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monstersdownthepath · 5 years

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Spiritual Spotlight: Imot, the Symbol of Doom

True Neutral Psychopomp Usher of Inevitability, Mathematics, and Portents

Domains: Luck, Repose, Rune, Weather Subdomains*: Curse, Psychopomp, Legislation, Storms

Concordance of Rivals, pg. 9

Obedience: Spend an hour in a dark space barely large enough for you to fit and cast your thoughts out from your body. Benefit: Gain a +4 insight bonus on Perception checks to spot portents and traps; this expanded insight also allows you to disable magic traps as if you had the Rogue’s Trapfinding ability.

(*IMPORTANT NOTE: The Subdomains are my best guess; Subdomains are not listed in Concordance of Rivals. Anywhere!)

Pity you ended up in a desert for this adventure, eh? No, but finding a space ‘barely large enough for you to fit’ is likely going to be difficult if you’re not an urban environment. Most DMs will just wave their hand and say that there’s an outcropping of rocks or a hollowed out tree here or there that will allow you to complete your Obedience, but if you’re in hostile territory it may become more and more difficult to find a safe space for you to squeeze down into. I suppose you could technically carry or create your own by toting around a sack just barely you-sized, but then comes the awkwardness of getting into and out of the thing each day. Do you ask for help? Or do you trust that you’ll eventually escape? Many Obediences have an unspoken ‘eject button’ that lets you leap from the ritual and defend yourself if necessary and begin again later, but Imot’s Obedience leaves you terribly, terribly vulnerable.

Also, “cast your thoughts from your body” is a strange sentence to me. Is that just a fancy way of saying ‘meditate?’ Do you legitimately have to try and astral project? Is it ‘cast them out’ in a ‘wander elsewhere with your mind’ way, or an ‘empty your mind’ way? Hrm.

Well, anyway, that’s a REAL nice benefit, a whole head and shoulders above the usual fare of ‘on par with a feat.’ Perception checks are the most-rolled checks in the game, and keeping an eye out for traps is one of its most important functions. As for what ‘spotting portents’ entails, it’s annoying to have to detail this out, but portents are basically omens or warnings. The tide suddenly receding heralds a tidal wave, the skies above darkening signaling a terrible storm, a depressed wall plate signals a trap is set, claw marks in the door suggests its occupant is terrible and sharp... Things like that. It’s basically an excuse to have you spot tiny details that foretell incoming disasters, with is a delightful ability to have if the DM can play around with it. Why yes, you notice that merchants hands are backwards right away...

Oh, also, disabling magic traps is nice... But uh, best to leave that to the experts, unless you are the expert, since this ability doesn’t actually make you any better at dispelling or disarming them.

Boons are gained slowly, gained at levels 12, 16, and 20. Servants of the Monitors, though, can enter the Proctor Prestige Class as early as level 8. If entered as early as possible, you can earn your Boons at levels 10, 14, and 16. You MUST take the Monitor Obedience feat, NOT Deific Obedience. Monitors grant only a single set of Boons.

Boon 1: The Coming Storm. Gain Doom 3/day, Scare 2/day, or Rain of Frogs 1/day.

Doom, despite having such an ominous name, is only level 1 and causes the target to become shaken. Powerful at low levels, but it falls off quickly and its nature as an emotion/mind-affecting effect make a painful number of monsters immune to it.

Scare is, perhaps, even more painfully outclassed than Doom, because it only affects creatures who have less than 6 HD. I find it amusing that Doom and Cause Fear are the same level, but Doom is infinitely better. Scare is a step up from Cause Fear, but not a HUGE step. It’s useful for cowing a legion of smaller foes into submission, but once you start hitting the mid/upper levels, you won’t really find many creatures worth using this power on that you couldn’t just deal with using a different spell.

And thus, we get to Rain of Frogs, one of the best spells in the entire game if only because causing a flood of amphibians to fall upon your foes is one of the best possible uses for magic in existence. Also, I linked to the spell’s page because I enjoyed how much and how little patience the authors of the website had and just conglomerated all the information you need to use the spell in one simple page. Nice of them! Anyway, with a range of Close comes the power to drop your poisonous frog storm directly into an enemy’s square, which is endlessly useful when dealing with casters or fleeing foes. I’d pick Rain of Frogs every single time, as the other two don’t even come close to comparing to its power or utility.

Followers of Imot always know that the Coming Storm is composed entirely of frogs.

Boon 2: Insight Into Disaster. You add your Wisdom modifier to Initiative checks and Reflex saves.

Alright YEAH! Initiative checks GO!!! I really hope you didn’t dump Wisdom, because people who didn’t get rewarded HARD. Moving first is perhaps the most important thing you can do in combat, letting you strike first, buff first, retreat first, etc etc etc. And you not only get that, but the added benefit of adding Wis to your Reflex saves as well. Casters typically have poor Reflex saves AND poor-to-middling Dexterity, and this solves both of those issues in one fell swoop.

Also, this is an untyped bonus, allowing it to stack with pretty much every other buff in the game. ...

... Alright, I think that covers it. Flat stat boosts are always boring to discuss, no matter HOW excited I am to see that you can potentially double your Initiative and Ref.

Boon 3: Call Down the Wrath. 1/day you can cast Extended Control Weather.

That’s altered weather patterns for 4d12x2 hours, by the by. Realistically, about 1 to 2 days of weather control (the average roll is 26, which doubles to 52), but if you’re especially lucky you can muck with up to four days of weather. Even a low roll sees 8 hours of climate change, a full adventuring day! With an area of 2 miles centered on you and the potential to have the spell last 2, 3, or 4 days, you can have the effect overlap itself and just have an eternal 2-mile bubble of whatever you want it to be. Become the very avatar of tumultuous climates as you stroll from place to place with dark clouds both heralding your arrival and shadowing your departure, or go in the opposite route and just give yourself a perpetual spring day!

It takes 10 minutes to cast this spell and 10 minutes to alter the weather in a meaningful way, so if you want to be DRAMATIC with it you need to time it exactly. Queue up a thunderstorm BEFORE strolling into the enemy evil leader’s base and demanding their cooperation and snapping your fingers to cause it should they fail to comply... Or, y’know, to celebrate the occasion should they actually comply. It’s a warning! A display!

It’s really easy to abuse this spell thanks to even the lowest possible roll still meaning you have 8 hours to muck about with an enormous patch of weather. Need to sneak somewhere? Create thick fog, torrential rain, or snowstorms to hide your movement. Need to clear out an enemy camp? Terrible heat or cold could make them move. Need to halt an enemy army? Bring down catastrophic hail or a tornado to rip through them. You can’t directly control where the tornado will travel or how the hail will fall, so make sure you’re protected from your own actions! And know that your allies and friends aren’t spared from you Calling Down the Wrath, but luckily being a Proctor demands skill in Abjuration anyway, so assure everyone possesses shields and wards!

Or, you know, march your lonesome self into enemy territory. That’s an option, too!

I really, really love this reward because Control Weather is one of my lower-key favorite spells. It’s one of the few that actually makes you feel like a God, which everyone knows is what magic is all about! Too bad Imot is one of the Ushers that leans more towards the Evil side of the Neutral spectrum.

Side note: Since using a spell-like ability isn’t technically ‘casting’ a spell, Druids don’t get the bonus of doubling the already-doubled duration or the 3-mile radius.

You can read more about it here.

#Spiritual Spotlight #Neutrality Notes #Pathfinder #Dungeons and Dragons

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learningrendezvous · 3 years

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Environmental Issues

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: ECOLOGICAL INTELLIGENCE - HOW TO BE A RESPONSIBLE SHOPPER IN A WORLD OF OVERCONSUMPTION

Learn how to be a responsible shopper. Did someone say green retail therapy? Go shopping for ecological intelligence and discover what it means to be a responsible shopper in a world of over consumption. Reducing your footprint begins with your shoes. Energy saving products are the mainstream as consumers become more concerned with their health, air quality, water quality and available resources. So its time to say no to plastics! Going back to glass bottles, organic cotton diapers and buying clothes made from recycled fabrics are big changes we can make as we become more aware of the products we are eating, wearing and sleeping on.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: GOING GREEN ROOM BY ROOM - HOW TO LIVE AN ECO FRIENDLY LIFE

Can you really go green in every room of your home? Yes you can! Find out how to save money in your laundry room, bedroom, bathroom, living room and even your garden with these tips and tricks on how to live a more eco-friendly life. Conservation is the way to go. Simple tips like only running your dishwasher when its full and showering for only 5 minutes a day could save us 1000 of gallons of water per week. Unplugging unused appliances and choosing energy saving light bulbs can save in energy costs.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: NATURAL PLAYGROUNDS & URBAN WILDERNESS - PLAY, LEARN & CONNECT WITH NATURE

Discover a few of our favorite green thing's from eco hangers and natural playgrounds to Segways and a tour of an urban wilderness, this program is an ecological tour like no other. Natural playgrounds are designed by incorporating nature, music and art to stimulate children in a natural holistic way to play. These playgrounds are essential for all cities and give a community a unique way to engage in nature and as a place for social, creative and theatrical play. Smart hangers! Learn why its so important to stop using wire hangers and to create smart hangers by using recycled paper. Find out what has two wheels, runs on electricity and is lots of fun while having a small carbon footprint with zero emissions! The Segway is environmentally friendly while transporting us in a very healthy ecofriendly way! Natural swimming pools are a new environmental approach designed without chlorine, filtered by plants and bacteria without toxic chemicals. These types of pools can cost much less than a tradition concrete pool. Discover why wetlands are so important to the ecosystem? They are a critical part of our natural environment, absorb pollutants, improve water quality and provide habitat for many animals and plants.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: ORGANIC FARMERS & THE ECOLOGICAL FARMING MOVEMENT

Do you know where your food comes from? Head behind the scenes with organic farmers and the urban farming organization, Not Far From the Tree to find out where your food comes from. Urban people take a field trip and go country to better understand the origins of their food. Find out what community share agriculture is and discover a garden of hope which teaches city dwellers the importance of good food. The food we choose impacts the environment in many ways. The food production industry has undertaken radical changes in recent years. Everything from what we grow, to how we grow it, to biological engineering has forever altered the food production business. Learn about soil management, how to run an organic operation, where our food comes from and just how simple healthy eating can be.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: RAINFORESTS & DEFORESTATION, PALM OIL & SAVING THE ORANGUTAN

This program explores the earth's forests, from the effects of deforestation and palm oil production, to forestry gardening and sustainable business practices. Trees are the lungs of our planet but we keep cutting them down? Find out the effects of deforestation. Did you know that a chocolate bar is responsible for the near extinction of the Orangutan? Find out why. We will also teach you how to garden the forest, introduce you to cosmetic company who are washing their hands of palm oil and an urban tree salvage company that saves trees. 50 years ago about 15% of the planets land surface was covered by a rain forest. Today, more than half of that has gone up in smoke. 12-15 million hectares of forest are lost every year. That is the equivalent of 36 football fields per minute. If that trend continues the Amazon will be gone in 50 years. So what is deforestation and why should we care?

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: RECYCLE YOUR TRASH

It is time to recycle your thinking & change your habits. Did you ever wonder where your old tires, cars and computers end up? Go behind the scenes at a local recycling facility to find out. Why has our planet become a garbage dump? Learn how our garbage is extracted, produced, distributed, consumed and disposed of. There are lots of different kinds of recycling. When recycling is done well it is an essential part of the solution, when done poorly it is an obstacle and part of the problem. The most important component to reducing our waste is to recycle and changing our habits is key.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: SMALLER, GREENER, MORE FLEXIBLE HOMES & WATER CONSERVATION

Smaller, greener & more flexible homes are popping up everywhere. Find out what the mini home is. We'll make you sea sick with shipping containers, get a tour of the Now House Project, a War time home that is now a mean, green, energy producing machine. When it comes to building our homes bigger is no longer better. New homes after doubling in size in the 1960s are shrinking. Smaller, greener, more flexible homes are the new norm. After transport and agriculture, housing is the most resource intensive industry in the Western World. A smaller home leaves a smaller footprint on the Earth in every measureable way. Fewer trees cut down, less earth bulldozed, less petroleum burned, less steel mined and less use of every natural resource. As sustainability becomes more prevalent in our society, so too are eco-friendly living and working spaces. This program explores the rise of smaller, more flexible and most importantly greener homes and shows you how to get the most out of your household water by reusing it.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: SUSTAINABLE FURNITURE & DESIGN - RENEWING WASTE

How can we better conserve and live sustainably? Learn how to find sustainable furniture, find green items on EBay and even how to green your website. Get a behind the scenes look at how we define waste and value. Making environmentally good choices when furnishing your home is easier than you think and can make a big impact on the planet. This program teaches the value of repurposing salvaged materials into original furniture and how it is an essential choice to help solve problems caused by excessive consumption. Learn where the raw materials we sit, eat and sleep on come from and how they impact the natural world. Renew, revive and restore!

