Compact scholarship
No positive responses from 30+ applications for Junior Data Science/ML roles on LinkedIn. Is there something wrong with my CV? :(
2024.05.26 12:28 kbomb1297 No positive responses from 30+ applications for Junior Data Science/ML roles on LinkedIn. Is there something wrong with my CV? :(
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2024.05.09 06:56 kolektoworks Kape at Balita (Summary - May 09)
What Happened?
- Angat Dam water level expected to dip below minimum operating level this month ABS-CBN News
- P60B in emergency allowances given to COVID-19 frontliners Inquirer
- Baguio eyes waste treatment plant below dump-turned-park Inquirer
- DOLE said that a Facebook page which alleged to give a scholarship under its Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/ Displaced Workers (TUPAD) is fake Inquirer
- DSWD said that it has partnered with more than 900 service providers for its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) program Inquirer
- DOLE said wage board of NCR will begin reviewing wage rates on May 16 ABS-CBN News
- Phivolcs said Taal Volcano made a 4-minute steam-driven eruption, producing 2,000-meter-high plumes that drifted southwest ABS-CBN News
- DepEd said they are looking at ending the coming school year 2024-2025 by March 31, 2025, to allow schools to start the 2025-2026 academic year on June 2025 and revert to the old school calendar ABS-CBN News
- DOLE said that it has already issued around 8,000 alien employment permits (AEP) to foreign workers employed in licensed internet gaming operators in the country for this year GMA News
World
- Researchers engineered a hair-thin fabric to create a lightweight, compact, and efficient mechanism to reduce noise transmission in a large room MIT
- How NASA’s Roman Mission Will Hunt for Primordial Black Holes NASA
- A new imaging technique tested on patients could improve the evaluation of cardiac conditions and undiagnosed chest pain Imperial
Extra
- 5 award-winning Filipino novels that’ll make for cool films (or series) Scout
- MetroDeal to cease operations after 13 years GMA News
- Oldest living Japanese American, 110, shares her longevity tips and the 1 food she eats every day CNBC
- How quantum physics could 'revolutionise everything' BBC
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2024.04.28 00:30 Ben_Elohim_2020 The Nature of Family [Chapter 16]
Credit to Blue on the Discord Server for the wonderful art of Trilvri
Thank you to:
u/SpacePaladin15 for creating the Nature of Predators universe.
u/EdibleGojid, author of Dark Cuts, for proofreading.
EmClear, aspiring author, for proofreading
You, the reader, for your support. I love reading your comments.
Please consider reading the works of my proofreaders as they’re all authors of excellent stories and be sure to check the links below for more of my work and beautiful art from members of the community.
[First] [Previous] [Next] [Master List of Stories, Art, and More!]
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Memory transcription subject: Sawvek, Junior Extermination Officer
Date [standardised human time]: October 4th, 2136
“You're pushing the kid too damn hard!” Vaesh jabs an accusatory claw at Intalran, the feathered fanatic remaining unruffled as he looks down at the offending digit with disdain. “Just look at him! He’s practically swaying on his feet!”
Weary eyes, obscured by the fog of fatigue, blink and the scene in front of me gradually shifts back into focus. I stand at attention in the training hall, only vaguely aware of the argument raging around me, about me, content to simply stand by and let the storm work out its wrath. It seems there's always someone shrieking in the Guild Hall, someone fighting with someone else about something, but so long as I’m not the target of that fury there's nothing stopping me from simply retreating into the empty space of my own mind. Somewhere I don't have to think about it, don't have to engage with it. Maybe it isn’t healthy to zone out quite so much, but it’s the only peace I get anymore, and I’ve become quite adept at tuning out the screams.
“Last I checked, Vaesh,” Intalran perches himself imperiously, trying to physically embody the authoritative high ground he claims as his own, “Sawvek was my trainee, not yours. It's my responsibility to prepare him for the rigours of duty and I’ll see him trained up to my standards. There's no room for incessant coddling in this Guild Hall and I won't have you working against me! Your heretical drivel and endless nest-tending are going to dull his edge! If he gets killed out in the field on account of this constant interference with his training then I’m blaming you! I won't let his death be on my head!”
“Damn it Intalran!” Vaesh raises his voice another octave and the pain in my ears increases proportionally. “We’re on garrison duty, assigned to protect an established city on Venlil Prime itself, not front-liners on a damn frontier colony or a war fleet! No one is dying anytime soon! Not unless you intend to kill Sawvek in training that is! So stop fighting me on this! It's not coddling to see that the kid needs more rest! You can sharpen your talons all you like but there comes a point when you need to stop! A blade ground too fine will chip and shatter the first time it's used!”
Vaesh is a good officer, a type I didn't think this accursed city even employed, but it's true. His arguments with Intalran had been increasing in both frequency and intensity of late. I could practically set a clock to it. In fact, that was probably the only means of keeping a measure of the paws anymore. Time for me lately seems a blur, devoid of meaning beyond momentary interludes of precious sleep. Every paw was exhausting and the constant arguments only made it worse. While I appreciate Vaesh's support, even if he had just inadvertently relegated me to the level of a mere killing tool, I couldn't help but hate it at the same time.
I don't deserve his sympathies for one thing, as the voice is oft to remind me. Everything Vaesh does for me is out of a misplaced sense of obligation, borne of a misguided notion that I’m a better person than I really am, but I’ve been lying to him the entire time. I am predator diseased, I can’t even deny it myself any longer, and if Vaesh really knew who I was on the inside, if anyone knew, then they would burn me then and there. I don't know if I would even blame them.
Every time he’s helped me, every time he's stuck up for me or risked his neck; every time I’ve felt the guilt of it all gnawing away at me like a predator trapped in my guts, frantic to carve its way out. And yet… I’ve accepted it every time. Because that's what I am. A selfish predator, a parasite that feeds off of others to survive. Wicked. Insidious. Pathetic.
“Don't pretend like you don't know the truth Vaesh!” Intalran squaks with his typical self-righteous fury. “You’ve seen the state of this city! You’ve seen how the enemy are already past the gates and in our homes! Spreading their evil with every passing paw, infecting our entire society with their blasted taint! If I’m so wrong then why is it that even you, stubborn old blasphemer that you are, stopped responding to calls in the Human District, hmm?”
Vaesh looks away, no words issued in his own defence, a look of shame falling upon his face. Intalran is not one to let such an opportune moment of vulnerability go undefiled.
“It’s because deep down you know I’m right. Deep down you're scared of the Humans no matter what nonsense you prattle on about. ‘Peace’, ‘Coexistence’, ‘Tolerance’. It's all a sham and you know it!” Intalran goes quiet, a rarity for the radical Exterminator, and leans in towards Vaesh. “You should have given up those notions a long time ago, after those apes invaded your Cradle…”
“No.” Vaesh’s eyes rise to challenge Intalran, an unquenchable fire contained deep within. “I won't give up. It's true, I might be scared of the Humans. Who in their right mind wouldn't be? But, they’ve done me no harm despite the many transgressions we’ve made since they first arrived. They've had ample opportunity, and yet here I stand, proof that coexistence, as tenuous as that may be, is possible.” Vaesh places a paw on Intalran's chest and gently, yet firmly, pushes him out of his personal space. “The only ones looking for open conflict are people like you Intalran, because deep down I think you're scared of what a lasting peace would do to you. You live off of your war, it's what fuels you, and if you were forced to give it up then I think it might just kill you.”
Intalran narrows his eyes and I can see his talons flex, grasping at air as their razored tips dig into the floor. Vaesh simply stands with his paws clasped down politely in front of himself, turning ever so subtly as to expose Intalran to a shoulder full of sharpened quills. I can see the madness raging against reason in Intalran's eye as the two glower at one another, until finally, Intalran blinks first.
“You're not worth it Vaesh.” He says, tired and defeated. “I’m done with you. I’ve got better things to do.” He ushers me forward with a wing. “Come on Sawvek, Prestige Commander Glagrig is conducting a training exercise for the PRED Team today. If we're lucky we might be able to convince him to let us watch, or even better, to let us join his class!”
A starstruck look of glee shines out from Intalran as he speaks of his hero. I don't understand it personally. I try to avoid the new PRED Team Commander as much as I can. Something about that look in his eyes, the way he almost seems to dissect you with a glance, tearing into every facet of your being to expose the parts of you that are never meant to see the light of day… I find it deeply unsettling.
“He’s just a man, Intalran,” Vaesh says softly, “not a God. I don't care what his accomplishments are. You shouldn't worship at his altar.”
“It’s not worship, Vaesh,” Intalran replies with an edge of irritation, “it's called respect. Something you should have more of for a Prestige Exterminator who did more to fight the predators as a junior officer than you have in your entire career. I suppose it's too much to expect for someone like you to understand that though.” Intalran turns around and grabs me by the shoulder. “We’re leaving, Sawvek. Now.”
I begin to walk, pulled along by Intalran, when I’m stopped by a gentle paw on the opposite shoulder.
“You don't have to go with him, Sawvek.” Vaesh says softly. “The work claw is over. He can't keep you here any longer if you don't want to.”
“Stay out of it Vaesh!” Intalran snaps back. “Of course he wants to. Isn't that right, Sawvek?”
This is the other part I hate. Being stuck in the middle of these two. Protector above, I swear it's like being a child caught in the crossfire between a pair of parents who hate each other. Thank the Protector that was one strife my family didn't have to contend with. It was one I’d seen others experience plenty of times growing up and one I’d hoped to never deal with myself, yet somehow it seems I’ve found myself there anyway.
“I… I think I’ll stop for this paw and rest…” I finally say, preying on Vaesh's kindness once again, guilty but relieved to finally put an end to the paw. I'm certain that I’ll be worked by Intalran even harder tomorrow to compensate.
“Really Sawvek?” Intalran seems genuinely befuddled, almost hurt that I would turn him down. “This is a great oppor-”
“The kid made his choice.” Vaesh cuts him off, earning a vengeful glare, and turns to me. “How about I drive you home? You look beat.”
“No thank you.” I say reluctantly. “It’s not too far to the train station and I think I’d prefer to walk for a little bit actually. Clear my head a little.”
I really wouldn't. My whole body is in a constant state of pain, aching from paw after paw of intensive exercise, painful incentivising shocks, and exacting oversight from Intalran. The last thing I want to do right now is move. Almost. The one thing I’d rather do less is abuse Vaesh's hospitality one more time. I’d taken advantage of him too many times this paw already.
“I can certainly understand that.” Vaesh acquiesces, buying into my bold-faced lies. “I’ve been there myself once or twice. Get home safe and recuperate. I’ll see you next paw.”
My departure is swift and uneventful, purposefully so as I do my best to avoid anyone else in the department who might find reason to detain me. Ducking through the locker room I narrowly manage to avoid Bikim and Turlid as the obnoxious pair of brahkasses make their way to the break room, stowing my gear in the process and slipping out the rear exit. My feet move me along down the sidewalk mechanically, devoid of intent or conscious thought, trusting fully to the ingrained muscle memory of my route home. Free to wander, my eyes take in the sights of the city centre.
Sleek and austere towers jut up from the pavement, monuments of steel and glass to the unity of corporate and governmental power, meticulously serviced and shined to showcase a projection of strength and dignity I know them to be lacking; a holdover from more prosperous times. The city itself seems to glow with a multi-coloured rainbow halo of neon, its signs and storefronts reflecting artificial illumination from the mirrored polish of skyscrapers to blot out the stars above, holding back the encroaching darkness of twilight in stark rejection of nature's laws.
The entire display strikes me as a sign of hubris, of our dogged insistence to replace the natural with the manufactured, and I can’t help but wonder at the wealth wasted on such vanity projects. This dying and dreary city will never be my home, never compare to the soft green grasses and resplendent sunlight native to the dayside, and yet as I walk through its streets I must concede that it possesses a certain kind of dreamlike, almost ephemeral beauty all its own. A shame that such beauty is as false and hollow as all the rest.
