below.

@sckoviaaccords​ asked: My cat had bladder stones, the dissolvable kind with medicine and proper food fortunately, but she got in the habit of peeing everywhere because it hurt her. The stones are gone, but she's still peeing inside, when she used to use the doggy door. My mom keeps saying that we'll have to get rid of her if she keeps peeing on the carpet. How do I stop her from doing this?             

First make sure the stones are actually gone, and that there are no crystals remaining, or residual pain. Contact your vet about this. Cats may avoid where they used to toilet if they have associated that place with pain. Then consider using litter trays inside, especially if there is a particular spot the cat is already frequently urinating. Different cats may prefer different styles of litter tray, or different types of litter, so use one she prefers (offer her two, then stick with the one she chooses). If she will use a litter tray inside, you can then slowly move it a foot or so each week closer to a more appropriate location. As a cheap trick you can also put down tin foil (aluminium foil) where she is urinating. You can also make decoy food plated by gluing some dry food to a paper plate, adding some loose food and leaving them where the cat is urinating. Most cats only urinate where they can get food, but this may only deflect her to another inappropriate location on its own.

@in-a-drought-lioness asked: What kind of bladder stones are there? I've heard there are up to 6 different types? I answered the last question tax but I think there was an old one about pokemon? I would say you remind me of Tauros, because in the latest game they seem to be protector pokemon and you are a protector of animals.

There can be several different types, and it’s not impossible to get a mix of two. the most common ones are struvite and calcium oxalate. Urate, cystine, calcium phosphate, sillicate or drug residue stones/crystals (looking at you trimethoprim sulphonamides!) can also occur, but are less common. 

@rarmeowz​ asked: Do lungworms cause any long term damage in cats? My cat was a stray, and when we took her in she had lungworms. She was quickly and successfully treated and has been worm free for over a year, but I'd like to know if there's anything I should look out for, or if her lungs could be potentially damaged somehow

Aelurostrongylus abstrusus is the species usually referred to as cat lungworm, though other parasitic worm species exist which live in the lung. They don’t seem to cause long term damage in my experience, though incompletely treated infections can predispose to chronic bronchitis. Affected cats often have an elevated eosinophil count on hematology. This parasite is not always detected with faecal flotation, you often need a Baermann technique.  

@thehollowedangel​ said: Hi! I love your blog and was wondering if you had any other veterinary blogs to recommend? Thank you, hope your doing well!

Confession. I don’t actually...follow...any...veterinary blogs. They are just too reminiscent of work and don’t let my brain switch off and relax. i pop in on some sometimes when I’m in the mood, but don’t want unexpected random rants or clinical pictures popping up on my feed and forcing me to think. I do try to relax in my downtime

One place I do recommend checking out though is Dean Scott’s FunnyVet.com as the cartoons are funny, but very accurate.

Anonymous asked: Do you find that any dog sports are more dangerous to dogs than others? Thank you for the wonderful blog, since I'm curious, do you play D&D currently?

Not particularly if you’re talking about endangering their life. Anything that involved jumping or sudden turns if you’re talking about injuries. But in perspective, more dogs tear their cruciate ligaments around the home than they do at an event. Racing greyhounds are an entirely different topic.

And unfortunately no, I’m not playing D&D at the moment. But I am being involved in a sci-fi podcast.

@mygearsarestartingtotremble​ asked: I started getting curious about heartworm in Australia and if you guys had it and you do! Which surprised me. How big is preventive care in your hospital?             

Why would it surprise you? Lots of things try to kill things down here, and we most certainly have the mosquitoes! Prevention is very big in more northern states, but down here it’s not as big. There is even one local clinic who actively claims other vets that push heartworm prevention are ripping you off! I always advise people that prevention is so easy, and while the risks may be low locally, the consequences of infection can be catastrophic. I suspect it will be more common here with climate change, the disease already seems to be moving south.

Understandably Anonymous asked: (cw: animal death, uh... taxidermy?) When my cat dies, I think I want to keep his pelt (in the least creepy way possible - of course I would get a professional to do it). Is this Too Weird to talk to a vet about, and I should make some vague noises about taking the body home to bury if we ever have to put him down, or are the odds high that my vet has Seen Everything and won't be fazed by That Weirdo Who Wants to Skin Their Cat? I don't anticipate this being relevant soon, he's only 11ish.            

That is certainly a weird one, but not that extra weird. I don’t know whether your vet would be fazed with this knowledge at all, but you are certainly within your rights to take a deceased pet home, usually for burial. Most vets will shave a patch of fur on a leg for catheter placement or intravenous access though, you might have to address this if you’re not okay with that.

@vantastrophe asked: Anything cool happen to you this week? :) Hope you have a good day!             

I had a public holiday last Monday and discovered red velvet ice cream. That’s pretty cool.