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: TRANSPORTATION, GREENER CARS, BIODIESEL & DESIGNING CITIES LESS DEPENDENT ON FOSSIL FUELS

This program explores the automotive industrys move towards greener cars and the need for cities to balance cycling, public transport and cars within their overall infrastructure. So lets take a look at the transportation industry. Find out how to build a city around public transportation and the importance of the bicycle. Is there such a thing as a Green car? Have you heard cars can run on veggie oil, we'll show you how and take a look at biodiesel fuel. Increased levels of Carbon Dioxide are being expelled into the air from our tail pipes. Designing more sustainable transportation systems and being more thoughtful of how we design our cities is key by integrating walkability, bikeability and public transit. Building a city based on reduced carbon dependency by finding ways of redesigning or retro fitting neighborhoods and designing cities less dependent on fossil fuels is the way of the future.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL FOOTPRINTS ON THE ENVIRONMENT: URBANIZATION & THE NATURAL WORLD

For the first time in history, more than half the population lives in cities. Because of urbanization every year we destroy untold amounts of plants and fertile soil. With this in mind, how can we make cities more sustainable? This program takes a special look at green roof gardening, the expansion of solar panels and thinking inside the box with food container gardening. Big cities leave big trouble for the natural world. The good news is we have the ability to change. There are currently innovative technologies in place that will help combat climate change in big cities.

DVD / 2017 / 26 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: LAKE UNDER LOCKDOWN - LAKE ONTARIO AN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM UNDER LOCKDOWN

For almost 60 years, Lake Ontario has been under lockdown, surrounded, controlled and managed more than any other large lake in human history. But what happens when the ebb and flow of such a vast aquatic ecosystem is replaced by the cool efficiency of a swimming pool? A fascinating documentary that shines a light on global scientific and environmental issues.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: SAVING THE MUSTANG - NORTH AMERICAS HORSE ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION

Wild mustangs have long been an icon of native peoples and early settlers of North America. Yet their fate today is uncertain. Saving The Mustang explores the state of wild horses today through the efforts of three individuals. Canadian horseman Randy Bird who adopted eight mustangs from a crowded facility in Wyoming. Endurance rider and song-writer Jean Albert Renaud and Roger William, past chief of the First Nation Xeni Gwetin, who created a 200,000 hectare wild horse preserve in the pristine and rugged wilderness of the Nemiah Valley in British Columbia. All three stories interweave a compelling tale of perseverance and determination, one that offers hope for these amazing animals.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

GLOBAL SCIENTIFIC & ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES: WHAT IS KILLING LAKE - WINNIPEG & HOW TO SAVE IT

A fascinating documentary that shines a light on global scientific and environmental issues. Can we save one of the worlds largest freshwater lakes? This program reveals how a perfect storm of agriculture, hydro practices, sewage run-off, flooding and marsh destruction have devastated Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the 10th largest lake in the world. Lake Winnipeg is a 25,000 square km inland sea. It is bigger than Lake Ontario and about the same size as Lake Erie and it is in deep trouble. This once pristine lake has the worst blue-green algae problem of any major lake on the planet. In a distorted cycle that is a direct result of human activity, an excess of chemical nutrients in the lake has caused massive algae blooms. The green sludge washing up on the lakes shores threatens not only the lakes beauty, but also the natural ecosystems underlying it. If we dont intervene to restore the natural nutrient balance, one of Canadas largest lakes could choke from the bottom up. This film examines why the lakes ecology has changed so dramatically in just three decades and what needs to be done to restore the natural nutrient balance of one of Canadas largest lakes.

DVD / 2017 / 52 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: CITIES UNDER SIEGE

Our cities are being attacked, overrun and overwhelmed with pests and invasive species bent on decimating our homes and threatening our well being. What happens if these urban invaders continue to expand their territory and occupy our safe haven? Is it just a matter of time before an emerging deadly disease carried by one of those urban invaders creates havoc in our big cities?

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: THE FIGHT FOR FOOD

Every single day there is a growing number of people to feed and in the next thirty to forty years we will need to double our food production to sustain the increase in population. In this episode author Julian Cribb examines the infestations that are threatening our food supply.

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

INFESTATION - THE INVASIVE SPECIES AND PESTS WHO THREATEN OUR ENVIRONMENT: UNDERWATER INVASION

Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface and is the medium of life. All life forms and their surrounding ecosystems are dependent upon water, without it we would cease to exist. Director of Notre Dame's Environmental Change Initiative, Dr. David Lodge examines the infestations that are spreading throughout our fresh and salt water systems and clogging our precious waterways.

DVD / 2014 / (Grade 6-Adult) / 48 minutes

http://www.learningemall.com/News/Environment_202104.html

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fatlmstore · 4 years

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12 Tips On How To Shop For The Perfect Wedding Dress

You’ve got the ring, set the date, and now it’s time to buy for your dream bridal gown. Although this is often a stressful time for several brides, it doesn’t need to be. So how you set about buying the right wedding dress? Our wedding saving guide will assist you in your search, and you'll use our tips below for bridal gown shopping success! tips on the way to buy the right bridal gown 1Set a Budget Before you set foot into a bridal shop, or start collecting pictures of all of these diamond-encrusted wedding dresses, take an honest check out your wedding budget. detect an inexpensive number range that you’re willing to spend. this provides you a particular idea of what you'll and can’t afford from the beginning. It’ll help narrow down your choices and set your expectations. See Also: 5 Tips for Creating a marriage Budget 2Social Media is Your ally When it involves finding a stunning array of dresses, you can’t fail with social media. Pinterest and Instagram are photo-based platforms. Follow your favorite designers, fashion blogs, and bridal salons to ascertain the most recent collections. See pictures of your favorite picks on real brides, hear about flash sales, and obtain notified of shows. Pin your choices to a bridal board or archive them on Instagram. Bring these ideas to your appointment. 3Start Your Search Early Ideally, you ought to search for a dress a minimum of nine months to a year out from the marriage date. If you would like a dress specially made, it can take anywhere from four to nine months from start to end. confirm you think about shipping time, multiple fittings, and alterations. When all is claimed and done, your bridal gown could take up to a year to end. If you simply have a couple of months, be prepared to pay extra for rush fees. 4Make Appointments at Bridal Salons Take a couple of days and make appointments at multiple bridal salons. Ideally, you ought to have several during a single day. This helps you retain your favorite dresses fresh in your mind for comparisons. It’s also superb thanks to sneak during a quick lunch together with your bridal party to thank them for all that they’ve finished you so far! 5Choose Your Attendees Wisely Check what percentage guests your salon allows within the room at just one occasion. this is often usually four to 5 people, and this includes the bride. Second, consider who really must be with you. Is anyone helping you buy the gown? they ought to be there. Also, the attendees you bring should be positive and supportive. they ought to understand who you're, be uplifting, and understand what you wish. 6Have an issue List for Your Stylist Write down an inventory of inquiries to bring with and ask your stylist once you find the right dress. The list should include how long it’ll fancy making your gown, whether or not they alter dresses in-house or send it away if they ship and shipping charges, and therefore the best thanks to traveling together with your dress. If you've got to bustle it, confirm they show someone in your wedding the way to roll in the hay. 7Bring Proper Shoes and Undergarments Ideally, wear a pair of nude-colored panties. Don’t worry a few bras unless you've got a problem with support. If you would like a flowery bra, bring it with you. However, plunging or strapless gowns have more support than a standard gown. they will also sew cups in during the alterations if you’re concerned. Also, bring heels round the same height as you’ll wear with the dress on your day. 8Donot Worry About Sizing Wedding dresses have sizes that are very different from casual clothing sizes. Don’t get aroused over them because almost everyone needs alterations. once you try a dress during a salon, it’s a 1 size fits all design. Alterations later down the road will help tailor the robe to your unique shape and size. In turn, it’ll fit beautifully once you wear it down the aisle. 9Dress for Your Wedding Climate Consider how your dress will feel in your wedding climate. a lot of fabric with a skirt might not do so well on a hot beach in Mexico. If you’re worried about getting too hot and sweating, stick with silks and show a touch more skin within the way of sleeveless and plunging necklines. For late fall weddings, longer sleeves would be best to stay you warm throughout the ceremony. 10Keep an Open Mind Yes, the white bridal gown is iconic. However, you are doing want to stay an open mind for various colors and designs. Don’t be afraid to undertake something different. for instance, try a nude gown, champagne, ivory, or maybe light blue. it's going to surprise you ways much you wish it! Ask your bridal salon attendant for various style suggestions that they think would look great on you. 11Ask About Bundling Options Once you discover the robe of your dreams, you've got to seek out the accessories to match it. Ask if your bridal salon will bundle your dress, veil, and other accessories together at a rather lower cost. tons of salons will do that for you if you ask. you'll even be ready to find shoes! 12Research and Pick Keywords It’s important that you simply enter your bridal gown shopping experience with some idea in mind about what you would like to shop for. This includes the design that you simply think will look best on you. enter your salon with few keywords in mind to assist your stylist to find an honest dress range. Your keywords could include things like “tailored,” “sexy,” or “traditional.” Now you recognize the way to buy the right bridal gown. These 12 quick tips can assist you to enter your search confidently that you’ll find the right dress for your perfect day celebration.

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olmopress · 5 years

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Episode III: The Return of Manovich

week 11: Vincent Miller, “Key Elements of Digital Media” / Lev Manovich, “The Language of New Media”, Principles of New Media: 2. Modularity, 4. Variability, 5. Transcoding

Today I am very Happy. Even if yesterday night AS Roma lost to some unpronounceable and unspellable German team. You know why? No, it’s not because I am going out why someone I like. And neither because I decided I want to try and go to a rage room once. None of these romantics things.

It’s because today, Hideo Kojima’s long-awaited and frankly strange-looking new game Death Stranding is out!

This is me being happy with the copy of the game I just bought from this pedantic guy at GameStop who really wanted to sell me their useless (and of course expensive) fidelity card. I do not fidelize. I do not permanently associate with the revolting logics of media capitalism. Btw yes that in the background is Patti Smith’s Horses signed by herself. I am so cool, I know. What can you do.

ANYWAYS

Why is this relevant? Well, for a number of reasons. First of all because a videogame is a digital object, a digital medium. So it’s important to us. Secondly, because the themes of this game are SOOOOOOO damn interesting and appropriate for what we are doing in this class.

BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY

Because I decided to have yet another theme-based post. So Ladies, Gentlment, and all the other 7456 genders out there in the wide wild world, let me introduce you to this week’s issue of my blog, which will be entirely

VIDEOGAME-THEMED

Yes, I will. Sorry not sorry.

OK so as it is now customary I will skip Miller because I don’t like riassunti and synthesis and also I want to continue my honeymoon with Manovich.

Here’s me with my boy Lev.

Today we deal with the last three of Manovich’s Principles of New Media. Today I also want to be reader-friendly so I tell all of you from the start that I am going to explain briefly the principle and then pick an example, of course from some videogame. OK fellas? Ready to go.

Principle No. 2: Modularity

Well, modularity is quite easy. Manovich uses it to explain how digital objects are assembled through independent parts, which working on their own constitute the totality of the aforementioned object. A good example from videogames is the phenomenon of pop-up textures: that thing that happens when you’re playing a game in 3D graphics which uses real-time rendering, but optimization hasn’t been done well enough (or you’re just pushing the graphics beyond your hardware capabilities) and so you get some textures to be rendered with a delay. And this sucks because, well, it’s not very realistic and it makes you realize you’re just playing a videogame.

youtube

:( this is extreme tho. Sometimes it’s just OK.

[Btw pop-up textures are essentially what Manovich is referring to at page 39 when he writes about “distancing” and “level of detail”]

Manovich refers to this also as the “fractal structure” of digital media, which very cool and very LSD-like. So, yeah, cool.

BUT EVEN COOLER THAN THIS

is how this made me think of Aristotle. Your friendly neighborhood Western-culture-generator philosopher loved to talk about how the whole of something is more than the sole value of its components. Which, in some ways, doesn’t really seem to apply completely to digital media.

SOMETHING TO REFLECT UPON

Oh. And I was also thinking that maybe, MAYBE

MAYBE

all this modularity in our daily lives is also affecting the way our minds work. Like we now struggle to create coherent, consistent (“hardwired” Manovich would say) arguments or chains of reasoning, but instead rely completely on modular frames of understanding. Like we now tend to see things as separate and independent from each other, and we have trouble in looking at the bigger picture.

“OF COURSE YOU MUST BE WRONG, WE’RE AS CAPABLE AS EVER IN UNDERSTANDING ISSUES IN THEIR TOTALITY. BUT NO KID CLIMATE CHANGE IS NOT REAL BECAUSE ADMITTING IT WOULD MEAN RECONSIDER THE PRIVILEGES I GREW UP AS EXPRESSIONS OF A POST-INDUSTRIAL COLONIAL SYSTEM OF EXPLOITATION YESTERDAY SNOWED IN BERGAMO SO NO TROUBLE”

But let us not be distracted by such irrelevant issues.

