Tiny Life Journal - My morning walk with Cosmo was, as usual, a feast of birdsong and sun sparkling on dewy grass.
A few minutes later bike ride takes me past an opening in the understory of the woods lit by soft light over lush grass. I stopped to admire it and saw a friend in there.
A year ago Jeremy described our current crisis very well:
In 2024, we face the likely prospect of two old men representing two dying ideologies competing for the presidency of the United States...
The only thing that unites these two groups is their absolute devotion to the capitalist imperative of continual economic growth.
Both of these ideologies are dying. They are dying because neither of them can or will face the actual future.
The way forward in the US is not about a party or candidate or particular election, the way forward is about rediscovering democracy and redefining what democracy should be in America in 2024.
Democracy here is fundamentally broken at a systemic, foundational level and has been for many years.
Tiny Life Journal - Laundry day! I don't wash clothes nearly as often as most do. And I keep clothes until they are thin and falling apart. Many of my shirts have holes in them. Also, hang dry is a free, low-tech way to use the sun.
The problem with American "democracy" is not the terrible candidates. The ugly truth is that American's don't want to be BOTHERED with democracy. We don't want to be BOTHERED to take the time out of our private lives to be citizens. We're only ever interested in a quick fix.
We are the problem.
Comfortable, well-to-do middle class guy talking about fixing the climate problem: The solution is voting for Democrats, especially Biden. Your lifestyle changes are ridiculous.
Second well-to-do middle class guy: Ha, yeah, so true. Way better than adopting a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.
Me: It's not a problem, it's an emergency. Taking all possible action on all levels is critical.
First middle class guy: Yeah, no kidding. It's just performative virtue signaling.
Second middle class guy: Yep, we can't be purists about this. The real game in town is voting and policy. Sure, they're not perfect but better than the other guy. Your actions don't matter and may do more harm than good. Hold your nose and vote, that's really the only way to go.
Me: It's not a problem, it's an existential crisis. I vote. But I also look at the track record of a governmental system that clearly has not, to this day, acted with speed and conviction. I vote but I also acknowledge the reality, the facts of the record of a broken political and legislative process that has been bought and paid for. But yes, yes, I vote.
But unlike some, I don't stop there. I'm not willing to put my personal maximum comfort, my convenience, my hyper-levels of consumption, my assumed right to air-travel - above the future survival of my fellow humans. So, unlike some that will vote and call it a day, I'll vote and do more. Unlike those that have what THEY need to be comfortable (for now) I'll also consider those that do not and I'll act in every other way that is possible including silly, quaint and trivial lifestyle changes.
I'll live as though my ethical, daily choices matter because my conception of "We the people" includes me. My understanding of democracy means that I can act in more ways than one. As a citizen I refuse to offload my responsibility to the future to a limited electoral process. I choose to act as though We the people should be more than occasionally stepping into a voting booth.
Of course I'll vote. I also protest when possible. I'll also make phone calls, write letters to the editor (mostly a thing of the past) and send emails. I'll act alone and with others to initiate local actions for local change.
And I will do everything else that I possibly can because decades of evidence shows me that voting alone is likely putting all our eggs in one basket, a basket that's being held by a fox.
Tiny Life Journal - The first blackberries of the season have been teasing the past few days. I harvested a small bowl today, half for a blackberry lemonade smoothie and half for blackberry-apple baked oatmeal. I eat oatmeal almost everyday, sometimes twice a day. It's at least 30% of my daily calories so I buy it in bulk in 50lb bags. It costs a lot less and I can compost the paper bag.
I say baked but really, it's microwaved because I don't use the oven in the summer as that works against my effort to stay cool. But what I've found is that it's entirely possible to make baked oatmeal in the microwave. A recipe for a one person meal or perhaps a 2-3 serving snack:
First I do this bit: 1/2 cup oatmeal blended into flour with 1tsp sugar, 1/8th tsp salt, 1/4th tsp cinnamon 1/2 cup oatmeal
Then 3 tsp sugar and 1/4 cup soy milk blended into blackberries for a second. Mix that into the oatmeal. It's thick like batter, evenly wet but not soupy like oatmeal. I usually make this without the blackberries in which case I use 1/4 cup soy milk and 1/4 cup water to get the right consistency.
Then slice a small apple or half a large apple. And put it on top, kinda push it into the oatmeal a bit so some is mixed in, some is on top.
Microwave 2-3 minutes. Cover it with a plate and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Filing this under Siri is better than pundits will admit. Some parts of my blackberries are white (the individual berry bits) so I asked Siri "why are some of the parts of a blackberry white" and it came back with a real Siri Knowledge answer and a link to a page about White Druplet Disorder.