I arrive at the train station and embark, fighting my way through the dense throngs of people to arrive at one of the windows near the back of the cabin, hoping to continue my melancholy musings in relative peace. Crushing hordes of commuters fresh off of their shifts pack tightly into the confined cabin space, increasing in number with every stop along the way. The foul taste of noxious bodily humours given off by the unwashed masses suffuse the air with vile, nauseating gases that fill my lungs with sickness. All around me people poke and prod, jostling and fighting with one another for even the smallest hint of breathing room and I find myself pressed up against the window. The background is overlaid with dissonant whispers, fragments of dozens of different conversations all vying to be heard, while the tearful cries of unhappy children and loud, grating music adds to the chaos and disharmony. It would seem my search for peace would be denied.
As the train plods along ever slowly on its track I can feel the atmosphere of it all getting to me, wearing down on my last remaining nerves. The walls seem to almost shrink down around me while it becomes harder and harder to breathe. My heart beats rhythmically in my chest, slowly growing with intensity as a disquieting sense of unease settles over me. I need to get out. I need to be free, but I find myself trapped. I can barely move.“I just need to hold it together.” I tell myself. “I just need to wait until my destination.”
In the recesses of my mind I can almost hear the voice rubbing up against me, waiting with anticipation, pushing me, pressing. I just need to hold it together a little longer. Just a little bit longer so I can get off at my stop, so I don’t make a scene.
The train turns sharply on the track, sending its inhabitants swaying with the shift in momentum, crashing into me and once more bringing me into full-body contact with a gaggle of strangers. I can hear my rapid breathing aloud now as my blood pressure continues to rise. The whispers grow louder and louder, yelling and screaming for sweet release! I can feel myself drowning in the sapient tide of bodies! I'm struggling as hard as I can, but I Just. Can't. Breathe!
From behind someone shoves me, selfishly fighting tooth and claw for just a little more room to themselves, stabbing me in the back with an errant quill… and I snap.“Get the Brahk away from me!” I turn around, openly snarling at the other passengers with teeth bared and claws drawn.
The sea of prey surrounding me recedes in fear. Compelled by the sheer vitriol of my malevolent presence they somehow manage to compact themselves even tighter into the far ends of the cabin, and for the first time since I embarked… no one is touching me.
Everything goes deathly silent as they stand petrified of the predator in their midst, and at last my breathing starts to calm. Hushed whispers of ‘Predator Disease’ ripple through the crowd, abruptly silenced as I swing my gaze across the offenders and they squirm to hide themselves away. Not one dares to look at me. Surrounded on all sides as I am, somehow I’ve never felt more alone. In the back a child begins to cry, unable to be soothed by its elderly grandmother for even a moment longer, and I turn back to stare out the window in shame.
“Great job, Killer!” The voice echoes in my mind with a snicker. “You really showed it to all those brats and little old ladies! They’ll have to respect you now won’t they? Wouldn’t your mama be proud to see you now! Eh, Killer?”
There’s nothing to be gained from arguing with my own twisted thoughts and I elect to ignore the insinuations.
“I bet it feels good to let some of that pent up frustration out, huh?” the voice continues. “You might as well. No one can stop you now. What are they gonna do? Call the Exterminators on you?” The voice cackles malignantly. “No, no, of course not. You’re one of them now. One of the big-shots. You’re in this whether you like it or not, so you might as well enjoy the perks of privilege. After all, why not?”
I smack my head firmly against the window with a thud, eliciting a small measure of pain and wondering if the minor impact would be enough to dislodge those unwelcome thoughts for the time being. Briefly, I ponder the idea of getting off at the next stop, of walking the rest of the way home, or perhaps catching the next train so that the other passengers don’t have to stomach the sight of me any longer. In the end, I don’t have to. The other passengers beat me to it, quickly departing at their first opportunity, leaving me isolated as the indifferent train ferries me onward to my destination.
Stepping off, I find myself back in the low-income slums I’ve been living in since we moved here. Old and tired, the architecture itself seems almost sad and downtrodden, slowly degrading and falling into disrepair as its inhabitants struggle to upkeep it. Still though, at least it’s better than the Human District, but if trends continue I imagine it won’t be long until the two become indistinguishable.
At the end of my long walk I reach the tenements, spotting a light through the window to our apartment. It would seem that Quinlim is home and awake. I had been hoping to end the paw without burdening him with my continued existence, but it seems the Protector has other plans in store for me. Reluctantly, I make my way up the stairs to our floor and enter.
My brother sits at the table, absentmindedly tapping away at an envelope as he waits, presumably for me. He looks good; Healthier lately, with a renewed strength and vitality I hadn't seen from him in cycles, perhaps ever. The deep bags under his eyes that once seemed an almost permanent fixture upon his face are slowly beginning to recede and it seems as though he's taken up his wool-care routine again. His beloved, soft coat is as fluffy, white, and pristine as it ever was, albeit a good deal shorter than it used to be. I still can't fathom what would ever make him shear off so much of his pride and joy, but it seems as though he's finally elected to start growing it out again. Certain portions of it anyway…
He's still wearing those disgusting black human-style pelts and an orange noose around his neck. I hate it. I wish he’d never started wearing them. It's wonderful to see that quarantining myself has allowed him to recover somewhat from the effects of proximity to my taint, but if he's going to keep insisting on wearing those… those… ‘clothings’ that are no doubt contaminated in every stitch and seam, then just how much good am I really doing?
“Oh, Sawvek, you're home!” Quinlim stands up at the sound of the door opening and waves his tail at me, sounding genuinely thrilled to see me. “Look what came in the mail! I’ve been just dying for you to get home so you can open it!”
He holds the envelope outstretched for me to take, practically forcing it into my paws with excitable glee. I can't help but be intrigued by the prospect of what could have come in the mail for me. What could possibly make Quinlim this giddy? I feel a cold, hard pit develop in my stomach as I turn over the envelope to see the seal of Twilight Valley University embossed across the front.
“Oh, yay!” The voice mocks me. “This IS exciting! You finally get to find out just how badly you failed AND your brother gets a front row seat to learn just how stupid you are, Killer!”
I look up at Quinlim's expectant face and place the envelope face down on the table. “I’ll open it later. I just don't feel like it right now.”
“What do you mean?” My brother’s expression is one of concern mixed with disbelief. “This is what you’ve been waiting for isn't it? Don't you still want to go to college?”
“Of course I do,” I sigh heavily as I lean against the refrigerator, “it's just…”
“Please, Sawvek,” Quinlim implores me with big blue eyes that shame me almost as much as Ma’s, “I know you're nervous but you need to open it eventually. I'm sure you did great.”
“He's just saying that.” The voice cuts in to knock me down once more. “You're brother knows you're nothing but a useless brahking wretch. Everyone knows it. He's just too nice to say it to your face.”
I sigh and look at the envelope, proffered once again by Quinlim, earnest and loving in every estimation. Slowly, and with great trepidation, I seat myself at the table, taking the envelope in shaky paws. Quinlim looks on, over my shoulder and dangerously close to someone as contagious as me, but there's little I can do to shoo him off as I slowly rip open the top with a claw and extract a decoratively made letter. My eyes scan over the lines of text, not quite believing what they see.
“We here at Twilight Valley University are proud to accept your application for enrollment and invite you to join the ranks of our esteemed scholars…”
They had accepted me. Despite all my struggles and failings, despite my lack of connections and credentials, despite the intensity of the competition I had still made it. I’d still passed. I should be happy, thrilled even. This was what I had worked so hard for and yet…
I couldn't feel anything but bitter resentment. This was the dream of the old Sawvek, the aspirational dream. The new Sawvek didn't have the luxury of aspirations, of dreams. The new Sawvek was a monster. A useless, tainted creature who’d had his dreams stolen from him the day he’d become a predator in full, the day he'd become a killer. There is no going back. Not now. Not ever. The possibilities that once were are nothing now but an illusion, a spiteful spectre of the old Sawvek's life come to taunt and menace with whispers of what could have been. Whispers that now could never be.
“Keep reading, Failure.” The voice drives me forward mercilessly.
There had to be some kind of catch, some kind of mistake. Good things don't happen to people like me. At the very bottom of the letter I found it, past all the meaningless pomp and platitudes, just where I expected it to be.
“Unfortunately, at this time you are ineligible for a merit-based academic scholarship and we are unable to offer you any financial aid...”
I slump back against the chair, defeated and gripped by shame. So I’d failed after all. They may have accepted me, for all the good that would do, but I’d failed in my real goal. At actually earning my way into the university itself, at proving that I was good enough. Of course I wasn't good enough. Why would I ever think I would amount to anything? What a worthless dream…
“You made it in!” Quinlim jostles me ecstatically, practically jumping with joy as he reads over my shoulder. “I'm so proud of you, Sawvek! This is wonderful! Ma’s gonna be so happy when you tell her!”
“It doesn't matter…” I manage to groan out dejectedly.
“What are you talking about?” My brother slowly ceases his celebrations and looks me in the eye. “This is huge!”
“Read the letter.” I say, rising to my feet and shoving the letter into Quinlim's paws. “Actually read it. I didn't get the scholarship! I'm a brahking failure…”
Quinlim laughs at me. Actually laughs, as though my shattered dreams are nothing but a brahking joke.
“Is that what this is about?” He asks, resting a paw on my shoulder. “The scholarship doesn't matter! All that matters is that you made it in! You passed! You're not a failure. We can figure out the finances, I promise. I'm gonna do everything I can to support you all the way!”
“I don't want your help!” I callously brush aside his paw and turn away, feeling the irrational anger of the beast bubbling up inside of me. “And I'm not going to college! I can't! It's too late for that!” Far, far too late…
“Is this about your new job?” Quinlim seems incredulous. “Just quit! It doesn't matter. You can always just get another one. You’ve been working towards this for a long time! You can't just throw it away for a job you’ve only had for a couple of weeks!”
“It's not just something I can quit Quinlim!” I snap back, knowing that no good can come of giving into the anger, but also knowing that I have no choice in the matter.
“Why not?” Quinlim is merciless in his inquisition. “It’s just a job! I’ve had tons of different jobs! Just quit! Go to college and get a better one later!”
He just doesn’t get it. How could he? He still doesn’t know just what I’ve gotten myself into. He doesn’t know that I’m a danger, to myself and to others. This is the only path left for me. This is the only possibility I even have left to try and get better. The only way I can stop myself from hurting people. The only way I can try to protect him and Ma. I’m doing it for them! Why can’t he just let it go!
“I… I need it. I can’t quit…”
“Yes you can!” Quinlim is shouting now, angry with me for failing him yet again.
“No!” I yell back, giving some small part of myself over to the predator inside. “I can’t!”
Quinlim goes quiet, a heavy, simmering kind of quiet.
“You know Sawvek,” he says at last, “you’ve been acting differently ever since you got this new job, and honestly… I don’t like the new Sawvek. You’re angry and miserable all the time. You lock yourself away in your room, on the paws when you even bother to come home, and you seem to do everything you can to avoid so much as speaking to me anymore! What did I do to deserve that huh? What did I do that made you so mad at me? And do you know what’s worse? You haven’t even been in to see Ma lately! You gave me no end to grief the one time I was late, but here you are skipping entire paws! When was the last time you were even in to see her? Do you even remember!”
Quinlim’s every word is a stab to the heart, made all the worse because I recognize the truth in his words. It may be a necessary evil, but I’m still hurting Quinlim, still hurting Ma. He doesn’t deserve the things I say and the things I do, so why then can’t I stop doing them! I’m a despicable, rage-filled, hypocritical predator! Every word he says is truer than he knows, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel nothing but hate hearing them come from someone I love!