Principle No. 4: Variability

Now this is obvious but still so cool. However, the question of variability is so multifaceted and complex that is difficult to pin it down to a single definition. I’ll try my best, though. I would say that

the concept of variability refers to all the ways in which digital objects can be modified, altered, or updated at the source of their distribution.

That is, without having to physically change anything. The only thing that variability needs is some form of the refresh button. It is a sort of physically invisible mutation, a “liquid” transformation, as Manovich says. And of course this has to do with Numerical Representation, Modularity, and Automation.

Before getting into the real interesting stuff about variability, Manovich makes seven examples. A couple of them will help grasp the concept better. So yeah, example three reads like this:

“Information about the user can be used by a computer program to customize automatically the media composition as well as to create elements themselves” (37)

In that unfortunately incomplete masterpiece that Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is, you get to play as badass Venom Snake aka (sort of...) Big Boss, a super amazing and incredibly skilled soldier who has to infiltrate military compounds and all sorts of other infiltrable things between Afghanistan and Zaire around the mid-80s. In this game, you can decide what kind of equipment to bring with you, and approach the mission the way you like best. You can bring big-ass noisy weapons and just have a crazy battles, you can use assault rifles of sniper guns with silencers and be very quiet, and you can also use guns with tranquilizers so that you don’t kill anybody. You just put them to sleep.

Now, the cool thing about it is that the more you progress in the game, the more enemy soldiers will adjust to your playing stile. For instance, I remember using only tranquilizers with pistols and sniper rifles. So I would get lots of headshots, because when you headshot someone, he instantly falls asleep. After a few missions, most of my enemies adapted and started wearing helmets! So it was much harder for me to get those headshots.

See? This is an example of automation and variability.

There is also of course example number six. The one about periodical updates. Again, for anybody who ever played a videogame online, this is usual business.

I remember I once was thirteen. Yeah I know that’s hard to imagine, but for a moment just please bear with me. When I was thirteen I was very much into multiplayer FPSs. At that time particular, me and my friends would spend entire days on Call of Duty: Black Ops. Now, the online multiplayer was constantly updated and amended, so that if someone discovered that a certain build for a weapon made that weapon totally over-powered and impossible to play against, the guys at Activision would correct the flaw and balanced the game again. But variability in the game also occurred when DLCs were released: new maps, new weapons, new elements would ‘enter’ the world of the online game and of course alter it. It was cool, really. Cause the game evolved throughout the season. But the you had to buy the new one and spend other money and start back again and… really, can we just say fuck capitalism? That game could have lasted decades. Damn.

ANYWAY

By far the most interesting thing to me came at page 40, when Manovich discusses variability in terms of interactivity and hypermedia. In particular, he distinguishes between two ‘versions’ of interactivity.

Open interactivity: an interactive object “in which both the elements and the structure of the whole object are either modified or generated on the fly in response to the user’s interaction with a program.” (40)

Closed interactivity: an interactive object “that uses fixed elements arranged in a fixed braching structure” (40) and therefore on which users have only ‘liberty of order’. That is, they can only choose in which order to interact with the elements.

Now, try to follow me for a second. I think this distinction opens up one possibility of categorizing videogames. But we need to add one more category. We have

Linear games (Super Mario, the first Metal Gear Solid, Resident Evil 4…) which display a ‘limited’, ‘scripted’ interactivity. That is: you have to follow the path that has been chosen for you by the developers. You cannot decide in which order to do things. You go ahead with the game – interact with it, sure, but you basically witness the story unfold in front of your eyes passively.

Open world games (GTA, Spiderman, Pokémon games…), which essentially function on a principle of closed interactivity. You’re free to roam around and do whatever you want, to choose your own ‘order of interaction’ with the elements on the map, but you cannot act on the storyline, which is still linear and scripted for you. The story doesn’t change, no matter what you do inside or outside of the main missions.

pure RPGs (Fallout 4, Final Fantasy, Skyrim, Mass Effect…) which instead function on a principle of open interactivity. Your choices inform the way in which the game unfolds in terms of story, world, and sometimes even gameplay. The interaction is open because it allows to be formed in response to what the player does.

I should totally write a narratology of videogames.

I’ve already written a lot and I want to get to the last principle, but

I NEED

to point out something that comes around the end of page 41. Ready? So Manovich writes:

“The principle of variability exemplifies how, historically, changes in media technologies are correlated with social change. If the logic of old media corresponded to the logic of industrial mass society, the logic of new media fits the logic of the postindustrial society, which values individuality over conformity. […] In this way new media technology acts as the most perfect realization of the utopia of an ideal society composed of unique individuals. New media objects assure users that their choices—and therefore, their underlying thoughts and desires—are unique, rather than preprogrammed and shared with others.” (41-2)

Now, I am not sure precisely where Manovich stands on this argument, but this definitely rang a bell for me.

HEY LEV, EVER HEARD OF A LAD CALLED PASOLINI?

Because yeah, digital media gave us this fantastic possibility of escaping omologation because anybody can see, read, do whatever they want without any authority providing them with univocal content.

But are we really sure this is the triumph of individuality? Couldn’t this be just a new, and much more subtle and devilish form of conformity?

My bro and spiritual-granddaddy PPP believed so. And you, he was writing in the early seventies – not long before being brutally killed by neo fascists with the complacency of the State a Roman kid in Ostia – and virtually all of his predictions are becoming a terrible reality. Because Pier Paolo believed the (back then) new consumer society (which let’s face it gave birth to digital media the way we know it today) was only a new, horrible, de-humanizing form of fascism.

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This is for anybody who understands a little italian and loves tragic heroes talking about the horrors of late capitalism on winter beaches.

BUT WE HAVE TO COME TO AN END, DON’T WE?

Principle No. 5: Transcoding

I’ll be very brief, this is easy. Manovich defines transcoding starting from the difference between the “cultural layer” (pretty much the visual, the interface) and the “computer layer” (basically code) of digital media. Using the example of videogames again, the cultural layer of a videogame is all that you see happening on the screen, while the computer layer is the code ‘behind’ it that makes it all happen in that way.

Fine, cool. Transcoding, Manovich says, happens everytime these two layers—these two languages, really—start to mix and mesh with each other.

The best example that I can come up with right now—and I am sorry if I can’t think of anything better but you know I have a graceful lady waiting for me, his date—has to do again with open world videogames.

SO HERE’S THE THING, I THINK

Open world videogames emerged and became the next big thing of gaming when the internet was already a big thing. And there’s a reason for that. It’s because the structure of an open world mimics, in many ways, that of the WWW.

THINK ABOUT IT

An open world is somewhere were you can roam around (I want to say navigate so badly!) pretty much everywhere you want. Most of the times you can jump from one places to another, sometimes using a nice menu/database of possible locations (reminds you of anything? Hyperlinking? Search engines, anybody?). You can’t really create much, but you can see everything. Well, that to me sounds like WWW.

COULD IT BE LOVE? TRANSCODING?

I think it is, baby.

We’re sadly at the end of our ride

But don’t be afraid!

THERE’S STILL ROOM FOR MUSIC AND VISUAL ARTS

Today we celebrate videogames, so what’s better than a collection of some classics in videogame music history? Enjoy.

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As for visuals, I want to come full circle. Hideo Kojima’s game have always been blessed with amazing character design and illustrations by his bro Yoji Shinkawa. Death Stranding is no exception. Except that there is an exception, because these times the characters are actors! Great actors! Like beautiful Lea Seydoux who I hope one day to marry. Or at least to hookup with, come on. Anyways, that’s beyond my point. I just wanted to introduce this beautiful promotional picture for Death Stranding.

It really is beautiful.

до свидания!

Image Sources: Parade, Pure Nintendo, Tech in Asia, GIPHY, Know Your Meme

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shesellssanctuaries · 5 years

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Run Your Own Business By Marketing Wholesale Child Clothes On Ebay.com

In order to discuss love as well as still build a socially acceptable urban identification, artists often tend to execute among the 5 successful love narrative kinds. No person recognizes scenarios like that, individuals cant offer with it, so they 'll discuss it permanently. The woman trying to offer me their most current phone package described a tv advert. She kept me speaking for approximately 10 mins throughout which time she referred me to this specific TV advert a more 4 times, as well as each time I assured her I had not seen it because I do not see tv. Knitting can be grabbed during the adverts and also operated at for 5 or 10 minutes at a time. New yarns and also trendy pattern layouts make knitting fun as well as quickly, and I can knit even if I am enjoying TELEVISION, albeit an uncommon occurence for me directly! With the web, also if you live in a neighborhood that is tiny, you aren't limited to your local area, and can find people not just around the UK, yet across the globe too! After that embellish with baby photos and also such, then take it to your regional copy store, like Kinkos, and also have them print the web page on pastel colored paper. In some cases weve occurred upon neighborhood street fairs or windsurfing tournaments or a design train museum. Weve talked regarding endometriosis, that which can be a cyst. So, you can have hemorrhaging with a cyst but a lot of the time those are rare conditions. The endometriomas, if they continue, and also theres constant bleeding in the abdominal area and also the ovary that can create attachments. Any kind of hemorrhaging cyst can be a trouble. A maternity with a corpus luteum, the 2nd kind of practical cyst takes place to develop as the baby is growing. The majority of these, the larger blood supplies, the bigger blood vessels on cysts are typically the corpus luteum cyst. The majority of ovary cysts in and also of themselves are not mosting likely to be triggering a problem. But, the vital point below, is that cysts themselves, in and of themselves are not mosting likely to be a trouble or harmful problem. The nature of the event is possibly mosting likely to have a tendency towards the womanly side; if the organizers of the event have a stipulation for this, after that inviting guys would certainly be great. Certainly, there are millions of males and females who are making great loan using the net company course. In this track, the poet utilizes the affective story to acknowledge that some guys "dont be comin right ", yet that he has a different assumption of women than these other men. Meant to aid with the discomfort, intended to aid me preserve In this track, Guru utilizes the different story to share his sight of what love should be. It is very important for the clothing to be completely dry prior to they are done away with or worn by a kid, as well as hanging the clothing on kids garments hangers will certainly aid maintain their type. Nevertheless, aspartame was permitted on 1981 for completely dry goods and also 1983 for carbonated beverages.

free baby stuff expecting mother

Individuals used to exchange products as well as services for other products and also solutions before cash was created, and some people still barter today to prevent using money (primarily for tax obligation reasons I am told). A few other great solutions are a diaper solution for towel diapering moms, or even a diaper shipment solution for disposables, and also pay for the very first 2 weeks or a month well worth of diapering items. Even the colors utilized in the textile ought to be natural and non-toxic. You might be at first drawn in by all the eye appealing colors and also the fanciness of the attire, but if your kid is not going to like it, it is mosting likely to come to be ineffective. Pajamas and bodysuits for little baby ladies can be found in all different shades and styles, and also are produced all sorts of climate. 1 or 2 pieces would do - a set of rompers, a set of t shirts, a pair of jammies. Alternately, you can put a T-shirt over their pyjamas. They will certainly secure and guarantee any type of money you take into a cost savings account as well as pay you probably 3% annual interest on your down payment. They know that if you're satisfied with your example, greater than most likely you be come to be a routine customer as well as invest cash with them. There are actually a whole lot of freebies offered; you simply need to recognize exactly how to look for them. Or search by chemical ingredients (see list below for some instances) and also uncover what brand names contain it. Next off, you will reach your search results page page; this is a list of all items that meet your search standards. Allow us take a peek into what makes these criteria a have to for those moms and dads looking for infant garments. Additionally, let your initial couple of roadway journeys show you what you require to have along. There are countless initial time moms out there that have a great deal of details to show you as well as they do not want you to be without the details. They intend to have gowns with breathable fabric and also simple on the body. Is this what we have come to, - everyone in our area watches the same adverts, the very same programs, the exact same information stories every day or night? Note: After trying single foods, great mixes are potatoes as well as carrots or carrots as well as peas. And also not just will I assess it for him, Ill make it appear like the Elvis of foods, since Im currently quite certain that Sickness like a hamdog. He also refers to his love passion as "this Ethiopian queen from Philly ", utilizing the royal characterization so usual in spiritual love narratives. If you're really strapped for cash, after that you can most likely use using your bed as an altering table, however if you can, this is something I very advise. Its far better to feed infant very first point in the early morning, after that permit some play or rest time in between before giving child a bath. At a "Pamper Celebration," a concept progressively preferred for moms that currently have several kids and also therefore most of right stuff they actually need, they may take house health spa devices such as a loofah or bubble bath. A great bath-themed present basket would have some hypo-allergenic bath products, like child baths, talc, towels, and bathroom toys.

