2023-07-31

While we (as a species) fiddle, the Atlantic Ocean has other plans.

Not that the US craptialist ruling class cares.

https://fair.org/home/humans-might-be-about-to-break-the-ocean-dont-stop-the-presses/

The study, published by an open-access affiliate of the prestigious scientific journal Nature, used new statistical methods, rather than new observations, to make its prediction, which contradicts the IPCC’s latest assessment. The IPCC (6/14/19) deemed a full collapse this century “very unlikely,” but it relied on data that only went back to 2004. The new study, the Guardian reported, “used sea surface temperature data stretching back to 1870 as a proxy for the change in strength of AMOC currents over time.” The study projected the collapse of the ocean system between 2025 and 2095, with 2050 the most likely date, without sharp reductions in global carbon emissions.

Some climate scientists are cautious about the new study, suggesting that more observational data is needed to say the collapse could happen so imminently (Grist, 7/26/23). But as climate scientist Jonathan Foley argued (Twitter, 7/27/23), though the study doesn’t offer certainty, the consequences are so dire that “the only prudent reaction to this is to work to address climate change, as quickly as possible, to avoid these kinds of impacts.”

“I really wish that journalists and editors took this as seriously as scientists do, and reported it loudly and accurately, taking the time to get the facts right,” Foley wrote. “The planet is in trouble, and we need to have the best possible information.”

Unfortunately for the planet and those who inhabit it, corporate media would rather look the other way, at worst, and offer scary clickbait headlines with few connections to actionable policy at best.

Welcome to the climate boiling era.

 

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean, in Long Beach, WA - 2.

2023-07-29

What? Evidently lab-grown 'beef' is potentially worse for the environment than the real thing?

Lab-Grown Meat’s Carbon Footprint Potentially Worse Than Retail Beef

https://youtube.com/shorts/6KVrSKowXB4?feature=share


More detail here -> https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/lab-grown-meat-carbon-footprint-worse-beef

Researchers conducted a life-cycle assessment of the energy needed and greenhouse gases emitted in all stages of production and compared that with beef. One of the current challenges with lab-grown meat is the use of highly refined or purified growth media, the ingredients needed to help animal cells multiply. Currently, this method is similar to the biotechnology used to make pharmaceuticals. This sets up a critical question for cultured meat production: Is it a pharmaceutical product or a food product?

“If companies are having to purify growth media to pharmaceutical levels, it uses more resources, which then increases global warming potential,” said lead author and doctoral graduate Derrick Risner, UC Davis Department of Food Science and Technology. “If this product continues to be produced using the “pharma” approach, it’s going to be worse for the environment and more expensive than conventional beef production.”

Getting ready for the next trip.

This time it's to see the Pacific Ocean.

Let's hope the kids behave.

2023-07-27

A terrible miscarriage of justice and a life destroyed - but you'll never hear about it in the American legacy media.

That pesky bit about facts, evidence, and innocence -> 

https://consortiumnews.com/2023/07/27/free-after-17-years-in-prison-for-a-rape-he-didnt-commit/

Also missing are any accountability, responsibility, and justice for Andrew Malkinson.

Great to see these two on RBN.

 

Having just recently completed obtaining another IT certification (more than just for relevance, but a reinforcement to myself that I'm valuable, not just useful) ...

 ... I can certainly say one thing with certainty.

I'm glad I left Microsoft years ago, and never looked back.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/20/tech-industry-layoffs-2023/

Microsoft

Announced July 10 that the company is eliminating additional jobs a week after the start of its 2023 fiscal year. These layoffs are in addition to the 10,000 layoffs announced in January.

 

 

Shocking, but hardly surprising. That's capitalism.

 

2023-07-25

War Criminal Alert: Attention blue-no-matter whos, and blue MAGAs.

If you think you're somehow better than the Trump/MAGA types, here's a question for you.

Why is your beloved Jim-Crow Joe Biden and his administration rehabilitating a war criminal?

https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/25/the-strange-rehabilitation-of-elliott-abrams/

Frankly, I don't see any real differences between Biden and Trump - other than their name and brand color.

But then again, is it really Joe Biden doing this? The man cannot function outside a room:

 

2023-07-21

Starting my last vacation of the fiscal year soon.

2 weeks - yay.

Though there's a ton of things to do -

  • Studying for a recent training class at work - that I had to pay for myself (contrary to my employer's public claims about funding their employees' career and work aspirations).
  • Taking care of some health-related issues
  • Filling out Passport forms for myself and the kids
  • Couple of day trips
  • Trip down to the Washington and Oregon state coasts, Portland, and the Clark County Fair

2023-07-19

What a fucking bastard Edward Bernays was.