“Ma’s been asking about you Sawvek.” Quinlim continues to rant whIle I brood silently. “She’s worried about you and you’re breaking her heart. I’m worried about you. Going to college was your dream. The first in our whole family to have the chance and you’re throwing it away over a stupid job. This isn’t like you. This isn’t the brother I know and love! Please,” Quinlim goes quiet, “ just talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. I just want to help you.”
Why did he have to be so insistent? Why does he feel the need to hound me at every opportunity? It’s not his concern! It’s mine and the further away from it he stays the better! Why can’t he just understand! Why does everything have to be a question! An inquisition! I have had a LONG paw, an AWFUL paw, and all I want is to go to BED and SLEEP! I am just so sick and tired of EVERYTHING! Why can’t he just leave well enough alone and let me handle it!
“THERE’S NOTHING GOING ON!” I scream, unleashing a pent-up fury that had been building for the entire paw onto the most undeserving target imaginable.
In a fit of rage my clenched fist slams into the wall, punching a hole straight through the drywall, and as I pull back my paw I can see blood flowing from my knuckles. I’m shaking as I look down at my paws, and as I look up at Quinlim all I see is horror. Terror at the glimpse of the monster lurking just beneath my skin.
“Admit it, Killer,” the voice echoes in my mind, “it wasn’t the wall that you felt like hitting just now was it?”
“Sawvek!” Quinlim finally breaks free from his shock with a panicked cry. “What is wrong with you!”
And there it is. The confirmation I needed. I can’t stay here any longer. It isn’t safe. I’M not safe! For anyone! I need to get away! Far away! Now!
“I’m moving out!” I declare, storming off towards the front door.
“Wait!” Quinlim calls out behind me, desperate and apologetic, but it’s too late. “Sawvek, wait! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please! There’s no need for you to move out! Where do you think you’re even going?”
“Somewhere else.” I reply as I slam the door behind me.
Somewhere far away. Somewhere you won’t follow me. Somewhere I can go where I won’t be a threat to anyone, where I won’t hurt anyone ever again.
“I’m sorry Quinlim…” I repeat to myself over and over again under my breath, the tears flowing freely as I slowly begin making my way back to work. “I’m so sorry… so sorry…”
Memory Transcription End.
Begin Memory Transcription.
Memory transcription subject: Quinlim, Suspected Capozzi Family Associate
Date [standardised human time]: October 4th, 2136
“Damn it!” I shout as Sawvek leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
I fall back onto the couch, emotionally exhausted, and my eyes look over at the letter before drifting to stare solemnly at the newly made hole in the wall.
“Protector damn it,” I sigh heavily, “I really fucked it up this time…”
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A/N - Hello everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the story! Today was a bit more quarrelsome than last time, but sometimes things need to get worse before they get better.
In case you’ve missed anything, since last time I’ve released some Memes, some Lore on the Federation Military, received some rather impressive new Art courtesy of Gecko, had another brief guest appearance in Nature of a Homeless Musician (or two), and released a whole new One-Shot that I think fans of the series will really enjoy. With the growing list of… well, everything, I’ve also assembled everything Nature of Family into one place! The new “Master List”, featuring all the one-shots, crossovers, side story, art, everything! All in one place and featuring new descriptions to really help explain and “sell” the story. If you’ve missed out on any of the side content I’d certainly advise you to stop by and give it a look!
On a bit of a personal note, sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. It was originally meant to be just a small split off from the last chapter but got way too long. I’ve also gotten suddenly and unexpectedly very busy with work again as seems to happen with some regularity. I’ve actually decided to start looking into finding a new job, something more regular and less stressful, so maybe this won’t be as much of a problem sometime in the near-ish future. I hope so anyway.
Fair warning, there might be a bit of another gap until the next mainline chapter. I’ve decided to sign up for the Ficnnapping again, so I expect that will be my next major project and I’m also looking to write another one-shot crossover as well. Time will tell of course what releases when, but just know that I’ve got a lot of stuff coming down the pipeline for all of you so I hope you’ll stick with me!
I post somewhat sporadically due to an erratic schedule IRL, so if you’re interested in staying up to date I’d highly recommend using the “!Subscribeme” function to be alerted to all new posts.
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Memory transcription subject: Sawvek, Junior Extermination Officer
Date [standardised human time]: October 4th, 2136
“You're pushing the kid too damn hard!” Vaesh jabs an accusatory claw at Intalran, the feathered fanatic remaining unruffled as he looks down at the offending digit with disdain. “Just look at him! He’s practically swaying on his feet!”
Weary eyes, obscured by the fog of fatigue, blink and the scene in front of me gradually shifts back into focus. I stand at attention in the training hall, only vaguely aware of the argument raging around me, about me, content to simply stand by and let the storm work out its wrath. It seems there's always someone shrieking in the Guild Hall, someone fighting with someone else about something, but so long as I’m not the target of that fury there's nothing stopping me from simply retreating into the empty space of my own mind. Somewhere I don't have to think about it, don't have to engage with it. Maybe it isn’t healthy to zone out quite so much, but it’s the only peace I get anymore, and I’ve become quite adept at tuning out the screams.
“Last I checked, Vaesh,” Intalran perches himself imperiously, trying to physically embody the authoritative high ground he claims as his own, “Sawvek was my trainee, not yours. It's my responsibility to prepare him for the rigours of duty and I’ll see him trained up to my standards. There's no room for incessant coddling in this Guild Hall and I won't have you working against me! Your heretical drivel and endless nest-tending are going to dull his edge! If he gets killed out in the field on account of this constant interference with his training then I’m blaming you! I won't let his death be on my head!”
“Damn it Intalran!” Vaesh raises his voice another octave and the pain in my ears increases proportionally. “We’re on garrison duty, assigned to protect an established city on Venlil Prime itself, not front-liners on a damn frontier colony or a war fleet! No one is dying anytime soon! Not unless you intend to kill Sawvek in training that is! So stop fighting me on this! It's not coddling to see that the kid needs more rest! You can sharpen your talons all you like but there comes a point when you need to stop! A blade ground too fine will chip and shatter the first time it's used!”
Vaesh is a good officer, a type I didn't think this accursed city even employed, but it's true. His arguments with Intalran had been increasing in both frequency and intensity of late. I could practically set a clock to it. In fact, that was probably the only means of keeping a measure of the paws anymore. Time for me lately seems a blur, devoid of meaning beyond momentary interludes of precious sleep. Every paw was exhausting and the constant arguments only made it worse. While I appreciate Vaesh's support, even if he had just inadvertently relegated me to the level of a mere killing tool, I couldn't help but hate it at the same time.
I don't deserve his sympathies for one thing, as the voice is oft to remind me. Everything Vaesh does for me is out of a misplaced sense of obligation, borne of a misguided notion that I’m a better person than I really am, but I’ve been lying to him the entire time. I am predator diseased, I can’t even deny it myself any longer, and if Vaesh really knew who I was on the inside, if anyone knew, then they would burn me then and there. I don't know if I would even blame them.
Every time he’s helped me, every time he's stuck up for me or risked his neck; every time I’ve felt the guilt of it all gnawing away at me like a predator trapped in my guts, frantic to carve its way out. And yet… I’ve accepted it every time. Because that's what I am. A selfish predator, a parasite that feeds off of others to survive. Wicked. Insidious. Pathetic.
“Don't pretend like you don't know the truth Vaesh!” Intalran squaks with his typical self-righteous fury. “You’ve seen the state of this city! You’ve seen how the enemy are already past the gates and in our homes! Spreading their evil with every passing paw, infecting our entire society with their blasted taint! If I’m so wrong then why is it that even you, stubborn old blasphemer that you are, stopped responding to calls in the Human District, hmm?”
Vaesh looks away, no words issued in his own defence, a look of shame falling upon his face. Intalran is not one to let such an opportune moment of vulnerability go undefiled.
“It’s because deep down you know I’m right. Deep down you're scared of the Humans no matter what nonsense you prattle on about. ‘Peace’, ‘Coexistence’, ‘Tolerance’. It's all a sham and you know it!” Intalran goes quiet, a rarity for the radical Exterminator, and leans in towards Vaesh. “You should have given up those notions a long time ago, after those apes invaded your Cradle…”
“No.” Vaesh’s eyes rise to challenge Intalran, an unquenchable fire contained deep within. “I won't give up. It's true, I might be scared of the Humans. Who in their right mind wouldn't be? But, they’ve done me no harm despite the many transgressions we’ve made since they first arrived. They've had ample opportunity, and yet here I stand, proof that coexistence, as tenuous as that may be, is possible.” Vaesh places a paw on Intalran's chest and gently, yet firmly, pushes him out of his personal space. “The only ones looking for open conflict are people like you Intalran, because deep down I think you're scared of what a lasting peace would do to you. You live off of your war, it's what fuels you, and if you were forced to give it up then I think it might just kill you.”
Intalran narrows his eyes and I can see his talons flex, grasping at air as their razored tips dig into the floor. Vaesh simply stands with his paws clasped down politely in front of himself, turning ever so subtly as to expose Intalran to a shoulder full of sharpened quills. I can see the madness raging against reason in Intalran's eye as the two glower at one another, until finally, Intalran blinks first.
“You're not worth it Vaesh.” He says, tired and defeated. “I’m done with you. I’ve got better things to do.” He ushers me forward with a wing. “Come on Sawvek, Prestige Commander Glagrig is conducting a training exercise for the PRED Team today. If we're lucky we might be able to convince him to let us watch, or even better, to let us join his class!”
A starstruck look of glee shines out from Intalran as he speaks of his hero. I don't understand it personally. I try to avoid the new PRED Team Commander as much as I can. Something about that look in his eyes, the way he almost seems to dissect you with a glance, tearing into every facet of your being to expose the parts of you that are never meant to see the light of day… I find it deeply unsettling.
“He’s just a man, Intalran,” Vaesh says softly, “not a God. I don't care what his accomplishments are. You shouldn't worship at his altar.”
“It’s not worship, Vaesh,” Intalran replies with an edge of irritation, “it's called respect. Something you should have more of for a Prestige Exterminator who did more to fight the predators as a junior officer than you have in your entire career. I suppose it's too much to expect for someone like you to understand that though.” Intalran turns around and grabs me by the shoulder. “We’re leaving, Sawvek. Now.”
I begin to walk, pulled along by Intalran, when I’m stopped by a gentle paw on the opposite shoulder.
“You don't have to go with him, Sawvek.” Vaesh says softly. “The work claw is over. He can't keep you here any longer if you don't want to.”
“Stay out of it Vaesh!” Intalran snaps back. “Of course he wants to. Isn't that right, Sawvek?”
This is the other part I hate. Being stuck in the middle of these two. Protector above, I swear it's like being a child caught in the crossfire between a pair of parents who hate each other. Thank the Protector that was one strife my family didn't have to contend with. It was one I’d seen others experience plenty of times growing up and one I’d hoped to never deal with myself, yet somehow it seems I’ve found myself there anyway.
“I… I think I’ll stop for this paw and rest…” I finally say, preying on Vaesh's kindness once again, guilty but relieved to finally put an end to the paw. I'm certain that I’ll be worked by Intalran even harder tomorrow to compensate.
“Really Sawvek?” Intalran seems genuinely befuddled, almost hurt that I would turn him down. “This is a great oppor-”
“The kid made his choice.” Vaesh cuts him off, earning a vengeful glare, and turns to me. “How about I drive you home? You look beat.”
“No thank you.” I say reluctantly. “It’s not too far to the train station and I think I’d prefer to walk for a little bit actually. Clear my head a little.”
I really wouldn't. My whole body is in a constant state of pain, aching from paw after paw of intensive exercise, painful incentivising shocks, and exacting oversight from Intalran. The last thing I want to do right now is move. Almost. The one thing I’d rather do less is abuse Vaesh's hospitality one more time. I’d taken advantage of him too many times this paw already.