The major plus is that the majority of, otherwise all of these free items, are provided right to the mom's house. As well as, keeping that, allows solve down to the core. Do you have the software application you require to get begun? Eventually you are mosting likely to desire to move your child, so you will require to buy something. Unless you're intending to hold on to them for your next infant, they're simply collecting dirt. With a couple of basic abilities, an useful collection of "stuff, " as well as simply a bit of planning and prep work, youll get on your means! There is an area for TELEVISION in our lives and also it desires all the fastest method of absorbing information from around the globe. Taking classes abroad Right here, the poet utilizes the spiritual narrative to explain the moment, area and feelings that his love was founded on, talking them as if they were in some way meant to happen. Possibly she believed that was her area worldwide and no-one can fault her if she executed her tasks to miraculous of her capacity. I as soon as had a neighbor who notified the world and also it's mommy she believed tidiness was alongside Godliness as well as invested throughout the day daily cleaning her house. It is thought that from this you truly have the alternative to check out everything before you also need to acquire something. Limited neck lines would certainly trouble you and also the positioning of switches at weird settings would cause you issues, so check these ahead of time. At the very same time the switches and other components in the style should be very carefully sewn. Yet Betty had the money each time I mosted likely to jail This track further highlights using contrasting narratives to share love. This instance better highlights making use of introductory language in conversational stories. The poet feels it is unacceptable for any individual to "call you out your name ", or simply put, make use of defamatory language toward his love. Most of the child shower concepts will help any place, inside or out. Do you want your child to look charming or great with baby clothing but you don't have ideas on where to look for them? Cost is a major thing you would want to take into consideration when buying infant clothing. It's very easy, consider a child garments shop. Garments treatment plays a huge role in your baby's safety and security. Thus, it is always encouraged that you keep the safety and security and also comfort consider mind also when you are shopping for occasion dresses for your kid. Even when you have actually purchased a lacy shirt for your tiny lady, if you finish up getting a dimension that takes place to be somewhat larger than her actual size, she will certainly be comfy in it. As well as, parents will certainly be most likely to keep purchasing garments to stay on par with the alterations in the baby's growth - size, weight, length, as well as shape. For this reason, getting clothing that are rather larger than the actual dimension of your infants body presents will certainly be great as it guarantees optimal comfort for the youngster.

Nonetheless, these booster shot procedures will only make their systems strong however it doesn't give an assurance that germs can not permeate their method. So why did she behave by doing this? The exact same thing can be true with, absolutely with tube pregnancies, thats why those two can be perplexed. Yes it holds true that infant garments do not last lengthy with youngsters expanding as rapid as they do, but dealing with a children clothes is still equally as, otherwise even more, crucial. Hip-Hop, you the love of my life which's real This passage is distinct because it uses both the metaphoric as well as contrasting narrative techniques. The discussion of Hip-Hop like narratives is a very challenging job. Which leads us to the most prominent metaphoric Hip-Hop love narrative of our time. Infants will certainly love this recipe. Thick and also cosy outfits will keep the child warm from head to toe. Right here is a list of popular products that has actually been investigated with some of the biggest online merchants of infant products. Here are a few of the fundamental things you'll desire to have. Do you intend to provide a gift to a new mother without investing a great deal of cash? They use it when washing to remove smells, soften the materials, and give your infant and also young child garments a fresh as well as a lot more natural scent. When you are thinking about your kids convenience, its not only about the layout of the apparel youre acquiring it will certainly additionally refer just how the item rests on your children body. Consider how much you have into the product. The next time you are re-assembling your kit, make sure to add that item. I would certainly instead hang out with my friends and family, chatting on the phone, opting for lengthy walks or dancing the night away. With all that having been stated, Ive discovered a brand-new food that I recognize I'm mosting likely to love. Soon you'll find that having only a few wonderful attire ends up being not practical. I had a good complimentary website a few years ago I went to everyday. Utilize your Roadway Experience logbook to tape everyones remarks regarding the day. This will certainly offer no great as purchasing infant items indiscriminately will not just be waste of money but also waste of time and also power which you can put for some useful use. If travelling by cars and truck you must constantly use a child seat as well as adhere to the supplier's directions for fitting. If your trip limitation disappears than a one-hour auto flight one means, after that seek areas of rate of interest within regarding 40 miles of residence. Which is not an issue since much like kidneys, much like testis, women with one ovary can have just as several children as a woman with 2 ovaries and also two tubes. Evidently it is a 2x matrix, implying those initial two people you got to join get on your initial level. You must always have two pairs at evening time, because you never ever know when a baby is mosting likely to spew up or have a diaper leak that can call for a total garment adjustment.

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#free #baby #stuff

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brightonbathroomfittersmimb-blog · 5 years

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6 Online Communities About bathroom fitters brighton You Should Join

A sealant can fix virtually every problem you have with your plumbing structure. In addition, being really helpful, it is not so expensive thus, there will be no justification not to have it with you. A sealant can in addition, be made use of on your roofing system, consequently you do not need to be afraid concerning ordering anything you utterly make use of but once.

In what regard does it operate?

A sealer is an appearance that presents like clay for the time being molding. This will certainly license you to mildew the sealer base upon the dimension of the opening in your plumbing design. All you will to do is apply it to the poor field and also certify each component is safeguarded. When dry, a sealer is as strong as a rock as well as will certainly shut off the opening in your plumbing. It can last for years, after that you do not must perplexity worrying https://www.washingtonpost.com/newssearch/?query=bathroom plumbers doing it normally.

Samples of sealant

There are above all 2 types of sealers that you can adjust; water resistant and non-waterproof. The utter difficulty you will experience if you are going to manipulate a non-waterproof product is that you must to block the main water source when using the sealer. The water resistant sealer will dry out in spite of if revealed to water.

A sealant is procurable in around all the plumbing stores. Here certain uncomplicated plumbing viewpoints utilizing a sealant to amend your Pipes system, a small shop surprisingly has one offer for sale. It will not be an issue for you to try to find a sealer, hence you will no reason not to get one, particularly now that you have knowledge of just how ideal it will certainly be. This extremely straightforward tool will certainly serve you to conserve adequate bucks in the long run for the reason that you do not require the job of a pipes specialist.

Although, it's motivated to call a relied on plumbing specialist that can deal with all type of building troubles. Look dripping faucets or blocked drains and also never postpone in servicing them.

Suggestions as well as schemes to press you to do your exclusive plumbing development

When you hold plumbing framework problems in your home, it is relatively that you become inhibited. Primarily, it's a cause that you do not recognize just how to alleviate it. Although major pipes system worries command the assistance of well-qualified capability, you can take care of simple and easy issues.

This think item will offer you special free plumbing suggestions to obviate anxiety.

Warrant you get a sincere viewpoint or examine references before involving a plumbing technician. With honest counsels, you will certainly make sure to contact a knowledgeable plumbing. If the knowledgeable plumber is an expert, he will have a well-stocked truck and also will certainly have the ability to do approximately of the little jobs on a see.

The best movement you can complete if you scent an unpleasant smell from your W.C. is to call a plumbing. There is a reliable chance you will have a drain back-up. This can not simply harm the pipelines however, respire the undesirable gives off drain back-ups that can be harming you.

Desist plumbing advancement issues in the gents's areas and also women' spaces! Some activities halt the gentlemen's space as well as the ladies' space functioning! Typical components that close out W.C. constitute of playthings, hair, paper towels, birth control products, as well as the individual females components. Do not dispose of these products in your males's room and females's space - unless instructed differently! These can halt your guys's rooms and also women's rooms - to the motive that absolutely nothing else will certainly react other than to call a plumbing technician!

In frigid climates, pipes channels every now and then freezes. You can thaw them aside from calling a plumber. Before beginning, this mechanism, activate the faucet and start thawing as proximate to the tap as gettable, after that go down the line as the sections thaw out. One form that you can manipulate is to drape the pipe with a thick moist towelette or wrapping, after that pour very warm water over it, after that put a jug under the water to capture the water.

When you have an appointment on a post with a plumbing professional, take the minute to get to know them extra attractively. Ask about their ability with the sort of job you desire to do. Fitting with your contractor is necessary. They can lose quite time at home count on the complexity of the message. You desire to be verified that they depend on the function. Look online for commentaries from the plumbing marketer you intend to utilize. If people are not convinced with the plumbing professional's task they most often, seek advice from online the announced negative remarks. If they enjoy with the plumbing, they will certainly report positive discourses.

Have your pipings in your pipes growth iced up? You can throw away the cost of contracting a plumbing professional utilizing this case. Before all else, open up the tap to make sure that the steam formed by the defrosting proceeding can leave. Go on thawing near the tap and move forward as each section thaws. Utilize a hair-dryer or heat lamp to warm up the pipeline. Though this mode eats a little time, it is much safer than just about various other prepare for heating. It does not require any kind of cleaning.

Examine the pipes codes in your variety before starting any type of job. Plumbing codes can diverge mainly from one sector to an additional as well as you do not need to notice the customs. Visit the planning department in your location for details or employ a plumbing professional for a day to maintain you to reassess your strategies and also provide you an opinion.

Arrange all your plumbing rehabilitations prior to choosing a plumbing professional. Inspect all your appliances as well as taps. If something drips, sinks or is clogged, do a checklist for the plumber. As a result when the plumber arrives he can attain all the tasks in one browse through. This will certainly lower tons.

As well-known over, it is average for your house's plumbing issues to frustrate you. Howbeit, these problems can consistently, be conveniently addressed if you understand just how? Use the suggestions provided in this column to start plumbing style repair services as soon as possible!

Yes, our world remains to alter both significantly and also at a fast pace. In order to stay on par with the change of technical improvement as well as re-skilling of the labor force is needed in the pipes http://bathroomfitterbrighton.org.uk/ market. The demands for this services are huge as it's essential to use water each day for day-to-day tasks like taking showers, cooking, and so on. And it's inevitable that big concerns will happen at a long time. With all the building and other constructions going on around the globe, the need for this solutions does not appear to end.

Why does plumbing issue?

Numerous pipes problems develop for lots of factors. Only an expert plumbing technician can address those concerns linked with your home pipes system.

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There is no rejecting the truth pipes plays a critical role in satisfying the requirements of problems. In fact, World Pipes Day- an international occasion is held and also commemorated each year on March 11 to recognize the vital role the plumbing sector in guaranteeing water sustainability, safety and security, and social wellness.

Everyone is affected by the availability of water, whether it's for drinking, showering, or other purposes. Water is used for lots of objectives including food preparation, bathing, drinking, etc. For that reason, it's exceptionally crucial to maintain the pipes system running effectively. And also if problems begin to develop, we need to have the issues repaired by a specialist plumber in Tucson, Phoenix, or wherever you are located at.

Reasons that pipes is an incredibly important requirement

The industry has opened the door to both male and also female experts. Nevertheless, although the variety of female plumbing technicians is less compared to men, lots of females have actually apparently chosen plumbing professional as a full time job. Female plumbing technicians are equally qualified, qualified, skilled, and knowledgeable as male plumbing professionals.

Bathroom Fitter Brighton

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01273 033063

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odbele · 7 years

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Translation from Swedish to English

“The stratigraphic signals were already there; the isotopes, plastic, techno physics, the cars, the broken bullets from all too many wars. The signals are a contemporary biproduct of a time when human beings placed themselves above the earth and took its stability for granted.” These are the words found on the last page of idea and environmental historian Sverker Sörlin resently published book “Antropocen – en essä om människans tidsålder ” (Antropocene – an essay on the age of human kind)

And today we will be discussing the concept of Anthropocene, usually described as the new geological age, defined by the footprints left on earth by man.

The guests are idea and environmental historian and author Sverker Sörlin, Helena Granstrøm another author with background in physics and mathematics, and Gøran Greider author. Welcome, my name is Peter Sandberg.

Peter Sandberg: So, this concept of Anthropocene – the age of mankind, was introduced already in the early 80ths, though the breakthrough in popularity first occurred at the edge of the 21th century, as a replacement of Holocene – the postglacial age heralded by the end of our last ice age 11000 years ago. Sverker, Anthropocene “the age of mankind”, why has this term reached a public interest, now, in our age/time?

Sverker Sörlin: Well, Anthropocene replaces Holocene and that is still an ongoing discussion if we are really going to take this step and officially establish a new era. It is a relevant question for geologists and in particular stratigraphicologists, a sub-group of geologists, and for up to them to decide, though the discussion today is evolving. And I think it is evolving and reaching out to different fields of professions because the concept sums up the human experiences throughout the last decades, as well as our last century. That humans have, negatively speaking, effected the climate and made footprints. Suddenly it is as if this footprint has been given a word, a concept. While doing so you catch something, and this something has spread wildly. The word brings life to images and thoughts considering this, though it also brings up the controversy and posing questions like “Who is actually responsible for this coherent footprint? Are we all contributors, and if so, have we contributed equally?” How are we supposed to view this? Suddenly you enter a field of incalculable questions that evolves from this concept. Normally, the enclosed debates within the field of geology is not a relevant topic for the public, as artists and other scientists and politicians and such, but here, it is not the case. One could also claim that there is some political touch to “Anthropocene”, which I think is important in this situation.