@lapras-defense-squad asked: Hello Dr. Ferox :) I was wondering if you could please provide some advice on how to approach vet clinics in order to get a volunteer position. I am an undergraduate with no clinic experience, so I am really nervous about calling. Would asking for a volunteer position immediately (after submitting a resume and cover letter though) be too ambitious? Should I ask to shadow first? Thank you!            

I suspect things work a little differently where you are, but generally in Australia we have students for work experience, which is unpaid. There’s a relevant post here. Asking to shadow before asking for a volunteer position is probably prudent.

Anonymous asked: Have you done anything on harpy or half-human/half-bird biology?

No I have not. I don’t know when I might either, that will depend on my Patreon supporters asking or voting for it.

@a-floral-ghost asked: Is it true that when a dog or cat has an upset stomach it'll eat grass? Or is that just a weird myth

It’s half true. Some dogs and cats will eat grass just because it’s there, at a chewable height, or because they investigate the world with their mouths. Some will chew grass when they feel nauseous. It’s not so much a matter of eating grass makes them vomit, but more they felt like vomiting anyway so ate grass.

Anonymous asked: Could I ask you about cats that have shorter limbs? More specifically, the issues that you commonly see in cat breeds that have shorter limbs (those munchkins cats) and those that "naturally" have a larger torso to limb length ratio". (Question tax: Came for animal facts. Stayed for Sass and "WTH does that happen in Aussie?!") Thanks for taking the time to answer~

I’m not sure what you mean by the ‘natural’ cats, but I’ve written about Munchkin cats here.

Anonymous asked: In your hospital (is a vet's office called a hospital) have you encountered any amazing dog rescues and recoveries? They're just so heartwarming to see

Not much from the dog rescues here, but I was involved with more in Tasmania. My favorite animal sanctuary is Big Ears, and I heartily recommend everyone check them out.

@gram-stained-paws asked: In what dilution do you use salty water for wound flushing?

In the clinic I use sterile saline. For at home I tell people to use a teaspoon of salt to a cup of water (ideally pre-boiled). It’s easy for them to remember that way.

@bi-furiosa said: Hi! I wanted to recommend, if you haven't already seen it, a channel on YouTube called VetRanch. They're a charity of sorts that pull unwanted dogs in need of medical attention from local shelters, help rehabilitate them, and then work to get then adopted. They video the full process, including surgeries. They also frequently feature animals with demodex, and since that's what you're favorite parasite is, I thought you might be interested. Love your blog, and your patience with asks!

I’m sure that will appeal to a lot of people, but it doesn’t appeal to me at all. It’s work, and I get enough of it at work. I don’t need to be watching more veterinary cases, exposed to the compassion fatigue that’s likely to generate, and assess or critique everything that’s done or said. It’s just not going to be relaxing, but that you for thinking of me.

Another Anonymous asked: Okay! You're a vet so you obviously talk about living animals a lot, but if you could chose one extinct species to bring back, which one would it be??

I would have to say thylacine. They’re pretty special to me, unlikely to be a threat to humans, and only went extinct recently so their habitat would probably still support them if they were to be released. It’s also entirely our fault they went extinct, so I feel it’s only fair if we were to bring them back.

Anonymous asked: Kind of a stupid question but is it possible for a lizard to be warm blooded? Also, what is the difference between red and blue blood and can a mammal evolve with blue blood?

Warm and cold blooded are a bit of a misnomer. Ectothermic animals, like reptiles, are dependent on external heat to maintain their body temperature. They can get quite warm! It’s certainly possible for a lizard to evolve endothermic capabilities, if that’s what you’re asking.

The difference between red or blue blood is the metal ion in the oxygen carrying molecule. Mammals have haemoglobin which contains iron, producing the red color. Some insects and molluscs have haemocyanin which contains copper, causing the blue-green color. Haemocyanin is not present in mammals, and if a mammal-like creature did evolve it, I would question whether it truly was a mammal.

Anonymous asked: One of my rats is rather fat, and also blind. This is a problem, because it seems she doesnt use the enrichment i have for the rats as much (especially the wheel) maybe because she is blind? All the rats get is a constantly full bowl of oxbow rat food and occasional treats of plain cheerios and very rarely (maybe once a month) chickpeas. I give two of my rats other, higher calorie treats because they are so active they have problems being too skinny. Is there anything i can do to help my fatrat?

I really don’t see a huge number of rats to be able to offer you advice. If she’s blind she may not be able to use enrichment objects that require movement, but may still be able to enjoy enrichment objects with different textures or smells to explore. There’s bound to be better ratty folks to ask than me though.

@und1ne-prince asked: What/which is your favorite dog and cat breeds?

There are lots of dogs I like, including greyhounds, JRTs, Dobermans, and Swedish Valhunds. For cats it’s the humble moggy.

The last Anonymous said: Wait, what? There are people who think vets should work free? Why? It should be obvious that you're practicing actual medicine, not just randomly pulling diagnoses and treatments out of your ass.

Ah, but they say that if we really cared about animals we’d treat them for free.