“I can certainly understand that.” Vaesh acquiesces, buying into my bold-faced lies. “I’ve been there myself once or twice. Get home safe and recuperate. I’ll see you next paw.”
My departure is swift and uneventful, purposefully so as I do my best to avoid anyone else in the department who might find reason to detain me. Ducking through the locker room I narrowly manage to avoid Bikim and Turlid as the obnoxious pair of brahkasses make their way to the break room, stowing my gear in the process and slipping out the rear exit. My feet move me along down the sidewalk mechanically, devoid of intent or conscious thought, trusting fully to the ingrained muscle memory of my route home. Free to wander, my eyes take in the sights of the city centre.
Sleek and austere towers jut up from the pavement, monuments of steel and glass to the unity of corporate and governmental power, meticulously serviced and shined to showcase a projection of strength and dignity I know them to be lacking; a holdover from more prosperous times. The city itself seems to glow with a multi-coloured rainbow halo of neon, its signs and storefronts reflecting artificial illumination from the mirrored polish of skyscrapers to blot out the stars above, holding back the encroaching darkness of twilight in stark rejection of nature's laws.
The entire display strikes me as a sign of hubris, of our dogged insistence to replace the natural with the manufactured, and I can’t help but wonder at the wealth wasted on such vanity projects. This dying and dreary city will never be my home, never compare to the soft green grasses and resplendent sunlight native to the dayside, and yet as I walk through its streets I must concede that it possesses a certain kind of dreamlike, almost ephemeral beauty all its own. A shame that such beauty is as false and hollow as all the rest.
I arrive at the train station and embark, fighting my way through the dense throngs of people to arrive at one of the windows near the back of the cabin, hoping to continue my melancholy musings in relative peace. Crushing hordes of commuters fresh off of their shifts pack tightly into the confined cabin space, increasing in number with every stop along the way. The foul taste of noxious bodily humours given off by the unwashed masses suffuse the air with vile, nauseating gases that fill my lungs with sickness. All around me people poke and prod, jostling and fighting with one another for even the smallest hint of breathing room and I find myself pressed up against the window. The background is overlaid with dissonant whispers, fragments of dozens of different conversations all vying to be heard, while the tearful cries of unhappy children and loud, grating music adds to the chaos and disharmony. It would seem my search for peace would be denied.
As the train plods along ever slowly on its track I can feel the atmosphere of it all getting to me, wearing down on my last remaining nerves. The walls seem to almost shrink down around me while it becomes harder and harder to breathe. My heart beats rhythmically in my chest, slowly growing with intensity as a disquieting sense of unease settles over me. I need to get out. I need to be free, but I find myself trapped. I can barely move.“I just need to hold it together.” I tell myself. “I just need to wait until my destination.”
In the recesses of my mind I can almost hear the voice rubbing up against me, waiting with anticipation, pushing me, pressing. I just need to hold it together a little longer. Just a little bit longer so I can get off at my stop, so I don’t make a scene.
The train turns sharply on the track, sending its inhabitants swaying with the shift in momentum, crashing into me and once more bringing me into full-body contact with a gaggle of strangers. I can hear my rapid breathing aloud now as my blood pressure continues to rise. The whispers grow louder and louder, yelling and screaming for sweet release! I can feel myself drowning in the sapient tide of bodies! I'm struggling as hard as I can, but I Just. Can't. Breathe!
From behind someone shoves me, selfishly fighting tooth and claw for just a little more room to themselves, stabbing me in the back with an errant quill… and I snap.“Get the Brahk away from me!” I turn around, openly snarling at the other passengers with teeth bared and claws drawn.
The sea of prey surrounding me recedes in fear. Compelled by the sheer vitriol of my malevolent presence they somehow manage to compact themselves even tighter into the far ends of the cabin, and for the first time since I embarked… no one is touching me.
Everything goes deathly silent as they stand petrified of the predator in their midst, and at last my breathing starts to calm. Hushed whispers of ‘Predator Disease’ ripple through the crowd, abruptly silenced as I swing my gaze across the offenders and they squirm to hide themselves away. Not one dares to look at me. Surrounded on all sides as I am, somehow I’ve never felt more alone. In the back a child begins to cry, unable to be soothed by its elderly grandmother for even a moment longer, and I turn back to stare out the window in shame.
“Great job, Killer!” The voice echoes in my mind with a snicker. “You really showed it to all those brats and little old ladies! They’ll have to respect you now won’t they? Wouldn’t your mama be proud to see you now! Eh, Killer?”
There’s nothing to be gained from arguing with my own twisted thoughts and I elect to ignore the insinuations.
“I bet it feels good to let some of that pent up frustration out, huh?” the voice continues. “You might as well. No one can stop you now. What are they gonna do? Call the Exterminators on you?” The voice cackles malignantly. “No, no, of course not. You’re one of them now. One of the big-shots. You’re in this whether you like it or not, so you might as well enjoy the perks of privilege. After all, why not?”
I smack my head firmly against the window with a thud, eliciting a small measure of pain and wondering if the minor impact would be enough to dislodge those unwelcome thoughts for the time being. Briefly, I ponder the idea of getting off at the next stop, of walking the rest of the way home, or perhaps catching the next train so that the other passengers don’t have to stomach the sight of me any longer. In the end, I don’t have to. The other passengers beat me to it, quickly departing at their first opportunity, leaving me isolated as the indifferent train ferries me onward to my destination.
Stepping off, I find myself back in the low-income slums I’ve been living in since we moved here. Old and tired, the architecture itself seems almost sad and downtrodden, slowly degrading and falling into disrepair as its inhabitants struggle to upkeep it. Still though, at least it’s better than the Human District, but if trends continue I imagine it won’t be long until the two become indistinguishable.
At the end of my long walk I reach the tenements, spotting a light through the window to our apartment. It would seem that Quinlim is home and awake. I had been hoping to end the paw without burdening him with my continued existence, but it seems the Protector has other plans in store for me. Reluctantly, I make my way up the stairs to our floor and enter.
My brother sits at the table, absentmindedly tapping away at an envelope as he waits, presumably for me. He looks good; Healthier lately, with a renewed strength and vitality I hadn't seen from him in cycles, perhaps ever. The deep bags under his eyes that once seemed an almost permanent fixture upon his face are slowly beginning to recede and it seems as though he's taken up his wool-care routine again. His beloved, soft coat is as fluffy, white, and pristine as it ever was, albeit a good deal shorter than it used to be. I still can't fathom what would ever make him shear off so much of his pride and joy, but it seems as though he's finally elected to start growing it out again. Certain portions of it anyway…
He's still wearing those disgusting black human-style pelts and an orange noose around his neck. I hate it. I wish he’d never started wearing them. It's wonderful to see that quarantining myself has allowed him to recover somewhat from the effects of proximity to my taint, but if he's going to keep insisting on wearing those… those… ‘clothings’ that are no doubt contaminated in every stitch and seam, then just how much good am I really doing?
“Oh, Sawvek, you're home!” Quinlim stands up at the sound of the door opening and waves his tail at me, sounding genuinely thrilled to see me. “Look what came in the mail! I’ve been just dying for you to get home so you can open it!”
He holds the envelope outstretched for me to take, practically forcing it into my paws with excitable glee. I can't help but be intrigued by the prospect of what could have come in the mail for me. What could possibly make Quinlim this giddy? I feel a cold, hard pit develop in my stomach as I turn over the envelope to see the seal of Twilight Valley University embossed across the front.
“Oh, yay!” The voice mocks me. “This IS exciting! You finally get to find out just how badly you failed AND your brother gets a front row seat to learn just how stupid you are, Killer!”
I look up at Quinlim's expectant face and place the envelope face down on the table. “I’ll open it later. I just don't feel like it right now.”
“What do you mean?” My brother’s expression is one of concern mixed with disbelief. “This is what you’ve been waiting for isn't it? Don't you still want to go to college?”
“Of course I do,” I sigh heavily as I lean against the refrigerator, “it's just…”
“Please, Sawvek,” Quinlim implores me with big blue eyes that shame me almost as much as Ma’s, “I know you're nervous but you need to open it eventually. I'm sure you did great.”
“He's just saying that.” The voice cuts in to knock me down once more. “You're brother knows you're nothing but a useless brahking wretch. Everyone knows it. He's just too nice to say it to your face.”
I sigh and look at the envelope, proffered once again by Quinlim, earnest and loving in every estimation. Slowly, and with great trepidation, I seat myself at the table, taking the envelope in shaky paws. Quinlim looks on, over my shoulder and dangerously close to someone as contagious as me, but there's little I can do to shoo him off as I slowly rip open the top with a claw and extract a decoratively made letter. My eyes scan over the lines of text, not quite believing what they see.
“We here at Twilight Valley University are proud to accept your application for enrollment and invite you to join the ranks of our esteemed scholars…”
They had accepted me. Despite all my struggles and failings, despite my lack of connections and credentials, despite the intensity of the competition I had still made it. I’d still passed. I should be happy, thrilled even. This was what I had worked so hard for and yet…
I couldn't feel anything but bitter resentment. This was the dream of the old Sawvek, the aspirational dream. The new Sawvek didn't have the luxury of aspirations, of dreams. The new Sawvek was a monster. A useless, tainted creature who’d had his dreams stolen from him the day he’d become a predator in full, the day he'd become a killer. There is no going back. Not now. Not ever. The possibilities that once were are nothing now but an illusion, a spiteful spectre of the old Sawvek's life come to taunt and menace with whispers of what could have been. Whispers that now could never be.
“Keep reading, Failure.” The voice drives me forward mercilessly.
There had to be some kind of catch, some kind of mistake. Good things don't happen to people like me. At the very bottom of the letter I found it, past all the meaningless pomp and platitudes, just where I expected it to be.
“Unfortunately, at this time you are ineligible for a merit-based academic scholarship and we are unable to offer you any financial aid...”
I slump back against the chair, defeated and gripped by shame. So I’d failed after all. They may have accepted me, for all the good that would do, but I’d failed in my real goal. At actually earning my way into the university itself, at proving that I was good enough. Of course I wasn't good enough. Why would I ever think I would amount to anything? What a worthless dream…
“You made it in!” Quinlim jostles me ecstatically, practically jumping with joy as he reads over my shoulder. “I'm so proud of you, Sawvek! This is wonderful! Ma’s gonna be so happy when you tell her!”
“It doesn't matter…” I manage to groan out dejectedly.
“What are you talking about?” My brother slowly ceases his celebrations and looks me in the eye. “This is huge!”
“Read the letter.” I say, rising to my feet and shoving the letter into Quinlim's paws. “Actually read it. I didn't get the scholarship! I'm a brahking failure…”
Quinlim laughs at me. Actually laughs, as though my shattered dreams are nothing but a brahking joke.
“Is that what this is about?” He asks, resting a paw on my shoulder. “The scholarship doesn't matter! All that matters is that you made it in! You passed! You're not a failure. We can figure out the finances, I promise. I'm gonna do everything I can to support you all the way!”
“I don't want your help!” I callously brush aside his paw and turn away, feeling the irrational anger of the beast bubbling up inside of me. “And I'm not going to college! I can't! It's too late for that!” Far, far too late…
“Is this about your new job?” Quinlim seems incredulous. “Just quit! It doesn't matter. You can always just get another one. You’ve been working towards this for a long time! You can't just throw it away for a job you’ve only had for a couple of weeks!”
“It's not just something I can quit Quinlim!” I snap back, knowing that no good can come of giving into the anger, but also knowing that I have no choice in the matter.
“Why not?” Quinlim is merciless in his inquisition. “It’s just a job! I’ve had tons of different jobs! Just quit! Go to college and get a better one later!”