Gøran: Yes.

Peter Sandberg: Well, Helena, Gøran, what do you think? Anthopocene a new geological era defined by our footprints. Do we need a word, a concept, like this? Helena Granstrøm: Yes, considering the fact that this concept gestalts the irreversible traces we leave on this planet we need it, though I have got several issues with the concept, partly because of what you just pointed out, Sverker. Your book is altered on the premise that you identify with this humanity, even though you may not be amongst those who has contributed to the largest footprints. Still, you feel like you are a part of this humanity, thus you take responsibility for these actions. You personally don’t behold the power of the industrial civilization, but you identify with this power. I am imagining a situation where Latin American natives are evacuating their village to make room for a new dam, and that they might feel differently reading your words. To suggest that this is the age of humanity… (Pauses) Rather than the term being clearly political, it tends to apolitize what we are dealing with here. It is a specific human culture that produces this type of footprints, and so to suggest that it is “humanity” is to imply that it is “simply natural”, in which I strongly disagree.

Gøran: Mm.

Peter Sandberg: Hmm, well Gøran, it seems like you have been waiting for such a term to come along?

Gøran: Well, I have dealt with it by writing MOTSKILLIG years, actually. I think we possess a general need for words and terms to identify timeframes. I think it would be better if the geologists would loosen up on their iron fist regarding this discussion and for it to instead be viewed in a different light. Even if, still, it is important to remember that this is currently a term being used by academics and some artists. There has not been a viral thing or such, though I agree with you Helena; I often think in such terms myself, when we have a look at “Antropocene – the age of the human kind”, of course it “DØLJER” different systems, different mindsets, different values, different – Europe for instance, look at what we have done to the rest of the world, the debate is easily DØJED as a term, but it does not stop me from growing a fond of this concept, because I believe we need some kind of grandiose framing of time that evolves into the discussions we are having now. So, summing up, I believe it causes more good than harm.

Peter Sandberg: Well, I think the term, Anthropocene, that is, the obvious geological impact we have had on earth, but there is also some kind of existential question imbedded in this. That is to speak, our perspective on the world, human being, our culture and politics. It extremely wide and a bit like a duality as well.

Sverker Sörlin: What Helena brings to the table here is a very central part of the discussion surrounding “Antropocene”. And I have written several articles about this subject, in particular this, collectivization by force, so to speak, of all human kind, like canalizing it into this “antropos”, this figure producing footprints. I have found these kind of discussions constructive because they have shown us to spot the differences. But even those who are losing their minds right now because other parts of humanity are taking too much space and are overexploiting, resulting in the consequences we face in Antarctica or other parts of the world, is to some extent already imprinted in the same discussion. After all they are a part of the same human kind. One cannot say that the collective mind of man does not exist. It does indeed exist. And this I tell you: one of the useful aspects the term catalyzes is a forced discussion about what “humanity” really is, how we define it and what is embedded in that term. Who is a part of it and, well, everyone is a part of it given a premise, but like how and where you belong, in which I think there have been great variations in the FURFLUTNA , to which I hope we take a distance. One of the chapters I have chosen here is “Who does what to whom”. There are no innocent actions that has made our planet into this all absorbing all swallowing thing, but that time is over the earth cannot sustain it all, and then the critical question of who is responsible arises.

Peter Sandberg: But it is hard to accuse the whole world or pinpoint a few that could be held accountable in overexploiting the recourses, I mean, we are clearly guilty in several different ways. Anthropocene is really all about “man” then, generally speaking? Gøran: Yes, well, I guess speaking of the term, what has happened is that it is mirroring the states you are referring to, the planetarian. Even those of the 4th world that are driven away now knows that there is a world we should relate to in some way or another. Even the worst climatedeniers has got some clue that we have got a planet though they are refusing to believe scientifical reports etc. But there is something here that is about a planetarian mindset -

8:42 A global mindset? Gøran: Yes, I suppose you could call it that, well, you write so lovely about it in you book, pictures of the earth arising, the Apollo voyages, when we for the first time in history experience a picture of our planet from outer space, like “That’s us, right there, on that tiny spot”. Like, we are all here, even if we are divided into different social classes or colonial submitted, and I think it is an important issue considering the term “Anthropocene”, because the global is brought to conscious.

Helena Granstrøm: Humanity existed a long time before this deep, destructive culture was born, and this is what I think tends and disappears in this term. Also, I think it is partly symptomatically given: if you look at it as some sort of replacement for environmental terms, it’s like destroying. The environment, the way you write about it, is this abstract something “out there”, being polluted by humans. To me, this is probably one of the most interesting aspects about this term, right, the geological perspective is very large, it speaks about billions of years, it is not concerned about destroying but rather transformation. And to me, this comes across as preposterous, like the way we exterminate species, we pollute the oceans, we are drill the mountains to pieces, though we do not call it destroying, we call it transformation. If it was the products of mankind was leveled with the ground, we would all agree that its about terminating. You bring up the term “infra politics”, right, so not the everyday politics found in papers and regular news, but some kind of underlying structure supporting the contemporary political debate, and this is, I guess, is where we find the central “infra political” question regarding the term “Anthropocene”. Like, it’s a highlighting human activity and a systematical disparagement of everything that is not a direct consequence of human actions.

Peter Sandberg: So, infra politics. Infra descends from sound, no, like the sound you are unable to hear though you feel it in your bones, like some underlying vibrations beneath the politics, ideologies, structural systems ect. Like when you feel the urge to act but maybe cannot articulate it properly. Have I got it right?

Yes, one could argue you do, haha, I invented that term myself, actually. It’s purposing a combo of compability and incompatibility, - like politics for instance, demands articulation, on the contrary, infra politics functions on several different levels at the same time. This is dealing with us as sensible creatures in a more sensible way than we can address. And from there on the vibrations tends in various directions. Some might be offended by the violence of nature in this, like Helena mentioned, but others have got a different version of infra politics and therefore addresses this indifferently - more spontaneously inclined a highlight of the products manufactured by human kind and from there on inclining towards transformation rather than termination. And I think it is important to accept/recognize/realize this as a perspective of value. To be able to see that. To try to increase linguistic availability to be able to look at it from counter holds, which I find political.

Helena Granstrøm: There are some central cultural myths concerning Anthropocene, suggesting that the term is referring to the tale of human intrinsic urge for destruction. Like “it’s natural to exploit the surroundings” that is one of the cultural explanations, that I party find implied here. The second is all about “man being created in Gods image”, that there exists a virtue in administrating, which could also maintain the act of destroying, though in a sense, to continue the work on this “creation” and doing so by placing ourselves above it. And this you write on as well. What do you think, Gøran? So infra politics, unspoken politics sort of,

Yeah, well, I must admit I have grown quite a fond of this term. When I am alone I usually occupy myself with politics, like everyday politics. What I find utterly annoying is that the so critical dissidence related questions never are found to be present. Whereas in opposition this term really hits something in people. It moves them. I have even overheard directors of paper industry on vacation chatting “We need to reduce the consumption level in society” and then they go back to work, causing the straight opposite effect. There is something happening inside every human being, we feel something, something global. And this is also some of what is implied in the term (read: Anthropocene), opposed to what is presented in our everyday politics.

Helena: Well, isn’t it all because of narrowmindedness, causing us to continue believing in this “tale of progress”? Because if you don’t believe in it you cannot – then you cannot do shit.

There are several environmental activists, parts of the environmental movement, that has joined the eco-modernistic idea that postulates that they are equally narrow minded as everyone else considering FRaAMSTEGSBERETTELSEN . like “more technology is a necessity, we need new and more and better technology” like that kind of ecomodernism - and then you might be trapped in a specific infra political understanding.

Peter: Though, could someone spot something regarding our position? Sverker, in your book you write… Ok, so, as late as in 1930 Nobel prize winner in physics Robert Millican proclaimed that nothing can affect something as huge as our planet. So, you wright about this kind of longing for trust. It is like a scaling has disappeared.

Svaerker: Yes, precisely, like you mention Helena, this administrational thought has increased in popularity, especially in eco modernistic groups that “we should protect and sustain this planet” can come across as an attractive alternative considering what sort of actions we are capable of going through with today minimizing the impact we have on this planet. “We can protect everything”. And I think this is an important argue, and of course you cannot deny the that there is something latent in this, we have to take responsibility for each other, but to take on the responsibility of everything, like, we are responsible for the growth, we are responsible for the sea level rising, we are responsible for - . Heaven on earth. It has to stop somewhere. There is a limit of what we can take here, I guess. And I also believe that this term, Anthropocene, that we approach this in a very confronting way, like we look in the mirror and what we see is this reflection of what we are or what we are pretending to be. A totalitarian creature that can do everything. Here, my infra political impulse is to stand up and actively say “Hell no, I don’t want to be a part of this, I want to stay small, I don’t want to be framed into these large concepts”

Gøran: I think this is a part of the phase-wise Anthropocene, that wherever we go throughout our lives we only encounter the technosphere. Like, going hiking you are basically moving inside a green industrial hall, you can witness the mechanics, and then you continue into thick forests, constructed on site by man. It is something artificial. You hardly find authenticity any more. We only encounter ourselves. That’s why you feel satisfied by the thought of “the wild nature” is reclaiming its territory. Because it is something moving outside the technosphere.

Helena: Otherwise you move though a genuine forest that is in fact something in its own, something different, though you know that it may disappear by tomorrow. And it is something about the reliability in this big structure. Like "this is the mountain, it has always been here and it's going to stay here until infinity, this tree has been standing here since as long one can remember", though there is no such thing as consistency anymore related to the great outer structures. An interesting aspect you deal with in your book is that the world has shrieked, and that it is not only concerning high speed, efficient communication, it is concerning the reliable sphere, the sphere we hold our trust in. It is no longer trust in these great structures, it is not even the changing seasons, it is almost nowhere to be found, it is merely reduced into what you can grasp with your hand and the few people you hold dearly in life.

Sverker: There is an amazing poem written by Gøran Sommerby where he expresses envy for the romantical poets, like Kristel and so on, because whenever they were upset with the status of contemporary politics, they would have a walk in the wild to clear their minds. An untouched room where time stood still. This room has vanished. There no exits this type of room to rest. But this one could also interpret as a call to reevaluate our position.

Peter: Though it is related to language as well, no? We read about this all the time, the technical and research terminology ect. I don’t know the position of nature poetics today, but it's like this fervent description of our planet and of ourselves and our position in universe. There might be a longing. You claim that there exits eco poetry.

Sverker: Yes, well in some ways you could call it that, or some kind of climate related poetry, recognized by its despair over the lack of space to recover/rest/recharge. Gøran: 18: 50 til Jag tycker meg senvis på forsjukning her? A few decades ago, we witnessed an explosive growth in the eco modernistic movement. It launched the mindset that could combine a broad society development with increased living standards and a cautious relation to the eco systems. The old version of "nature preservation" was considered extremely unpopular, it was conservative and symbolic. With this Anthropocene discussion, the defense of "nature" has reappeared. Like the feeling that there is no rest, that we are savages obsessed with administrating and mending what is in reality a scale we cannot comprehend with. And then there arises a new type of longing back to - or at least – to something that is greater than us.

Helena: Do you think that this upcoming insight at all can be expressed in political actions? I think it is interesting to have a look at how we execute these ideas and mindsets as political actions with our cultural mechanisms kept in mind. And the answer to this question is that we are extremely technooptimistic.

Sverker: Yes, not only that, but a sort of speciesism/ species egocentric as well when you have a look at what our politicians do. Even all the climate party throughout Europe are eco modernists in some way, like, none of them claim we have to go back to a modest lifestyle, though all eco modernists, or not all, and in this sense I guess...When speaking about the "age of the human kind" an image instantly appears in your mind, an image of how selfish we are as a species. It's actually a point to it.

Peter: You also describe various versions of what the "human" is, and you mention the "techosphere" the summation of all human activity, our buildings, roads, cables, construction sites ect. And then there is information that the techofossile diversity is exceeding the diversity of the earth and the summation of all the fossiles from earths development throughout time. It is absolutely overwhelming.

Gøran: Yes exactly, the total amount of impact we have had on earth that currently is manifested on a massive industrial scale. It is flourishing – take a random freighter, whether it is from China or another country, it is cucked to the top of all this tiny stuff, and every day there are millions of new species being born sort of, in these commercial temples. And politically speaking there is an absurd diversity, in the future, one imagines the archeologists 10 000 years from now researching material from our time and our civilization, and that they will see our actions today as an enormous footprint. Like, our footprint as a species compared to the footprint of all of the billions other species that exists, and then one can say, well, in a short manner of time, the human kind surely went overrepresented, hehe.

Peter: Now that is a creepy thought, hehe.

Helena: You also write that the fair amount of these products and inclusive the lifestock and other animals 20:15: Is 100 000 times greater than the human, like total mass of the human kind.