 

 

And to think, I grew up loving eggs and bacon (and toast and hash browns) for breakfast!

Race and Racism: What's never taught in American schools.

I can see why -

Making things more complicated, many states currently ban teaching “certain topics” related to race. These bans often specifically forbid teaching “critical race theory” but without defining what it is. And since 2022, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed what he called the “Individual Freedom” measure banning educators from teaching about race; at least 17 states have followed Florida’s lead.

Critical race theory (CRT), however, does have a definition. In simple terms, it is an academic field of inquiry used in universities and law schools, which examines how racism can become systemic and how it can be perpetuated by institutions, laws and regulations.

Context and so much more here: https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/19/missing-links-in-textbook-history-racism-and-race/

2023-07-14

Coming heat wave.

https://www.wpc.ncep.noaa.gov/discussions/hpcdiscussions.php?disc=pmdspd

Wow.

Still don't think we're headed for a climate catastrophe?

Fed raising rates - who benefits?

Well there's the big US banks -

Those are some of them.

How about Blackrock?

(Reuters) -BlackRock Inc, the world's largest asset manager, posted a 25% rise in its second-quarter adjusted profit on Friday, benefiting from investors pouring money into its various market funds.

On an adjusted basis, BlackRock earned $1.4 billion, or $9.28 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $1.1 billion, or $7.36 per share, a year earlier.

The New York-based firm ended the second quarter with $9.4 trillion in assets under management (AUM), up from $8.5 trillion a year earlier and higher than $9.1 trillion in the first quarter this year.

 

Well Ms. Holmes gets two years knocked off her sentence.

Being white, female, and bottle blonde and married to a rich husband had nothing to do with it - no.

2023-07-11

Bank of America fined for 'fake accounts' and double-dipping 'fees'.

https://abc13.com/bank-of-america-fake-accounts-cfpb-consumer-financial-protection/13489219/

Notice what's missing?

No criminal charges/arrests/trials/convictions/jailtime for anyone all the way up to those that made all the profit.

And above all, no accountability.

And mind you, banks like this will do it again; it's a question of when, and not how.

The worst part about all this?

It's just business as usual for them. They'll pay the fines and continue on as if nothing has happened. 


This is US capitalism, and how it works.

2023-07-10

My lack of true real interest in MLB has finally come to light.

I haven't really been following for decades, mostly because where I live, the team (Seattle Mariners) around here sucks.

But somehow I still missed this - > https://www.mlb.com/glossary/rules/designated-hitter-rule:

he designated hitter was adopted by the National League as part of the 2022-26 collective bargaining agreement.

What. The. Fuck.

Why?

To me, a DH is never something more than a part-time player because they never take the field.

Yes I know some players' careers have been extended because while they could no longer field (due to injury or otherwise) - they could still hit. I've always thought that was wrong.

This is one reason why I never cared for the American League style of MLB. At least the NL was staunchly opposed to it.

Until now. I guess losing all those All-Star games, and World Series since has made the owners there more eager for home runs? After all, isn't that why MLB turned a blind eye to the steroid scandal?

 

UPMC - the Scumazon of health care.

Reminder - the US capitalist system ruling class is set to 'disappear' Julian Assange for Wikleaks revealing said system's crimes.

https://scheerpost.com/2023/07/09/chris-hedges-journalists-abandoned-julian-assange-and-slit-their-own-throats/

2023-07-03

Something I haven't stopped thinking about for years -> the bitter legacy of White Allies.

 

https://blackagendareport.com/ride-or-die-rachel-corries-body-and-bitter-legacy-white-allies

Just a snippet (of a larger set of issues) -

In exchange for their silence, the settler elite extends to whites a guarantee of safety and a meager share of the spoils that accrue from the dispossession of the colonized. Hence, a genetic marker of settler colonialism is the normalization of political violence against Black and Brown people while it is mostly absent from the state’s relationship to whites. 

A July 1st some can never forget.

https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2023/06/29/july-1-marks-the-100-year-anniversary-of-the-chinese-exclusion-act.html

July 1 marks the 100-year anniversary of the Chinese Exclusion Act

Concordia’s Alice Ming Wai Jim reflects on the racist 1923 law that restricted Asian immigration to Canada

 

Sigh - back to work.

At least I had some fun.