He just doesn’t get it. How could he? He still doesn’t know just what I’ve gotten myself into. He doesn’t know that I’m a danger, to myself and to others. This is the only path left for me. This is the only possibility I even have left to try and get better. The only way I can stop myself from hurting people. The only way I can try to protect him and Ma. I’m doing it for them! Why can’t he just let it go!
“I… I need it. I can’t quit…”
“Yes you can!” Quinlim is shouting now, angry with me for failing him yet again.
“No!” I yell back, giving some small part of myself over to the predator inside. “I can’t!”
Quinlim goes quiet, a heavy, simmering kind of quiet.
“You know Sawvek,” he says at last, “you’ve been acting differently ever since you got this new job, and honestly… I don’t like the new Sawvek. You’re angry and miserable all the time. You lock yourself away in your room, on the paws when you even bother to come home, and you seem to do everything you can to avoid so much as speaking to me anymore! What did I do to deserve that huh? What did I do that made you so mad at me? And do you know what’s worse? You haven’t even been in to see Ma lately! You gave me no end to grief the one time I was late, but here you are skipping entire paws! When was the last time you were even in to see her? Do you even remember!”
Quinlim’s every word is a stab to the heart, made all the worse because I recognize the truth in his words. It may be a necessary evil, but I’m still hurting Quinlim, still hurting Ma. He doesn’t deserve the things I say and the things I do, so why then can’t I stop doing them! I’m a despicable, rage-filled, hypocritical predator! Every word he says is truer than he knows, but that doesn’t change the fact that I feel nothing but hate hearing them come from someone I love!
“Ma’s been asking about you Sawvek.” Quinlim continues to rant whIle I brood silently. “She’s worried about you and you’re breaking her heart. I’m worried about you. Going to college was your dream. The first in our whole family to have the chance and you’re throwing it away over a stupid job. This isn’t like you. This isn’t the brother I know and love! Please,” Quinlim goes quiet, “ just talk to me. Tell me what’s going on. I just want to help you.”
Why did he have to be so insistent? Why does he feel the need to hound me at every opportunity? It’s not his concern! It’s mine and the further away from it he stays the better! Why can’t he just understand! Why does everything have to be a question! An inquisition! I have had a LONG paw, an AWFUL paw, and all I want is to go to BED and SLEEP! I am just so sick and tired of EVERYTHING! Why can’t he just leave well enough alone and let me handle it!
“THERE’S NOTHING GOING ON!” I scream, unleashing a pent-up fury that had been building for the entire paw onto the most undeserving target imaginable.
In a fit of rage my clenched fist slams into the wall, punching a hole straight through the drywall, and as I pull back my paw I can see blood flowing from my knuckles. I’m shaking as I look down at my paws, and as I look up at Quinlim all I see is horror. Terror at the glimpse of the monster lurking just beneath my skin.
“Admit it, Killer,” the voice echoes in my mind, “it wasn’t the wall that you felt like hitting just now was it?”
“Sawvek!” Quinlim finally breaks free from his shock with a panicked cry. “What is wrong with you!”
And there it is. The confirmation I needed. I can’t stay here any longer. It isn’t safe. I’M not safe! For anyone! I need to get away! Far away! Now!
“I’m moving out!” I declare, storming off towards the front door.
“Wait!” Quinlim calls out behind me, desperate and apologetic, but it’s too late. “Sawvek, wait! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Please! There’s no need for you to move out! Where do you think you’re even going?”
“Somewhere else.” I reply as I slam the door behind me.
Somewhere far away. Somewhere you won’t follow me. Somewhere I can go where I won’t be a threat to anyone, where I won’t hurt anyone ever again.
“I’m sorry Quinlim…” I repeat to myself over and over again under my breath, the tears flowing freely as I slowly begin making my way back to work. “I’m so sorry… so sorry…”
Memory Transcription End.
Begin Memory Transcription.
Memory transcription subject: Quinlim, Suspected Capozzi Family Associate
Date [standardised human time]: October 4th, 2136
“Damn it!” I shout as Sawvek leaves the apartment, slamming the door behind him.
I fall back onto the couch, emotionally exhausted, and my eyes look over at the letter before drifting to stare solemnly at the newly made hole in the wall.
“Protector damn it,” I sigh heavily, “I really fucked it up this time…”
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A/N - Hello everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the story! Today was a bit more quarrelsome than last time, but sometimes things need to get worse before they get better.
In case you’ve missed anything, since last time I’ve released some Memes, some Lore on the Federation Military, received some rather impressive new Art courtesy of Gecko, had another brief guest appearance in Nature of a Homeless Musician (or two), and released a whole new One-Shot that I think fans of the series will really enjoy. With the growing list of… well, everything, I’ve also assembled everything Nature of Family into one place! The new “Master List”, featuring all the one-shots, crossovers, side story, art, everything! All in one place and featuring new descriptions to really help explain and “sell” the story. If you’ve missed out on any of the side content I’d certainly advise you to stop by and give it a look!
On a bit of a personal note, sorry that this chapter took so long to come out. It was originally meant to be just a small split off from the last chapter but got way too long. I’ve also gotten suddenly and unexpectedly very busy with work again as seems to happen with some regularity. I’ve actually decided to start looking into finding a new job, something more regular and less stressful, so maybe this won’t be as much of a problem sometime in the near-ish future. I hope so anyway.
Fair warning, there might be a bit of another gap until the next mainline chapter. I’ve decided to sign up for the Ficnnapping again, so I expect that will be my next major project and I’m also looking to write another one-shot crossover as well. Time will tell of course what releases when, but just know that I’ve got a lot of stuff coming down the pipeline for all of you so I hope you’ll stick with me!
I post somewhat sporadically due to an erratic schedule IRL, so if you’re interested in staying up to date I’d highly recommend using the “!Subscribeme” function to be alerted to all new posts.
2024.04.27 21:27 Ok_Body_2598 The 3 sections of our Global CLimate policy,1. individual action to massive action forcing the hands of government, 2. the government plans, that create incentives for state interests that create incentives for all to want this kind of government investment, and 3. Science/Geoengineering
Top line - Global Climate plan
I offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
human that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
7.7 Trillion Dollars including t US spend over 2 years, invested
1.4 Trillion from US Treasury
700 Billion immediately-
700 Billion deposit payment coupon paid out in 7 years on financing for next generation commercial and residential buildings
Second program
2 Trillion dollars only available to American citizens, but meant for their public funds
6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of the economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
Other 2023 rankings included...
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
submitted by Ok_Body_2598 to thecallforUnity [link] [comments]
1. For individuals-
Your ultimate POWER, your freest one, or at least one you can make if you accept the mission that corporations and thus government and all we consider to be powerful fear is predictably your dollar(s). By mass action- organized controlled spend, in People spend the most on their living environments, rent or own, and by usingI offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
- 15 minutes to 3 hours a week, and additional review, and discussion in our in person and online forums. Aid and abet productive conversations and mass synchronous discussion of similar topics, and developing an educated protocol, to be used in additional, optional time in our chosen forums. It would be to use “social media” or electronic forms as a supplement, like a briefing or homework aid in-person conversations and interactions
- Committing your living space to a greener standard, meant to be flexible enough to let people’s creativity shine, in their responsive design, R 20 envelope, sunlight for rooms, sound minimums and maximums, ;
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
2. For the Government- Economic policy proposal
To resolve the still un resolved global threat, of overwhelming proof as well as a consensus of scientific bodies so high worldwide as to be 1. Manufactured 2. Too late- waiting for action until such consensus certainty of negative circumstances can be proof of poor security management. Government must be looking ahead of overheating and destabilizing world economic, food, financial, and physical security- increased risk of famine, wars for resources, scarcity of resources no living person has ever seen, collapse of governments, possibly billions of refugees, with a global sea level rise currently scheduled by 2100 to be above that of global human habitats currently housing more than a billion people, those housing units being completely uninhabitable 30 years before that. Likely though, greater than 40% we see most of that by 2050 on our current coursehuman that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
777 Plan
With monetary economics as well as7.7 Trillion Dollars including t US spend over 2 years, invested
1.4 Trillion from US Treasury
700 Billion immediately-
700 Billion deposit payment coupon paid out in 7 years on financing for next generation commercial and residential buildings
Second program
2 Trillion dollars only available to American citizens, but meant for their public funds
6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of the economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
Congress already determined who the culprit ultimately responsible for
The Clean Air Act -
Congressional Text defining the United States’ responsibility to address Climate ChangeVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
3. Science, engineering and Counter-geoengineering
Putting 30+ pounds (15 Kilos) of CO2 per person in the developed world is already massive geoengineering. These are calculations that can verified, and should be verified by your Country’s oil production divided by its people, and the kiddos should know that math, and we should prove it in front of Congress. OOOOH me, me I have the experiment I wish to mostly replicate with maybe some flair to demonstrate CO2’s warming effect people can do in their homes and we have a talk about the numbers, because most people are stumped to hear or think about how much that is - the US burns 19 million barrels of oil per DAY. the barrels stack ed would be larger than the Capitol building I think. Every day? I am certain this is usually a shock to people and change their perspective before even getting to the fact that CO2 warms. So there are some core facts that are both more effective and critical to the discussion, and what those are should be matters of some discussion. Here and in other places I try to compile these in broadly understandable terms, walking smart people through land mine political orientations with the items they understand better than most of the climate concerned, but in different ways. Thats the theory we are testing anyway.Other 2023 rankings included...
- warmest year on record for land and ocean areas individually;
- warmest year on record for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (land and ocean areas combined),
- warmest year for land and ocean individually in the North,
- 2nd-warmest year for land and warmest year for ocean in the South;
- 40th-warmest year for the Antarctic,
- 4th-warmest year for the Arctic.
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
- 10 degrees - 18 F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature based on emissions already in the pipeline when lag factors catch up by the Hansen/Columbia team, which differs significantly from the IPCC’s estimates
- 4-6 degrees C 11 degrees F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature when lag factors catch up by the IPCC team
- 40 years is the IPCC, as well as Exxon’s estimate of the length of time it takes for CO2 emitted today to fully impact the heating of the earth
- 100 years, is how long the full effects of emissions take to fully kick- in Hansen’s paper
- And this is the primary cause of the Hansen team’s temperature difference from the IPCC’s
- Cutting carbon emissions May take decades to slow warming.
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Questions
Does this mean we effectively feel the effects of Kennedy or Clinton era warming for fast feedback?Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
***Three ideas for focused groups to provide reports on
- Produce separate options on a model of near-term effects of geoengineering, at different engagement levels and cross-use, pros and cons including environmental impact:
- Land Artificial snow distribution on ice, at the poles on the temperature of the water, and what the minimum intervention to see a result would be. Test out weighted on square corners insulative airtight tarps tested in thick and thin to cover areas and possibly form
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
- Mapping polar coastal regions and maximizing
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
Build a material-accurate reference scale model of the earth. It will probably require a new version which should begin construction within 3-6 months of the operation of the first.
Boat and submarine mapping of methane leaks, methyl clathrate deposits and thermally anomalous regions, and as much polar coast as possible, which involves Russia, though Antarctica, Alaska, and Canada are available to build the template operations for while the other situation remains tense. In any case, this will be more than enough work in the short term to solidify the models, and help from other bodies should be considered.
- Increase by a factor of not less than 10 a network of methane and CO2 sensors capable of detecting changes broadly to Arctic and methyl clathrate zone emissions
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
2024.04.23 01:50 Top-Reality8262 Kid with no grades turns down MIT
Demographics
Academics
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.
1-4. National Hackathons 5. Professional Certifications (CCNA and Sec+), while not a traditionally an award definitely stood out
Letters of Recommendation
I haven't read any of my letters of rec, I've known all of my LOR writers for 3-4 years and two of them told me that they clicked the "one of the best students I've ever worked with" option on the common app.
Interviews
MIT - Went well, but my interviewer recommended me to a different school (that was really unhinged).