Sverker: Though is there not some sort of paradox to this? “The age of the human kind”, and at the same time biotechnics, robotics and artificial intelligence ect. It is almost like the age of the human kind/ humanity should be recognized as the time when the human is climbing down from its high horse and be replaced by... Like, we can replace almost all our organs, we can imagine that there will be a huge infratechnological leap that will give us automatical, driverless cars. There is a paradox that the age of the human kind culminates into a point of time when the human loses its unique position/role.

Helena: To voluntarily give it up? Or.. Sverker: Yes, I suppose you could say so.

Peter: This is “Filosofiska rummet” were we are trying to address the resent term “Anthropocene – the age of the human kind/humanity”, and together with us today is ideahistorian Sverker Sørlin and auteurs Helena Granstrøm and Gøran Greider. So, it is about time as well, at high speed. Like, our glaciers are melting, deforestation, extinction of species and the geography is torn. Sverker, you write ”the understanding/vision of time that the west has lived under has been altered on the separation between the time of nature and the time of culture”. Time of culture has been fast the time of nature slow. Though now it it’s the strict opposite – the culture in falling behind the time of nature. It is hard to parry.

Gøran: I think this is one of the fundamental shifts. Actually, I would like to say that this book in many ways is concerning a new perspective of the world that is arising. And when new perspectives on the world and versions of reality is arising, terms of movement, like time for intense…like nature is out there, stable and simply existing, and then suddenly stuff happens and it is not predictable anymore, that it is moving too fast. What we are facing now is an acceleration taking place all over the world at the same time, that is even spreading to what we used to call nature. Like, nature is becoming and almost nostalgic term even. And we still haven’t figured out yet how to control this new, high speed, because we have inflicted upon something that is uncontrollable. It is a bit ironic, no, speaking of control? Because we cannot control it, what man has kicked off is simply too fast. This is where we are right now. That is the mindset that is now arising, so new generations are going to perceive time in another way. And this defiantly affects the professional reflectors of time – the ideahistorians – are philosophizing about time, especially the recent decades.

Peter: Yeah, I mean, it is almost as if culture and nature is merging, are we able to separate the two, and will we be in the future?

You are asking too grand questions, hehe, though in some ways the answer would neither be yes or no, but the way one relates to time will change, of course.

Peter: Yes, well, in your book you also discuss “modernism”. The science, the enlightenment, the nature continuingly providing us with recourses, materials ect. This is also some of what is changing, right? And also these processes in a political view. The already made decisions has been based on this logic, though it is no longer valid. Right, so the politics are also falling behind.

Yeah, though we are also… I think you are quoting a Adorno, an old German philosopher, though he formulates it “over the perfect enlightened world are rays of catastrophe”. Modernity and the enlightenment, well it has been a tale of progress, though we spot in the horizon the total destruction of the biosphere. And this does something to the mindset of modernity. Right, so you wright that here lies loads of nostalgia in the term nature, and in terms like “the time of coal” and such, hehe. Though maybe not everyone sees this destruction, like why should we keep this old wall, is it really efficient or…speaking about eco systems I feel like, in the aftermath of the term “Anthropocene” there is a lot of…like the scientists are predicting that 50% or 2/3 of all species will be extinct by a hundred years, caused by the combination of climate change and human validation of territory/ radical disturbance of livelihoods. And the answer to this is to construct some kind of modern “Noahs Ark”. And then the question is “Well, what kind of species should we spare, which do we choose”. In some ways this is resolving our old thinking patterns, but in another sense they are amplified, even taken into extremes. That we with a certain obviousness take on this character as administrator of existence. Conspicuously, I think, in relation to this...

And Noahs Ark occurred after the fall, right so…

Noahs Ark is a non-option, hehe. One can say “Eco systems – we have to interfere to preserve them”. The coral reefs for instance, pale inspires – blekninger 27.12, several of our eco systems are under pressure. Like 60 or 70 present of our eco systems are under pressure. In the age of the human kind we have to act to secure and preserve our eco systems.

Helena: But we have to preserve them, we do, and it is because we are not prepared to stop putting them under pressure, or what?

Yes, I suppose you could stay that, but –

Helena: It is not that complicated to reduce the pollution, for instance, to decrees the carbon dioxide you could stop driving a car there are many – speaking of infra politics – there are many sets of seeing the implied agreements, that we will never intend to actually adjust our lifestyles. (said ironically ->) It is not worth the hassle, after all.

Yes, that is a returning issue. Eco modernists thinks that the solution is to continue believing in stronger technology ect. Though the real question is: To what extent do we have to reduce our construction?

Helena: Though this we perceive as a cost. Then we have to sacrifice something. But to every day deplete, I don’t know how many, species per day…Most people don’t have an active relation to these concepts, because it does not have an impact on their everyday lives.

Sverker: Yes, well, when I mention infra politics I mean, the lemur, the very last lemur existing. I believe that there is something growing inside every human being, or most human beings, that there lies an authority…I suppose it is some kind of moralistic ontology of mine, that there is an authority within the human kind that is established into this lemur.

Helena: Though does this authority manifest - Sverker: No! It does not, no. Helena: - into the cohesive practice? Because then -

Sverker: No, though then you – and I would like to add a thing to this –

Peter and Gøran laughts Sverker: - that makes me into some kind of reformist in this, hehe. And then I would really like to argue that one should think of “modernity” as the era of the hundreds of years we have endured. And almost all our surroundings has been constructed within that period of time, or perhaps not agriculture which is much older. For not to mention: we have laws, principals, rules, a moral perception determining right or wrong. All of these things has been created in a manner of centuries by people quite similar to ourselves. I imagine it as a necessity to come up with a different statutory framework the two or three hundred years to come. We simply have to find new principles and new structures and stuff for example an agreement that preserves the world as we know it today, we call it capitalism, confused with democracy. Though I don’t believe it can go on like this for much longer like this, it has to change, though it will not occur within the twenty or thirty years to come, it demands a long term transformation. And, I am going to be held completely accountable for what I am saying now, because I am dead by the time it will happen, but I think there is already much progress. Like, returning to a “progressive thinking” and a constructive and interesting perspective on having a rested nature. Or to have nature at all (or having one in the first place, I think) is a crucial thought, it is a totally different thought then what existed 130 years ago when the first nature preserving companies were created. It was in reality a complete conservative and symbolic nostalgia, pretty pointless really. Peter: Though what about the modernity that we cherish, it has provided us with so much welfare. We cling to it, right. A bit like peeing in your pants, really. (This is only me thinking: No-no, modernity did not provide welfare – welfare was provided by the brave, thinking, bright, autonomous individuals and collectives in, various manners, questioning and acting upon the established structures of their time.) Sverker: Yes, absolutely! It is going to be a huge sacrifice. Look at the force the nostalgia in Trumps politics brings forward, - though I think it is doomed. Gøran: Yes, well this is no coincidence, and there is a survey suggesting that increased construction and welfare generates happiness to a certain level and then it begins to decrease. Like, the general living conditions in the late 60s is enough, most people realizes this as well. And that is a new feeling. And that is even a seed, an embryo to rethink the concept of never ending growth and increased standards. And this new. Never mind how it (read:Anthropocene?) will be defined in the law books, I think it is something worth believing in.

Helena: Though it is not simply concerned about, like I think you have to have a larger perspective than reforming economical politics. No former political ideology has not mainly perceived nature and outer surroundings as potential resources, as something to exploit. It is necessary for something completely different to come up in that case.

Peter: Though the hope is based on a “technology optimism”. Like, one is supposed to…like, global warming is supposed to be reduced by new fuel, alternative energy resources ect, though this optimism, in its core, is a denial to make those radical decisions and to act on them. Sverker, you write in your book that technology shall be replaced by suffering.

Sverker: Yes, well this is what the modernistic, the eco modernistic…

Peter: Though no one will take on this suffering. Sverker: Yes, and it has been impossible up until now to suggest such a suffering in political terms. And if we have technology and access – and contrary I do not see technology as an enemy, I think there is plenty of good technology. Though the crucial part here is what is implied in this. That there exits a “blueprint” of what is our progress, “ways of how our happiness can spread and so on”, though I believe it provides a fake image even, and it is a project of ridiculous character to try transforming this superficial/fake image into a more representative image of what we are capable of doing while in a volatile state.

Gøran: Though in these implied…I am very fascinated, probably because of the Marxism in my spontaneous perspective on the world, though today under “Anthropocene”, Marxist idea historians are encouraging us to wright a story on our species. To get an objective tale on homo sapiens in our history books. Even if capitalism is to blame for the acceleration under and after the 2. World war, with increased constructing ect, perhaps there is an invasive feature to the human, to the species, homo sapiens. And this is because we possess the quite unique quality of collaboration. This quality is often expressed in positive ways considering the “welfare-state” though it also occurs to high extents in warfare. The attack on Iraq in 2013 was a shining example on a large scale, united collaboration, which has caused tremendous destruction and suffering. I find it interesting that even the Marxists suffering from biology horrors, under the “Anthropocene” considers this in biological terms. That there might be something in us, in our biology, in us as biological beings in the biosphere, that we need to acknowledge and seek to understand. Peter: Yes, exactly, I mean, we are the consumers, it is us that create the political ideologies it is us who have disturbed the balance here. Helena: Excuse me, but to an answer to what Gøran is saying here; it is important to keep in mind the cultures that has not contributed to exploitation of environment. Obviously, there is a potential for such a behavior to occur in the human spectrum, though there also lies a potential for completely other behaviors as well, which I think is important to remember.

Gøran: Yes, so do I think, - Helena: Because this drifts towards a merging of the human kind as a species and human kind as a specific sort of human culture. And I think it is important to separate those two terms.

Gøran: Yes, though we have to face duality in this, well…so nature, nature is such a problematic word these days, I almost feel like it is stuck in my mouth. We have to face the duality in our generic being here, where the goal of cooperation is expressed in that we create stabile societies that does not rely on exploitation of recourses. Though it can also shoot of like under the agricultural revolution or the industrial revolution so that it potentially destroys large amounts of the biosphere. I am fascinated by the Marxist thinkers proclaiming these things to day and articulates a need for putting these thoughts on the agenda. We need to wright the story on the species , it is not enough with the history of society ect., we need to reflect upon ourselves. And I think this is something that has taken place in our time. Peter: Though that is the toughest issue right now, right? “Anthropocene” - the age of the human kind, though what is…

Sverker: A cure that is within reach, that is not as utopian as many of the other things we are discussing here, because to wright the history on the human kind/mankind is only possible by an increased access and distribution of intellectual energy – or know-how-. So, what the “species” has come up with is for example – let’s call them – biologists, scientist, experts or analysts, and they have executed high quality craftsmanship in describing certain characteristics to the being we have named “human”. Though all too few from society-research related fields, the human-ethical fields and the artistic fields, have engaged in this matter, it has partly been taboo. And I think what Dipesh Chakrabarty, Chicago historian that has written a lot on this topic, and others mean is not to make historians into biologists – but this is an urge to address and understand what these incredible tight-woven nexuses looked like. In prehistorical times where almost stripped from contact with the biological, now some sort of new interrogation is occurring to better understand our age and the previous ones. And in this case, I in some ways think that there will be more options in terms of how one perceives and thinks around the future. A positive aspect about the capitalism, is after all its receptiveness it has potential of never ending renewal and if one can upgrade what we used to call nature, or if we can upgrade the global, - it would be a part of the solution to increase the value of nature itself. Like, not only monetary though also the moral instances. Gøran: Though we are still stuck. If capitalism is to upgrade nature, it would still be within the frames of the market. With limited resources the cost will rise and so on, and that’s the infra structural. Helena: Though introspection is one of homo sapiens best qualities. The modern version of it at least. Is it not what is demanded as well? I would argue that as a culture, we do not recognize other subjectivities than the human subjectivity. When we act on it, we create this image of the world where we solely are the feeling and thinking beings, and if other beings should inherit the same qualities it is simply a mechanical behavior. Rather than to examine and review ourselves, we should seek to be more responsive to our living environment.

Sverker: I think this also occurs in the Anthropocene discussion, it is so much going on considering animal studies. Like, an attempt to appreciate? innkännande the closer surroundings, comes across to me as a new and staggering project.