Tiny Life Journal
I've been pondering a change in what I post here. In the past year my tendency has been to post several times a day, usually links to recent climate or human rights news which I'll continue but to a lesser degree. I want to shift to more personal posts about aspects of living a simpler, climate adapted life. What does it mean to live with an intentional goal to draw down energy consumption? What does a low energy life look and feel like? I'm thinking I'll call it Tiny Life Journal. I could just as easily call it Slow Life Journal.
We're not even trying to slow down. We're accelerating to our doom.
U.S. Oil And Gas Production Are Ahead Of Last Year’s Record Pace
Last year marked a record for U.S. oil production with an average daily production of 12.93 million barrels per day (BPD). That record was 5% greater than the previous record of 12.31 million bpd set in 2019.
However, current data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows that average daily production thus far in 2024 is 13.12 million bpd — 7.1% ahead of the production level of a year ago and 1.4% higher than last year’s record pace.
An excellent introduction to Noam Chomsky's work on mass media analysis.
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media | Documentary - YouTube
Funny, provocative and accessible, Manufacturing Consent explores the political life and ideas of Noam Chomsky, world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist...
22-award-winning documentary highlights Chomsky's probing analysis of mass media and his critique of the forces at work behind the daily news. Viewers are encouraged to extricate themselves from the “web of deceit” by undertaking a course of “intellectual self-defence.”
So, to summarize, the State Department does not care and will not be bothered with our complicity in war crimes.
Got it.
U.S. State Department Pressed On Hind Rajab’s Killing For Four Months Straight - YouTube
For four months, Prem Thakker of The Intercept has pressed the U.S. on the killing of Hind Rajab, her family, and the paramedics sent to save her. Over and over, the U.S. has said it is waiting for Israel to investigate itself. Independent investigation from Forensic Architecture finds it “not plausible” that Israeli forces did not see who they shot 335 bullets at. Read the full story...
This is what happens when people are not paying attention to the details. This is the future of trying to feed billions of humans during a climate emergency.
How World Leaders are Scrambling to Secure Food in the Shadows | Amanpour and Company
In a world full of unrest, fears are mounting about access to our most vital resources — food and water. "The Grab" is a documentary that chronicles the way certain governments are attempting to control these global resources.
This tells you how broken we are. This is white supremacy normalized in the form of a liberal, a Democrat in 2024 America. If this isn’t white supremacy, what is it?
Mehdi asks Congressman Dean Phillips about the recent operation to free four Israelies when over 274 Palestinians were killed: Is it worth it? How many Palestinian lives are worth an Israelie life?
Phillips responded It’s an unacceptable price. But I think it’s a price that has to be paid.
“Why aren’t all lives equal?” Mehdi challenges and then flips the question to ask if, by that logic, would it be fair for Palestinians to kill hundreds of Israelies to rescue Palestinians being held and tortured by Israelies?
Phillips cannot answer the question.
Wealthy white people are happy to destroy the planet. No shits given.
The white supremacy of the 10% is a disgrace.
Holidaymakers in Greece warned of heatwave risks | euronews - YouTube
Greek officials are warning foreigners visiting the Mediterranean country over summer of the dangers associated with the extreme weather.
In a field of grass and wildflowers, Queen Anne's Lace and smallflower desert-chicory greet the sunrise.
Lots of Republican Governors making disaster declarations recently. Our daily headlines are now a steady stream of one climate disaster after another.
And yet, we'll insist on our meat. Our air travel. Our purchase of whatever pleases us. We throw the future away every day with our choices.
Record flooding inundates northwest Iowa, prompts evacuations, isolates one city
"I can tell you that the devastation is severe and it's widespread," Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds said at a news conference Sunday afternoon in Des Moines.
In front of our eyes, and yet the vast majority in the US will pretend there's nothing they can do.
Climate crisis driving exponential rise in most extreme wildfires | The Guardian
Scientists say this is climate change “playing out in front of our eyes”.
The analysis of satellite data showed the number of extreme fires had risen by more than 10 times in the past 20 years in temperate conifer forests, such as in the western US and Mediterranean. It has increased by seven times in the vast boreal forests in northern Europe and Canada. Australia was also a hotspot for these devastating fires.
Just one more effect of the climate emergency we are now in: Depletion of major groundwater source threatens Great Plains farming - YouTube
In the heart of the country, Great Plains farmers and ranchers produce a quarter of all U.S. crops and 40 percent of its beef. But they rely on a resource that has been slowly drying up, water. Stephanie Sy reports from Kansas for our series on the impact of climate change, Tipping Point.
Anyone can make this kind of easy lifestyle change voluntarily today and be a part of the solution. Or don't and know that every day you're making it worse. Your choice.
We need to talk about your starving grandchildren. - YouTube
You might not want to think about this one, but our scientists tell us if we carry on the way we are now, the global food system will have completely broken down by the time a child born today hits retirement age. The good news is, it can be solved. The question is, can we be bothered?