Essays
I'd describe myself as a fairly skilled writer compared to the average HS senior, but most of my essays were written on their deadlines and definitely fell on the eccentric side of things.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
submitted by Top-Reality8262 to collegeresults [link] [comments]
- Gender: Male (Occasionally presenting female)
- Race/Ethnicity: White
- Residence: Southeastern US
- Income Bracket :[Removed for privacy]
- Type of School: "Independent" School
- Hooks (Recruited Athlete, URM, First-Gen, Geographic, Legacy, etc.): [Removed for privacy]
Academics
- GPA (UW/W): None (school uses a mastery based transcript)
- Rank (or percentile): None
- Honors/AP/IB/Dual Enrollment/etc: Chem, Calc BC, CS A, Lang, Statistics (All exam only)
- Senior Year Course Load: Calculus (1-3 compacted), Statistics, Humanities class and Chem
List the highest scores earned and all scores that were reported.
- SAT: 1600
List all extracurricular involvements, including leadership roles, time commitments, major achievements, etc.
- Reverse-engineered games, discovered flaws, bugs, and exploits, implemented proofs, and reported issues to Valve, Mojang, Riot Games and more
- Published ML sleep stage classification research in a reputable journal (first and only author).
- Solved problems of community outreach, aging customers and public safety through building a community center, social media campaigns and radio PSAs (Duke University).
- Led green initiatives including a solar trailer (3KW peak output), lead acid battery recycling & power over ethernet lights (90% watt reduction) (Oil Company)
- Led a community (5.8M+) dedicated to video game exploitation & reverse engineering + contributed new ideas like homemade direct memory access FPGAs. (Internet forum)
- Maintained existing features, prototyped, tested, and implemented new features based on community feedback, game updates, and competitor offerings. (Well known minecraft cheat)
- Worked on personal projects, self-taught driver development, reverse engineering, and some programming languages (C, Rust, PHP, Java and more)
- Engaged in a 5-week, 24/7 high school credit immersion camp, participating in classes and daily activities conducted exclusively in German.
- Developed, maintained and documented the Lua API, which was used by 14k+ users to implement their own features and automate functionality. (Known B2B service provider)
- Cycled daily, exploring my neighborhood, local trails, and occasionally covering over 20 miles to commute to school and back. (I included this mainly for what do you do for fun essays)
List all awards and honors submitted on your application.
1-4. National Hackathons 5. Professional Certifications (CCNA and Sec+), while not a traditionally an award definitely stood out
Letters of Recommendation
I haven't read any of my letters of rec, I've known all of my LOR writers for 3-4 years and two of them told me that they clicked the "one of the best students I've ever worked with" option on the common app.
Interviews
MIT - Went well, but my interviewer recommended me to a different school (that was really unhinged).
Essays
I'd describe myself as a fairly skilled writer compared to the average HS senior, but most of my essays were written on their deadlines and definitely fell on the eccentric side of things.
Decisions (indicate ED/EA/REA/SCEA/RD)
Acceptances:
- MIT
- Duke University (Likely letter, then accept)
- Georgia Tech (CS, OOS)
- Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Deferred, Accepted, then committed)
- Cooper Union
- North Carolina State University
- Northeastern University
- Rochester Institute of Technology
- Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
- Clarkson (Clarkson Ignite Presidential Fellowship program, full ride scholarship)
- 7 Random Schools
- Carnegie Mellon (Accepted off waitlist 5/15)
- Colorado School of Mines (was rejected EA due to missing required coursework, but got in through an alternative pathway)
- Olin College of Engineering (top choice)
- Harvey Mudd
- Arizona State University and All UCs (would not accept my transcript)
2024.04.10 23:10 Ok_Body_2598 3 Part Summary plan draft Global Heating action plan Individual, US government economic and legal policy
Top line - Global Climate plan
I offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
Likely though, greater than 40% we see most of that by 2050 on our current course
human that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
7.7 Trillion Dollars including the bond issuance US spend over 2 years, 6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
Other 2023 rankings included...
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
submitted by Ok_Body_2598 to thecallforUnity [link] [comments]
1. For individuals-
Your ultimate POWER, your freest one, or at least one you can make if you accept the mission that corporations and thus government and all we consider to be powerful fear is predictably your dollar(s). By mass action- organized controlled spend, in People spend the most on their living environments, rent or own, and by usingI offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
- 15 minutes to 3 hours a week, and additional review, and discussion in our in person and online forums. Aid and abet productive conversations and mass synchronous discussion of similar topics, and developing an educated protocol, to be used in additional, optional time in our chosen forums. It would be to use “social media” or electronic forms as a supplement, like a briefing or homework aid in-person conversations and interactions
- Committing your living space to a greener standard, meant to be flexible enough to let people’s creativity shine, in their responsive design, R 20 envelope, sunlight for rooms, sound minimums and maximums, ;
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
2. For the Government- Economic policy proposal
To resolve the still un resolved global threat, of overwhelming proof as well as a consensus of scientific bodies so high worldwide - 97 % as to be- Manufactured
- Too late- people aren't that agreeable- by the time 97% of people agree you've waited too long.
Likely though, greater than 40% we see most of that by 2050 on our current course
human that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
777 Plan
With monetary economics as well as7.7 Trillion Dollars including the bond issuance US spend over 2 years, 6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
The Clean Air Act -
Congressional Text defining the United States’ responsibility to address Climate ChangeVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
3. Science, engineering and Counter-geoengineering
Putting 30+ pounds (15 Kilos) of CO2 per person in the developed world is already massive geoengineering. These are calculations that can verified, and should be verified by your Country’s oil production divided by its people, and the kiddos should know that math, and we should prove it in front of Congress. OOOOH me, me I have the experiment I wish to mostly replicate with maybe some flair to demonstrate CO2’s warming effect people can do in their homes and we have a talk about the numbers, because most people are stumped to hear or think about how much that is - the US burns 19 million barrels of oil per DAY. the barrels stack ed would be larger than the Capitol building I think. Every day? I am certain this is usually a shock to people and change their perspective before even getting to the fact that CO2 warms. So there are some core facts that are both more effective and critical to the discussion, and what those are should be matters of some discussion. Here and in other places I try to compile these in broadly understandable terms, walking smart people through land mine political orientations with the items they understand better than most of the climate concerned, but in different ways. Thats the theory we are testing anyway.Other 2023 rankings included...
- warmest year on record for land and ocean areas individually;
- warmest year on record for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (land and ocean areas combined),
- warmest year for land and ocean individually in the North,
- 2nd-warmest year for land and warmest year for ocean in the South;
- 40th-warmest year for the Antarctic,
- 4th-warmest year for the Arctic.
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
- 10 degrees - 18 F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature based on emissions already in the pipeline when lag factors catch up by the Hansen/Columbia team, which differs significantly from the IPCC’s estimates
- 4-6 degrees C 11 degrees F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature when lag factors catch up by the IPCC team
- 40 years is the IPCC, as well as Exxon’s estimate of the length of time it takes for CO2 emitted today to fully impact the heating of the earth
- 100 years, is how long the full effects of emissions take to fully kick- in Hansen’s paper
- And this is the primary cause of the Hansen team’s temperature difference from the IPCC’s
- Cutting carbon emissions May take decades to slow warming.
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Questions
Does this mean we effectively feel the effects of Kennedy or Clinton era warming for fast feedback?Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
***Three ideas for focused groups to provide reports on
- Produce separate options on a model of near-term effects of geoengineering, at different engagement levels and cross-use, pros and cons including environmental impact:
- Land Artificial snow distribution on ice, at the poles on the temperature of the water, and what the minimum intervention to see a result would be. Test out weighted on square corners insulative airtight tarps tested in thick and thin to cover areas and possibly form
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
- Mapping polar coastal regions and maximizing
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
Build a material-accurate reference scale model of the earth. It will probably require a new version which should begin construction within 3-6 months of the operation of the first.
Boat and submarine mapping of methane leaks, methyl clathrate deposits and thermally anomalous regions, and as much polar coast as possible, which involves Russia, though Antarctica, Alaska, and Canada are available to build the template operations for while the other situation remains tense. In any case, this will be more than enough work in the short term to solidify the models, and help from other bodies should be considered.
- Increase by a factor of not less than 10 a network of methane and CO2 sensors capable of detecting changes broadly to Arctic and methyl clathrate zone emissions
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
2024.04.09 21:19 Ok_Body_2598 Plan to address Global heating at scale to the scope of the problem (Some of) for Individuals and US government
So far, and with the biology focus not yet fully written but with room to include, as an energy and carbon transformation device that is fully automatic without AI, but also not without own risks. Focus on these energy cycles of life as well as of humankind's support systems
That CO2 acts as insulation for the Earth was calculated by the 1850's, and the first "models" of temperature increase as a result of industrial CO2 pollution were published in 1896 by a Nobel prize winner whose work is Founding Father Esque, Svante Arrhenius:
On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground (rsc.org)
I would like it very much to have some "cliffs notes" prepared, ore likely, retrieved, building that out as the first "model of global warming" a worthy exercise.
as was the work of Fourier in the 1720's in theorizing the role of green house gases, called that I think because you should be able to detect changes in energy in such places. Fourier's work is still used today, in all industries dependent upon chemicals, (the foundation and driver of economies and technologies) to determine with precision and accuracy the qualitative- what substance it is- and quantitative- how much of it there is. That guy, whose work is used in what you are reading this on or wearing, came up with calculations for the basis of global warming. Trillions of world GDP, you better know something to question that guy, and those who do, don't.
Fast forward
Top line - Global Climate plan
I offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
human that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
7.7 Trillion Dollars including the bond issuance US spend over 2 years, 6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
Other 2023 rankings included...
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
The current face of our website, likely which you already have if you are here, is here https://bit.ly//0Unity1
submitted by Ok_Body_2598 to thecallforUnity [link] [comments]
That CO2 acts as insulation for the Earth was calculated by the 1850's, and the first "models" of temperature increase as a result of industrial CO2 pollution were published in 1896 by a Nobel prize winner whose work is Founding Father Esque, Svante Arrhenius:
On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground (rsc.org)
I would like it very much to have some "cliffs notes" prepared, ore likely, retrieved, building that out as the first "model of global warming" a worthy exercise.
as was the work of Fourier in the 1720's in theorizing the role of green house gases, called that I think because you should be able to detect changes in energy in such places. Fourier's work is still used today, in all industries dependent upon chemicals, (the foundation and driver of economies and technologies) to determine with precision and accuracy the qualitative- what substance it is- and quantitative- how much of it there is. That guy, whose work is used in what you are reading this on or wearing, came up with calculations for the basis of global warming. Trillions of world GDP, you better know something to question that guy, and those who do, don't.
Fast forward
Top line - Global Climate plan
1. For individuals-
Your ultimate POWER, your freest one, or at least one you can make if you accept the mission that corporations and thus government and all we consider to be powerful fear is predictably your dollar(s). By mass action- organized controlled spend, in People spend the most on their living environments, rent or own, and by usingI offer a simple contract to guarantee the single greatest year in climate action, measurable in your lifestyle, investments of time and money with other people similarly motivated, organized into a corporation based on your cooperation. This forms a multi-billion dollar corporation if we hit the number of members, and neither Joe Biden nor Donald Trump would be able to stop slow the momentum,
- 15 minutes to 3 hours a week, and additional review, and discussion in our in person and online forums. Aid and abet productive conversations and mass synchronous discussion of similar topics, and developing an educated protocol, to be used in additional, optional time in our chosen forums. It would be to use “social media” or electronic forms as a supplement, like a briefing or homework aid in-person conversations and interactions
- Committing your living space to a greener standard, meant to be flexible enough to let people’s creativity shine, in their responsive design, R 20 envelope, sunlight for rooms, sound minimums and maximums, ;
You are promising to get to an apartment that meets most of these standards asap.