Gøran: Yes, it is new, and science on dogs for instance, or craws or livestock. Like, the line which separates the human being from other primates or animals is thinned out. Helena: Yes, this is interesting when reading about it, though what is consequences? How does it affect our lifestyles? Gøran: Yeah, well, this is in the matter of many thousand years. Helena: Though what does it make us into? It makes us into quite grotesque violators, should I say, if one really… Peter: Though I think… to pin-point what the human being is was an easy task up until a certain time. When it “exploded” sort of, after the enlightenment or the modernity or so, but since then everything has progressed so quickly – commercialism, atom bombs, plastic – in this case, haven’t we lost our prospects somewhere along the way under what we call “Anthropocene”? Gøran: I think that for every new child being born. Then the conscience is restored. Another word for infra politics would be, on an individual level, would be that consciousness. That the conscience is the opportunity to a moral instance that takes more than it can explain. Helena: Speaking of animals, I am thinking, not that you explicitly discuss it, though the image of the technological progress as unstoppable… Now we are discussing humanity and the different options and ways for humans to proceed to. If you go with that thought all the way, maybe we do not have that much of a choice. In some sense, we are relying on the technology system we have been deceived to create. What do you think around this? Do you see the dynamics that have been put into action as something we are able to influence without taking influence over? Sverker: I think that is a superb question, and the answer would be that “Anthropocene” is helpful, at least I have found it helpful in viewing this footprint as a historic product up until now. And that is a pretty strange image, to see this enormous power, though this is a distinct formulation concerning the future. I do not think that it is an irreversible development, “a priori” at least, I think it will be difficult to stop it, but, in principle, it is not unstoppable. It is responsive. And therefore, it is so important to relate it to politics, because it is only by political means one can head in a new direction. It is utterly necessary to do so. And I have, in several books, for instance “Naturkontraktet” from the 90s, expressed optimism regarding the possibilities, even if some literal traces may come across as frightening, and continue to do so, I am convinced that it is possible. And that it is important to keep holding on to that thought. And when I say, “infra politics” it is maybe because I find it important that things proceed inwards, like the organic that is hard to formulate, also considering the politics. Peter: I was thinking about something you mentioned earlier, about the smallness, that you miss former scale, when the earth was still grand. Now, the human being is grand. May the question be if man has grown to grand for its own good?

Yes, well. Peter: Because what are we to do, emission from New York and Europe is causing the Antarctica to melt, it is heating the water which affects the monsoons in India. It is so fragmented and difficult to make sense of, it is difficult to be political in that context… Gøran: We simply must exercise in being “small”. It is not of unimportance. Say you go and buy a flower tree, planting it at a nice spot where it gets the right amount of sun and shadow, and you have an active thought “this is the right spot, the tree will thrive”. Or if you have pets, like cats, dogs or sheep, the interaction with other types of consciousness, other subjectivities than yourself, becomes a practice in making yourself smaller. And I think that is a pretty important thing. People are opening their eyes and realizing this, which is providing hope.

Peter: So, you think the man in the street will pick up on “Anthropocene” in a matter of time? The word is a bit difficult, it is a bit abstract. Sverker: I heard from someone that had read this word and believed it should be pronounced “Antropoken”, it sounds a bit more like, hehe, fighting the human being. Gøran: Well, is it not remarkable, sometimes you meet children that questions the killing of mosquitoes. That is something new I guess, because it is a harassment of other beings. (outro music) Peter: “Filisofiska rummet”, today we have been discussing the new term “Anthropocene – the age of the human being/humanity”. You heard Sverker Sørlin idea and environmental historian and author of the recent book “Antropocene – en essä om människans tidsålder”, Helena Granstrøm, author with background in physics and mathematics, and author Gøran Greider. Techniques were provided by Marie Person and the show was produced and hosted by me, my name is Peter Sandberg, good bye.

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askthenewhopespeak · 7 years

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Revenge???

Shibakuzo kicks the door open, bursting in! “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK, MIRAZ?!” Damian jumps at the intruder who kicked his door open, rolling onto his feet rather sluggishly on impulse. “Who are you?!” “IT DOESN’T FUCKING MATTER WHO THE HELL I AM!” “WHAT MATTERS IS THE FACT THAT YOU FUCKING WORKED FOR STORM!” “THE PRICK TO END ALL PRICKS! THE FUCKING CACTUS!” “WHAT THE HELL DUDE?!” “Wait. I did too.” Shibakuzo realizes that she’s kind of a hypocrite. And that she doesn’t care. “BUT THERE’S AN INFINITE SUPPLY OF YOU GUYS!” “Wait. Wait what the fuck.” Upon looking closer, she notices something very important. He winces at her outburst, but still looks confused at her. “What?” “Are you…?” “Holy shit.” She stares down at him, before starting to laugh her ass off. “Since when were you so tiny?!” “Oh my gosh. I’m like a head taller than you. Holy fuck.” “Tiny?!” He shouts, anger rising. “I’m not short enough to take you down!” “Of course not, you’ll have to climb me like a tree if you want to!” Shibakuzo can’t stop laughing. “But don’t- gahahahaha- sell yourself short there kiddo.” “Great things come in small packages, right?!” “Pffft, hahaha, you’re like one or two pancakes, a shortstack!” “My spurt hasn’t come in yet!” He snaps, hopping up to look up at her. “What do you even want?” “To get my revenge and make fun of you.” “They’re mutually inclusive.” “Shortie.” He glares at the stranger before sighing in an effort to calm down. “What did I do to have you want revenge on me?” “A) Maverdick Storm. B) Taste of your fucking medicine, you asshole. C) It’s fun.” “….right.” He says growing more irritated, pulling out his cell phone. “I’m calling Alter Ego. I don’t need a crazy person mocking my mistakes.” “Oh, yay, you regret it! That’s definitely a good sign!” “Unless you were talking about your height. That’s not a mistake because there’s nothing you can do about it.” “Seriously who are you?” “And you care because…?” “I mostly care about you because I don’t want you to ruin the world.” “You don’t have to do the same in return.” “It’s generous, I know, thank me as much as you want.” “I care because you kicked my door in.” He replies, putting phone back. “And what do you mean ruin the world?” “You know, work with Storm, help him fuck up the planet and cause total annihilation of society.” “Climate change is a very serious issue, you know.” “Society matters less, but I guess you shouldn’t mess that up either.” “….I want to stop Storm. He’s better off dead.” “Yeah, that’s good!” “Good going kid! Found the error of your ways and such!” Shibakuzo ruffles his hair. (Looks like Big Sis Yuka-chan and the kids’ world will be fine, even when I’m gone.) “Go get that bastard! You can kill him!” “Uh…thanks? But still, who are you?” “A person who believes in you!” “….” Damian looks at her rather annoyed before sighing. “Okay..person, thanks for believing in me. Was that all you came to tell me?” “I forgot the moment I saw how short you were.” “Get out!” Shibakuzo doesn’t even seem to hear him, thinking about something. “Wait, aren’t you Shizuki’s boyfriend?” “W-what? No!” He blushes. “ We’re just friends!” “Right. I’ll believe that when the universe ends.” “We haven’t even spoken that much between classes and no- Wait why am I even justifying any of this to you when I don’t even know who you are?” ‘Because I’m pretty sure that you’re basically dating and denying it.“ "Except we’re not and seriously, Who. Are. You.” Slowly he steps backward towards his bag in the corner with his gear in it. “Someone who used to be shorter than you, and is now rubbing her newfound height in your face.” “Oh, did I mention that she’s my sister?” “I’m basically your in-law.” “That’s not true, I’m 15 and you’re way older than me.” He replies, continuing making steps to the wall. “Oh right, you don’t remember. Of course you don’t. Or maybe it just didn’t happen period, which wouldn’t surprise me.” Shibakuzo blinks in front of the bag, seemingly unaware that she even did it. “Or maybe you just got a concussion.” His eyes widen, turning suddenly to see her standing right in front of him. “What- How-” “I mean, like, it would explain you working with Maverdick.” Shibakuzo blinks again, suddenly halfway across the room. And then she’s behind Damian, leaning against the wall. “Or maybe he just manipulated you? And Yuka-chan’s love saved you?” “Oh gosh. So romantic. I’m getting the vapors over here.” Shibakuzo remembers something else. “Have you been eating right?” “You kind of look hungry. Or tired. Or maybe it’s just your face.” Shibakuzo blinks away, and then she’s back with a box of donuts. Damian stares silently, looking bewildered and slightly afraid at her constant jumps. “I…” “What? They’re donuts. You know what those are, right?” “That’s not the point! You just….jumped back and forth repeatedly in under a minute!” “Glad to see that your eyes work." Shibakuzo takes one of the donuts and starts to eat it. "Is this…normal?” “Yes.” “Obviously not for you. But for me, it’s how I get around.” Suddenly everything seems to click. “….oh. You’re that girl from before aren’t you?” “I never got your name then like I’m not now.” “Huh?!” Shibakuzo almost drops the donuts. “W-what girl from before?!” He laughs to himself as if remembering a joke. “You showed up out of nowhere asking about Kuzuryuu.” “T-that… that shouldn’t be…” “That was years ago.” “This really sounds like an episode of The Flash right now. But that was only a week or so ago. I never saw you after that.” “I was twelve!” “For you, it might have been a week, but it’s been years for me!” “Then you’re a…time traveler? Dimension hopper?” “Dim- Oh, you actually got it right, the second time!” “This is really weird…what’s your name. You know mine from before don’t you?” “Yeah, you’re Big Sis Yuka-chan’s boyfriend.” Damian frowns again. “Another me may have been, not me.” “Oh no. You definitely are." Shibakuzo eats another donut. "Or maybe not, but it’s fun to tease you.” “I don’t even like her like that…” He grumbles, sitting back on his bed. “You’re really not going to tell me your name are you?” “It would be fun to make you guess and see how wrong you are, and since it’s one of my only sources of entertainment, why not?” “Well, if Fuyuhiko’s your dad….and I’m guessing Pekoyama is your mom….” “…what?” “WHAT?!” “….Miss Pekoyama is your Mom? They’re dating here…” “PEKO?!” “HE FUCKED AUNTIE PEKO?!” “HE FUCKED AUNTIE PEKO?!” “Auntie Peko?!” “HE FUCKED AUNTIE PEKO!” “Then who’s your mom in your time?” “NOT MY FUCKING AUNT!” “….who else would he like then? They spend so much time together.” “Wait. I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen worse. I’ve seen worse than my dad fucking his sister.” “Like mom and the quack.” “The quack?” “The quack,” Shibakuzo nodded, like that was all Damian needed to know. “…right. I’m just going to guess again.” “It better be better than dad and Auntie Peko.” “I guess the next person would have to be….Miss Tsumiki?” “Ding ding ding! Correct!”

“Looks like you do have some sense in you!” “Then your real name has to be….I still don’t know…” “Ahahaha!” “Urgh, just tell me! "But it’s fun to mess with you!” “And 'sides, if I have to go again, it won’t matter if you know my name or not!” “Have to go? You’re not staying here?” “It’s not like I belong here or anything.” “So yeah, I’ll have to go eventually.” “I guess I can see that. You have to go home right?” “Nah, can’t do that either.” “Huh? Why not?” “I’m tired of just wandering, waiting for the day I’ll get home.” “So I’ve decided! This is the last dimension I’m visiting!” Shibakuzo grins. “….so you plan to stay?” “Nope.” Shibakuzo warps over to his bag, passing it to him. "How many more short jokes do I have to make to piss you off? I’ve been saving them for a long time.“ "I’m…letting them slide right now.” He says, forcing himself to stay calm. “Then if you’re not staying….then do you want to die?” “Would you help me if I say yes?” “I….I don’t think I’d be able to..” He looks away for a moment before turning back. “I may have killed, but I don’t want to do so without reason.” “You have a reason, I shot Otonashi.” “…so what? A while ago I would have done the same. She’s a clone of Junko so I’m still wary of her.” “Oh, damn. Looks like you don’t care.” “Hm…” Shibakuzo begins digging around in Damian’s bag. “What are you doing?” Shibakuzo pulls out an arrow, examining it carefully. “Don’t touch that! That one explodes!” “Sweet. I’m keeping it.” “What?! No! Those take forever to make!” “Really?” “How’d you make them?” “Er…Storm had stuff laying around when I was with him. I remembered the show I watched and I just…started tinkering.” “I haven’t been able to make any new ones since I got here.” “Woah! That’s so cool!” “Macgyver! You’re fucking Macgyver!” “N-not really.” He said sheepishly, “I swear I thought he’d kick me out a few times after some mishaps.” “Hm, I wonder…” “I could probably steal some stuff for you. Got any experience working with uranium?” “Not at all.” “Oh, damn. Maybe… oh, I could grab something from that construction place…” “I’m not a super genius! I was kind of hoping to ask Mr. Souda when he woke up to help make better tools.” “Well, practice makes perfect!” “So why not?” “Uranium has a bunch of radiation!” “Oh, right.” “Forgot about that.” “Er…alright.” He looks at the time. “It’s getting late. Could we talk tomorrow?” “Wait, no, I’ll be dead tomorrow!” Shibakuzo hums to herself in thought, before shrugging. “Oh well. Nice chat, Shizuki.” “Please.” He takes her arm before she goes. “Let’s talk tomorrow okay?” Shibakuzo stares at him blankly. “Why?” “Because…” Damian pauses, searching for an answer that would stop her. “I still haven’t guessed your name.” “Do you really care about that?” “Yeah I do. You know more about me than I do you. We’re friends now whether you like it or not! And uh….if you die I’ll show up at the theater and drag you back to life!” “A) Not sure that’s how death works, B) I know about alternate yous, you could be different, and C) You don’t want to be friends with me.” “Yes I do. Just promise to meet up tomorrow okay!” “Urgh. Fine, kid, one day.” “Don’t forget.” He glares at her before turning away to grab pj’s for bed. Shibakuzo blinks away, bringing the bag with her.