You are learning about how it works what to look for from us, and your research - even 10 phone calls to prospective landlords to tell them your interest in living in these standards and report back, will be a weapon of mighty power and influence, and aid to the cause.
tell your land lord you are going to be looking to go green with our standards, and ask politely if they will be looking to invest in next generation upgrades.
Your commitment to rent with some property to our standards is going to allow us to get new buildings built and other buildings retrofitted to those standards.
You join list of committed tenants, which financiers like- steady customer base
If you own,
You also understand your role as that rare breed but super important- early adopters- purchasing the new technologies, and even the showing it off- changes things. You know staying ahead is going to mean you pay more and upgrade more often because the later stuff will make the current stuff seem tame.. You’re getting a new community, for whom keeping up with the Joneses will take on new deimesnsons
You are looking for financing for some home upgrades in the next year, and advocating for C-PACE or R-PACE financing to develop a next generation, to make the financing easy- but the financing is the action. Sales, at scale will drive the market.
2. For the Government- Economic policy proposal
To resolve the still un resolved global threat, of overwhelming proof as well as a consensus of scientific bodies so high worldwide as to be 1. Manufactured 2. Too late- waiting for action until such consensus certainty of negative circumstances can be proof of poor security management. Government must be looking ahead of overheating and destabilizing world economic, food, financial, and physical security- increased risk of famine, wars for resources, scarcity of resources no living person has ever seen, collapse of governments, possibly billions of refugees, with a global sea level rise currently scheduled by 2100 to be above that of global human habitats currently housing more than a billion people, those housing units being completely uninhabitable 30 years before that. Likely though, greater than 40% we see most of that by 2050 on our current coursehuman that a global temperI refer to the responsibility already enshrined to the United States as a whole through the text of the Clean Air Act, right after the Economics which is I must admit the more exciting matter, and actually fits well with the Job of EPA administrator.
777 Plan
With monetary economics as well as7.7 Trillion Dollars including the bond issuance US spend over 2 years, 6 +% growth, being modest and in a successful but possible out come 3 year program, as there will be huge improvements in skills and technologies year over year that will change models and economic costs.
Amounts to about ?50? Billion per “average” state, but allocated per capita as in the Constitution, to develop internally and as part of a greater project and competition between states, to a. train workers/research/statewide planning of infrastructure and b. throw them at big projects c. find unique technology applications and design specifications that 1. Meet national standards 2. Upgrade and become national standards 3. Showcase an efficiency your state came up with or chose exceeding early specifications, that they successfully implemented
In fact it is for this uncertain technology upgrade strategy this is intended to fund, to allow for business certainty in the US and globally, while being able to say we’re doing enough to mitigate the risk. This investment is necessary for the United States to keep up, as it has fallen behind in per capita infrastructure spend and it shows Much of the system was built in the 50’s or before and lightly added to since. Union Station in DC was a Teddy Roosevelt era build- 1905
7 trillion is meant to be financed through an application of C-PACE deals to residential homes, industry and commercial structures
5 trillion of which 2 Trillion to the Global South and United States recent entanglement countries to provide more or less the same goal 15-25% of buil
W
public private partnership to provide funds for the first two step Phase 1 of upgrading the entire built infrastructure of the United States of America (90 percent ball park) Housing Transportation government buildings energy supply and transmission systems, water, everything, where necessary.
2 Trillion is also issued in government building, water energy power fuel systems and trans state and local planning, limited quanitity to Americans, and maintained in the community where the bond originated, with a state specific design. High yield - at 7% is the plan, to lead with making investing in shared infrastructure something that not only paid off as a good investment but produced changes in places you visit and see with the money you saved or worked hard for.
This would raise interest rates globally so I have some flexibility on this point. It also makes the payback considerable over the 7 years,
Economics of scale, in physics and in monetary economics it works the same- to get it done big, relatively cheap, going big, and going near breakneck speed is best, with the caveat* that you still need to go big with something that works on a lot of levels so you want to have tested through the relevant technologies.
That’s my derivation, but it stems from the traditional view of economics of scale, and fits the actions of the most successful builders in human history, imparting the expected and usually honored tradition of governments to build roads- the Romans. And build they did- to last, to say they don’t build them like they used to, well, to last 2000 years, yeah, that’s a safe statement. They had their armies build and they went en mass doing multi-year projects with many thousands of men, that are used today in places far outside Italy. This is the idea here as well
To build any widgets, the cost per unit goes down as people,and the machines they build get better. While the cost of replacing water, data, energy, waste, goods and human movement infrastructure sounds expensive, and it is, it is obviously simpler and cheaper than doing each one piecemeal, like 10x or more cheaper
It is the reason for the multi phase- I’ve been calling 2 Phase, but the budget defined for a minimum of two years will certainly develop and require adjustments for the 2nd year, which will hopefully provide enough insight to plan the rest of the work, what, how, how long, and how much needs to be done to finish a broad upgrade of the remaining 75- 85% of United States, or do we exceed expectations, set at a level to allow such a thing, meaning we can do it!!! Also, the Obama Stimulus and the Biden IRA/Infrastructure bills should really be mile stone phases of existing progress on similar scales and leading to this.
hough you have to work out a bit, train, and test some big things, so when you go full speed on building it is sure, and a huge upgrade on technology, and built to last. So two phases huge for now in goals but less than half the total, to ramp up, select best technologies, and utilize the “laboratory of the States, including defense engineers as engineers will be in short supply, scholarships for energy research for those with bachelors and work on the job/learn science/ energycraft jobs by the thousands, and even expressing math problems in practical problems in math classes at all levels, as well as funding for energy and 7 Trillion for this one
If we liken government infrastructure to normal asset investment costs, more than reasonable that's what they are- investment of 4% annually are expected, of total revenues. Even if we did state and federal - think it'd be on the order of on average- I think it is best to do big cycles then bridge- of near 100 billion a year, every year, or about the current 'milestone' of the so called Bi Partisan Infrastructure law, voted on by a few Republicans(it is the largest investment since the Great Depression in US infrastructure) but is really only near to what we should have been spending almost every year, to maintain, let alone grow, which we have. So we are long overdue, with much of our major infrastructure essentially ceased since the 1950’s as well as space exploration, well below also actually what is practical financial sense to invest in logistical systems and environments humans live in.
The Clean Air Act -
Congressional Text defining the United States’ responsibility to address Climate ChangeVerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 7
Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 5Section 901(a)(2)(C) of Public Law 101–549 (104 Stat. 2700) added a new paragraph (8) at the end of section 103(b). Paragraph (8) probably was intended to have been added after paragraph (7), as it is shown here. in the examination and evaluation of research progress and proposals and to avoid duplication of research; and (5) conduct and promSec. 615. Authority of Administrator. Sec. 616. Transfers among Parties to Montreal Protocol. Sec. 617. International cooperation. Sec. 618. Miscellaneous provisions. TITLE I—AIR POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL PART A—AIR QUALITY AND EMISSION LIMITATIONS FINDINGS AND PURPOSES SEC. 101. (a) The Congress finds— (1) that the predominant part of the Nation’s population is located in its rapidly expanding metropolitan and other urban areas, which generally cross the boundary lines of local jurisdictions and often extend into two or more States; (2) that the growth in the amount and complexity of air pollution brought about by urbanization, industrial development, and the increasing use of motor vehicles, has resulted in mounting dangers to the public health and welfare, including injury to agricultural crops and livestock, damage to and the deterioration of property, and hazards to air and ground transportation; (3) that air pollution prevention (that is, the reduction or elimination, through any measures, of the amount of pollutants produced or created at the source) and air pollution control at its source is the primary responsibility of States and local governments; and (4) that Federal financial assistance and leadership is essential for the development of cooperative Federal, State, regional, and local programs to prevent and control air pollution. (b) The purposes of this title are— (1) to protect and enhance the quality of the Nation’s air resources so as to promote the public health and welfare and the productive capacity of its population; (2) to initiate and accelerate a national research and development program to achieve the prevention and control of air pollution; (3) to provide technical and financial assistance to State and local governments in connection with the development and execution of their air pollution prevention and control programs; and (4) to encourage and assist the development and operation of regional air pollution prevention and control programs. (c) POLLUTION PREVENTION.—A primary goal of this Act is to encourage or otherwise promote reasonable Federal, State, and local governmental actions, consistent with the provisions of this Act, for pollution prevention. ø42 U.S.C. 7401¿ COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES AND UNIFORM LAWS SEC. 102. (a) The Administrator shall encourage cooperative activities by the States and local governments for the prevention and control of air pollution; encourage the enactment of improved VerDate Nov 24 2008 13:09 Jan 27, 2023 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 9001 Sfmt 9001 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CAACAA4U.BEL HOLC January 27, 2023 G:\COMP\ENVIR1\CLEAN AIR ACT.XML As Amended Through P.L. 117-286, Enacted December 27, 2022 Sec. 103 CLEAN AIR ACT 6 and, so far as practicable in the light of varying conditions and needs, uniform State and local laws relating to the prevention and control of air pollution; and encourage the making of agreements and compacts between States for the prevention and control of air pollution. (b) The Administrator shall cooperate with and encourage cooperative activities by all Federal departments and agencies having functions relating to the prevention and control of air pollution, so as to assure the utilization in the Federal air pollution control program of all appropriate and available facilities and resources within the Federal Government. (c) The consent of the Congress is hereby given to two or more States to negotiate and enter into agreements or compacts, not in conflict with any law or treaty of the United States, for (1) cooperative effort and mutual assistance for the prevention and control of air pollution and the enforcement of their respective laws relating thereto, and (2) the establishment of such agencies, joint or otherwise, as they may deem desirable for making effective such agreements or compacts. No such agreement or compact shall be binding or obligatory upon any State a party thereto unless and until it has been approved by Congress. It is the intent of Congress that no agreement or compact entered into between States after the date of enactment of the Air Quality Act of 1967, which relates to the control and abatement of air pollution in an air quality control region, shall provide for participation by a State which is not included (in whole or in part) in such air quality control region.
3. Science, engineering and Counter-geoengineering
Putting 30+ pounds (15 Kilos) of CO2 per person in the developed world is already massive geoengineering. These are calculations that can verified, and should be verified by your Country’s oil production divided by its people, and the kiddos should know that math, and we should prove it in front of Congress. OOOOH me, me I have the experiment I wish to mostly replicate with maybe some flair to demonstrate CO2’s warming effect people can do in their homes and we have a talk about the numbers, because most people are stumped to hear or think about how much that is - the US burns 19 million barrels of oil per DAY. the barrels stack ed would be larger than the Capitol building I think. Every day? I am certain this is usually a shock to people and change their perspective before even getting to the fact that CO2 warms. So there are some core facts that are both more effective and critical to the discussion, and what those are should be matters of some discussion. Here and in other places I try to compile these in broadly understandable terms, walking smart people through land mine political orientations with the items they understand better than most of the climate concerned, but in different ways. Thats the theory we are testing anyway.Other 2023 rankings included...
- warmest year on record for land and ocean areas individually;
- warmest year on record for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres (land and ocean areas combined),
- warmest year for land and ocean individually in the North,
- 2nd-warmest year for land and warmest year for ocean in the South;
- 40th-warmest year for the Antarctic,
- 4th-warmest year for the Arctic.
Climate lag- the delay between emissions and actual warming, with estimates ranging between 0, 40 and 60 years, hangs over this all, and while the need must be - to look like we take this seriously, we must achieve a sizeable emissions cut as soon as possible, and plans for at least a quarter, and possibly 2 consecutive at deep cuts 50% to have a hope of answering that question.
But, it does require us to look for additional ways to minimize the energy imbalance and figure out what our best options are, that minimize the imbalance.
This means trying many things, several times to see what works and what can be scaled up cheaply, because of course the actions taken will have to be massive in scale. Every fix has its own potential risk. Something I acknowledge my own attention to, and will focus energy on is soil- as well as plant and bacterial energy cycles, animal too, for possible scalable solutions I have been some what remiss in.