#damian miraz #shibakuzo shikabane #danganronpa #submission #bluehairedlance #rainbow-unicorn-banzai-party

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itsfinancethings · 4 years

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Over the last several years, anti-LGBTQ “purges” have taken place in Chechnya, a conservative Russian republic. Chechen officials, according to many reports and testimonies, have rounded up people they believe to be gay, tortured them and then released them to family members who were encouraged to commit “honor killings.”

Fearing for their lives, some young queer people have fled the predominantly Muslim region with the hopes of finding safety outside Russia. Welcome to Chechnya, a documentary by David France premiering June 30 on HBO, follows these refugees and the activists going to extraordinary lengths to help them escape.

Chechen officials have denied that purges took place, saying in one case that gay people do not exist in that part of Russia and if they did, their relatives would be so ashamed that they “would have sent them to where they could never return.” European countries have criticized Russian authorities for allowing a “climate of impunity” in the republic.

Welcome to Chechnya is France’s third documentary. His first, 2012’s How to Survive a Plague, based on his own book of the same name, reflected on the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S. and earned numerous awards including an Oscar nomination. His second, 2017’s The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson, explores the life of the prominent activist. Ahead of the release of his new film, TIME spoke with France about the extreme security measures he put in place for Welcome to Chechnya, what he thinks of the government’s denials and why, despite the risk, Chechens were willing to tell their stories.

TIME: When did you realize you wanted to make this film?

David France: I decided to do the film the minute I realized that this activism was taking place, desperately, in a world that wasn’t helping. No one was covering it. So I just left for Russia.

After working on the film for 18 months, how would you describe the dangers of being gay in Chechnya?

It’s not possible to live if it’s known that you’re gay. The campaign in Chechnya is a cleansing of the blood, as it has been described. It is a mission to round up and exterminate LGBTQ Chechens, and that doesn’t end when people run away. It only ends when they’re dead.

How did you proceed once you got to Russia, given that your subjects would be in danger if they or the film were discovered?

I had an encrypted phone call with the staff from the Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives [an organization helping individuals get resettled in other countries] and presented it to them. They felt it was important to show the world what was happening but said that not everyone would want to be in the film, so we made certain ground rules. I hired a local cameraperson and we moved into [one of the safe houses the center was operating].

What were among those ground rules?

We were careful not to take taxi cabs, for example, directly to the place. We were careful to alter our routes and to not appear in any way to be a film crew. We used a very small consumer camera, beat it up and made it look like a tourist thing. When we were filming in public, we taped up the plastic body so that no lights would be shown and operated it with a cell phone. But there were places where we couldn’t even use that.

Many people in the film are “digitally disguised,” with the faces of other people imposed on their own to hide their identities. Was that something you promised at the outset?

That was one of the security issues that I had with the people who were escaping, to get them to trust me. I signed little deals with everybody that said I wanted to shoot their faces, which they hadn’t let anybody else do, and I would protect my footage with my life. I would somehow find a way to disguise them and I would bring that back to them for their approval.

And had you used this technology before? What is it?

We call it face doubling. This technology has not been used before. We had additional burdens: that we could not move any of our footage over the Internet and we couldn’t work with the footage in an open studio setting. So we had to set up a kind of windowless room in order to keep with our security protocols and hire our own team to do it. We developed the IP with [software architect] Ryan Laney. For documentary filmmakers, this is a brand new tool.

Even with the digital disguises, why did people agree to do this? What did they tell you about why it was worth it to them to risk being on film?

Because they want this to end. And so they would participate if it had a chance of getting us closer to safety in Chechnya. They want to go home. They want to go back to their moms. They’re so young, most of them, to be flung out into the world like this. They want to at least be able to call home, and they can’t even do that. This way they were allowed to tell their stories and affirm their lives in a way that didn’t put them in deeper peril.

Do you see the film as a rebuttal to Chechen and Russian officials who say no persecution has taken place or no investigation is necessary?

Yes, it’s absolutely a rebuttal.

What do you feel is the most compelling new evidence you’re offering, knowing we still don’t see the torture itself?

We are telling stories. We are letting people narrate their journeys. And through the activists who are rescuing them, we’re seeing what the danger is to anybody who is queer in Russia and trying to expose this issue in their own country.

Do you believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is responsible for putting a stop to this? In your highest hopes, what changes after this film?

Putin is setting the tone here. Putin is rolling back LGBT rights in Russia. Putin is fomenting hatred for queer people in Russia. Putin has given permission for all his regional leaders to carry that out in their own way, and that’s why this is happening now. Putin could call up [Chechen leader Ramzan] Kadyrov and say, “Stop,” and Kadyrov would stop. And if we can get that, that’s a beginning.

What else needs to happen?

Kadyrov needs to go, and so do his henchmen. They run a regime of thugs, not just thuggery against the LGBTQ community. They were [threatening] people with pipes for not observing lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic there. It’s a brutal, brutal regime.

Besides investigations and pressure campaigns already going on, what should the international community be doing?

I think it’s really going to have to come from higher levels. European leaders, anybody doing political business or economic business with Russia should demand equal treatment. And they’re not. Washington could stop this.

Given Trump’s record on LGBT rights and his relationship with Russia, do you have hopes of Washington actually stepping in?

No, not while he’s in office.

#IFTTT #Blogger

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brajeshupadhyay · 4 years

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A massive plume of dust from the Sahara desert in northern Africa has been traversing the atmosphere, thousands of feet above the tropical Atlantic Ocean, and is now cloaking the Caribbean and closing in on the southeastern United States. While summer dust plumes are a common occurrence, this appears to be one of the most extreme in recent memory. It’s so large it has been nicknamed the Gorilla Dust Cloud. “This is the most significant event in the past 50 years. Conditions are dangerous in many Caribbean islands,” Pablo Méndez Lázaro, from the University of Puerto Rico’s School of Public Health, told the Associated Press. On satellite images from space, dust typically appears somewhat subtle and faint, but this plume can be seen as clear as day. The picture below was taken on Sunday from the International Space Station. “We flew over this Saharan dust plume today in the west central Atlantic. Amazing how large an area it covers!” astronaut Doug Hurley tweeted. NASA astronaut Doug Hurley took this photo from the International Space Station showing a plume of dust from the Sahara desert drifting across the Atlantic Ocean. Doug Hurley (@Astro_Doug)/NASA These plumes of Saharan dust, termed Saharan Air Layer (SAL) by meteorologists, are whipped up by strong wind storms crossing the Sahara desert. The dust enters the Atlantic Ocean near the Cape Verde islands, inside the Intertropical Convergence Zone where tropical systems often get their start. NOAA’s GOES satellite captured this series of animating images on Friday as the dust entered the deep tropical Atlantic from Africa. Today’s view of a large Saharan dust plume. Watch in near-realtime: https://t.co/mtWrgxAxqY. pic.twitter.com/aq4Ozto4Ng — CIRA (@CIRA_CSU) June 19, 2020 The dust hitches a ride along the trade winds, a belt of east-to-west moving winds near the equator which become firmly established during summertime. The dust layer can extend from a few thousand feet above the surface to 20,000 feet up. While the dust masses often stay generally intact during most of the trans-Atlantic journey, they typically become diffuse and diluted by the time they reach the Caribbean. However, so far, this particular dust layer is defying the odds. The mid-afternoon closeup. In HD#SaharanDust #SAL pic.twitter.com/zKSgMJZT2o — John Morales (@JohnMoralesNBC6) June 21, 2020 Here are a series of before and after photos taken Sunday on Caribbean islands like Antigua, St. Barts, Puerto Rico and Trindad and Tabago: Here is an amazing comparison with a near perfect day to today. Looking east over the #VCBirdAirport, #Antigua towards the Atlantic. You can barely see beyond 3 miles. pic.twitter.com/j7HHDBa93K — 268Weather (@268Weather) June 21, 2020 Ok, last dust pic for today and this one is perhaps the most incredible yet. The comparison photos were sent to me from Mirco Ferro who lives in St. Barthelemy. Check the dates in the photos (top is from March) – both are unfiltered or altered in any way. #SAL #DUST pic.twitter.com/FBwOG5ly1E — Mark Sudduth (@hurricanetrack) June 21, 2020 Sahara Dust before and after,this is PR right now,the worst dust ever. pic.twitter.com/lLxMv8mo6h — T C Cape (@tmcsjgw18) June 21, 2020 This Sahara Dust really not playing yes ;-; #TrinidadandTobago #SaharanDust pic.twitter.com/bUEn9ZGX13 — Blep OwO (@FangirlingReeee) June 21, 2020 When the dust is thick, it makes for very hazy yellow-brown skies. But when the dust is rather faint, the refraction and reflection of light can contribute to stunning sunrises and sunsets, which may help to at least partially explain Sunday’s sunset in Miami. Impact on health The dust was so thick that the Barbados Meteorological Services issued a “Severe Dust Haze Warning” urging residents to take action due significantly reduced visibility and potential respiratory problems for people who experience difficulty breathing. NASA satellites measure the intensity of dust clouds with a metric called Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT). This metric indicates the degree to which aerosols prevent the transmission of light through the atmosphere: 0.01 indicates crystal clear skies, 0.4 corresponds with very hazy conditions, and a 4 means the pollution is so dense the sun can not be seen in the middle of the day. On Tuesday, AOTs measured around 1.5 — very dense — in the thickest of the dust mass near the islands of Hispaniola and Jamaica, restricting visibilities to less than a mile in parts of the Caribbean and making for very unhealthy air quality as measured by the World Air Quality Index Project. Research shows airborne dust can have adverse effects on health, with one of the most important being pulmonary disease. Inhalation of dust particles into the airways can initiate an inflammatory immune response. Dust is most unhealthy for people with pre-existing conditions like COPD, asthma and allergies, but dust as thick as the plume heading towards the U.S. may even be harmful to otherwise healthy people, if exposure lasts too long. Another complication posed by this imminent dust cloud is its coincidence with COVID-19. A recent Harvard University study found that increased pollution, specifically particulate matter, like dust, can lead to higher hospital admissions and death rates from COVID-19. Health officials recommend wearing a mask for protection from inhaling the dust. Cases of COVID-19 have been on the rise in Florida and Texas, which are right in the path of the plume. The dust will arrive on Thursday in Texas and last through Saturday, with air quality index numbers expected to be in the unhealthy range. By late this week it will overspread the rest of the Southeast, making for hazy skies and colorful sunrises and sunsets. Closer view of NASA dust forecast in Mid-Atlantic this weekend with a different color table. Dust AOT maxes out the scale, so yes it is ‘off this particular chart’. Shows AOT of .55+ so likely readings in Atlanta/Carolinas 1.2 and Richmond/DC of .9 – Unhealthy! pic.twitter.com/uuzrvp3VpK — Jeff Berardelli (@WeatherProf) June 23, 2020 Dust clouds, hurricanes and climate The dust is most commonly known to be a hurricane killer. Anyone who has lived in Hurricane Alley can tell you that these dry, dusty layers subdue the moisture needed to feed the hurricane engine. Typically when thick dust layers are around, tropical activity remains quiet, and that is what is expected over the next week. Surprisingly, much of the soil, and nutrients in the soil, in places like South Florida and the Caribbean are composed of African dust which has settled over millions of years. In South Florida, in summer, almost half of airborne particles originate from Africa. Studies show that nutrients from African dust in subtropical and tropical soils may be critical to sustaining vegetation. For the oceans it can be both a blessing and a curse. Scientists theorize that the nutrients transported from the Sahara desert have helped to build and nourish coral reefs in the Caribbean, Bahamas and Florida for millions of years. Without those minerals, they say, the area around the Bahamas is just too nutrient-poor to support the vibrant reefs that exist. On the flip side, during years of severe dust storms, coral seems to suffer or even die off. One theory is that contaminants mixed in with the dust from agricultural practices in the Sahel region of Africa may be contributing. Also, too many minerals in the dust can cause hyper-fertilization, contributing to algae blooms that are harmful to coral. In addition, the dust may also be contributing to warming our atmosphere. In a study published in this April, researchers found that scientific climate models currently underestimate the amount of coarse dust in our atmosphere by four times. That’s because the models deposit the dust out of the atmosphere too quickly. The dust, they say, appears to have a net warming influence on our atmosphere. But in the more immediate future, the biggest concern is how pervasive the dust layer will be in the tropical Atlantic this summer. With all signs pointing to a very active hurricane season, a more persistent dust layer could help defend against tropical activity. However, once the dust begins to settle, it appears there won’t be much standing in the way of a busy hurricane season. The post Massive Sahara desert dust plume drifting toward the United States appeared first on Sansaar Times.

http://sansaartimes.blogspot.com/2020/06/massive-sahara-desert-dust-plume.html

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