My recent proposed actions are based in part and fit in part to the work of Dr. Hansen’s lab, as he is an OG of the Climate Movement and Action- testifying before Congress, and is proven his calculations correct. I agree with all of his findings based on my knowledge of the assumptions, and shortcomings of the current modeling paradigm, and the conclusions that research counter geoengineering is
A short bit about him here.
James Hansen's 1988 testimony after 30 years. How did he do? (youtube.com)
And the man himself- as well as his comparisons to the Venus atmosphere I didn’t know he was involved in.
James Hansen: Why I must speak out about climate change (youtube.com)
Some of my conclusions and interpretations may turn out to be somewhat different, but correct in principle and conclusion, on the order of magnitude, and the actions recommended will stand, but also need updating to include the Polar treaty specifications
Analysis and next steps based on Dr. James Hansens’ most recent paper, Global Warming in the Pipeline
http://www.columbia.edu/\~jeh1/Documents/PipelinePaper.2023.05.19.pdf
in which he lays out a 100-year gap between emissions and warming, -in the Pipeline means we and an expectation for the warming to double in speed, until eventually reaching 10 degrees C, or 18 F degrees hotter on average day.
Improved knowledge of glacial-to-interglacial global temperature change implies that fast-feedback equilibrium climate sensitivity is at least ∼4°C for doubled CO2 (2×CO2), with a likely range of 3.5-5.5°C.
Greenhouse gas (GHG) climate forcing is 4.1 W/m2 larger in 2021 than in 1750, equivalent to 2%times$CO2 forcing. Global warming in the pipeline is greater than prior estimates. Eventual global warming due to today's GHG forcing alone — after slow feedbacks operate — is about 10°C. Human-made aerosols are a major climate forcing, mainly via their effect on clouds. We infer from paleoclimate data that aerosol cooling offset GHG warming for several millennia as civilization developed. A hinge-point in global warming occurred in 1970 as increased GHG warming outpaced aerosol cooling, leading to global warming of 0.18°C per decade. Aerosol cooling is larger than estimated in the current IPCC report, but it has declined since 2010 because of aerosol reductions in China and shipping. Without unprecedented global actions to reduce GHG growth, 2010 could be another hinge point, with global warming in the following decades 50-100% greater than in the prior 40 years. The enormity of the consequences of warming in the pipeline demands a new approach to addressing legacy and future emissions. The essential requirement to "save" young people and future generations is to return to Holocene-level global temperature.
Dr. Hansen’s top-line goals:
1) a global increasing price on GHG emissions
2) East-West cooperation in a way that accommodates developing world needs,
3) intervention with Earth’s radiation imbalance to phase down today’s massive human-made “geo-transformation”
of Earth’s climate.
ECS- Equilibrium Climate Sensitivity is the projected eventual rise in global temperature
As of today
- 10 degrees - 18 F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature based on emissions already in the pipeline when lag factors catch up by the Hansen/Columbia team, which differs significantly from the IPCC’s estimates
- 4-6 degrees C 11 degrees F is the projected eventual rise in global temperature when lag factors catch up by the IPCC team
- 40 years is the IPCC, as well as Exxon’s estimate of the length of time it takes for CO2 emitted today to fully impact the heating of the earth
- 100 years, is how long the full effects of emissions take to fully kick- in Hansen’s paper
- And this is the primary cause of the Hansen team’s temperature difference from the IPCC’s
- Cutting carbon emissions May take decades to slow warming.
Energy reflection layering is necessary to counteract previous emissions.
SRM Solar Radiation Management is priority 1, especially as it is by definition going to have to cover large areas.
There are many forms, especially biological, with similar or even greater caution, and promise as the “harder”energy techniques to capture and utilize solar energy, and process carbon, and we must understand maximize and implement projects
Questions
Does this mean we effectively feel the effects of Kennedy or Clinton era warming for fast feedback?Are we able to measure the increase in solar radiation absorbed directly, from readings at a single point?
***Three ideas for focused groups to provide reports on
- Produce separate options on a model of near-term effects of geoengineering, at different engagement levels and cross-use, pros and cons including environmental impact:
- Land Artificial snow distribution on ice, at the poles on the temperature of the water, and what the minimum intervention to see a result would be. Test out weighted on square corners insulative airtight tarps tested in thick and thin to cover areas and possibly form
C. Air airborne layering of reflective, CONTRAILS
Undoing recent boat fuel standards limiting reflective components (sulfides?) in diesel. Proposing dirtying along existing shipping and fuel routes, which seem to be warming possibly as a result of reduced reflections in fuel burnt
- Mapping polar coastal regions and maximizing
Mapping polar regions with large teams on foot, cataloging life and conditions, and maximizing snow-like cover.
Underwater and seismic mappings for all polar areas. Cap and cover methane sources. Which areas to begin: as much as can be mapped without international incident- we can start without the Russians but cannot finish.
Build a material-accurate reference scale model of the earth. It will probably require a new version which should begin construction within 3-6 months of the operation of the first.
Boat and submarine mapping of methane leaks, methyl clathrate deposits and thermally anomalous regions, and as much polar coast as possible, which involves Russia, though Antarctica, Alaska, and Canada are available to build the template operations for while the other situation remains tense. In any case, this will be more than enough work in the short term to solidify the models, and help from other bodies should be considered.
- Increase by a factor of not less than 10 a network of methane and CO2 sensors capable of detecting changes broadly to Arctic and methyl clathrate zone emissions
https://lnkd.in/e6vGe_8W
The current face of our website, likely which you already have if you are here, is here https://bit.ly//0Unity1
2024.04.06 02:15 jbs0311 My analysis of Adelaide's win over Western United: Mega Edition
 | So uh, Irankunda is pretty good, huh? submitted by jbs0311 to Aleague [link] [comments] That game was officially his “I’m him” moment. And he’s had a fair few of those already, but this one takes the cake. Now, this could very easily turn towards being a piece littered with praise for Irankunda, but I think there’s enough of that out there already. Instead, I’ll take the more analytic approach – as I’ve attempted to do all season long. Also, apparently McBreen did some tactics stuff before the Wanderers game. Cheeky prick has stolen my niche. That was gonna be my job goddammit. First he came for the podcast, now the tactics… Anyway, we may have won two on the bounce (sorry for not getting one out for the Jets game: I’m lazy and was also sick) but it’s not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, there have been some interesting things I’ve noticed. Alagich has been a real gamechanger, and has the underlying stats to support it; the front line is kinda starting to mesh; and some players actually look competent when playing their natural position. So, alongside the usual positional play and structures stuff, that’s what I’ll take a look at today. Virtual systems analysis Now, some websites (*cough cough* SofaScore) will tell you that Adelaide lined up in a 4-2-3-1. Which is wrong. As a quick aside: this is why these pieces can be so tedious to write – it takes me double-checking a lot of things to make sure I’m not just spewing nonsense. Advanced metrics, solid positional stats? Forget it. Instead, we have these websites putting up their best guesses at what it might look like rather than how things are. Which is fine, like, they have to take a punt at something, it just annoys me because I have to do more work that way. So what is right? Well, what we saw was really a continuation of what they did against the Jets, and what has been probably the most successful structure this season: playing 4 midfielders. However, unlike the box midfield of ye olde dayes, this saw Clough and Mauk all but abandoning the midfield in favour of attack, with a double pivot consisting of Alagich and Isaias. It looked something like this: Not sure where the names and numbers have fucked off to. They were on the graphic, but didn't download. Apologies. So in reality it’s something of a 4-4-2/4-2-4. Now this is an additionally important factor with regards to defending. Throughout the season United has fluctuated from using a mid-block 4-3-3 hybrid pressing system out of possession, to a 4-2-4 structure that isolates the double pivot, and even sometimes a strange 4-1-4-1 with the lone striker leading the press. Recently, though, there’s been a shift towards cementing a 4-4-2/4-2-4 hybrid set up. Personally I don’t think it’s a brilliant system, for a couple of reasons I’ll get to later, but at least there’s a consistent approach now. When I talk about ‘hybrid’ here, by the way, I’m referring to the switch between having 4 deeper players or just the double pivot; not the pressing system. The trigger to switch between the two formations is merely incidental. It’s all about compactness and height. See, in both defensive formations, there’s no real press. And I’ve had my gripes with that before (especially when Veart was saying Nestor needs to work on his pressing even though the wingers are now never really involved in that aspect). So, the change happens only really depending on the level that the opposition are playing at. Take a look: https://preview.redd.it/edif3tl54rsc1.png?width=1666&format=png&auto=webp&s=205f950c9d6c27f16b5f272c24dbb6960865ce9d This is what the 4-2-4 looked like. Keep things compact and narrow, minimise the space you concede to midfielders and attackers, let the backline play laterally amongst themselves. In this formation, it makes sense not to have a press as that would simply give away the space you’re trying so hard to keep control over. I will also add, that my gripes with the 4-2-4 in the past has been Adelaide’s width. Having the fullbacks and wingers sitting so wide out of possession really isolated the double pivot and created an inherent 4vs2 in the midfield. Here, though, the team has stayed narrow, the space has been compacted, and the double pivot is less likely to get stretched, and the time for someone in the frontline to rotate back and offer support is much shorter. These are all good things. However – and this is a critique of Western more than anything – this shape gives up space out wide. Which is bad. Especially when, outside of Bovalina (who isn’t even really a defensive player) your full backs have been atrocious all season long. But like, it didn’t matter. The fullbacks stayed deep for Western – whether that was because they were pinned back by the wingers or for structural reasons. This is the point of difference between ok managers and good managers. A good manager can make the adjustment, abandon their plan, and exploit the space the opposition gives them. Western didn’t do that. Anyway, that’s the 4-2-4. Mere moments later, though: https://preview.redd.it/a61382y64rsc1.png?width=1666&format=png&auto=webp&s=888ff7381e01036a43f09ad4a16a045e5bc8dd32 This formation alludes to a couple of things about the way the lads are being instructed to play. Firstly, with how the WU players have reacted, it would seem as though the front 4 are playing a man-marking system. As Nestor and Mauk have dropped, their respective assignments have moved into space. Would suggest that, as I guessed just before, WU weren’t able to exploit space out wide because they were being pinned back. So good job there. So, what about the marking systems for the rest of the players? Good question. I’m assuming the double pivot is using some sort of zonal system. From what I’ve seen they tend to stick centrally, not stretching laterally (see: discussion regarding compactness above) and floating between the two lines of WU’s midfield. However, there were also times where it appeared that Isaias would drop almost between centre backs, with Alagich floating to sweep the ball up in front. I think that adjustment was situational and mostly occurred in transition. Likely either because Isaias has lost a step or two of pace, or because Alagich is more suited to that disruptor role. The second point is something I alluded to earlier – the fact that the 4-4-2 or 4-2-4 is used depending on where the possession is. The higher up the pitch – the more likely to go to the 4-4-2. The more compact you need to be – the more likely the 4-2-4. Cool. So how about in possession? Well, that’s where defining a structure is tricky, because there’s a lot of flexibility. The crux of it is this: the front 4 do their thing and everyone else moves around that. https://preview.redd.it/pjfq9fd84rsc1.png?width=1666&format=png&auto=webp&s=f56c1f518d344619e72d6714bfd6062a85828f65 You can see what I mean, right? The rigidity and structure we have come to associate with this team went completely out the window. There’s some discernible underpinnings though – particularly in positional play. The first thing to take note of is the positioning of the double pivot. Conventional football wisdom tends to tell us that in a double pivot, the player on the side of possession should go forwards, and the opposite player should drop. However, as we can see, Alagich is the one who is deep, despite being closest to the ball. This is for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it compensates for Clough’s movement into the deeper space, easing congestion in that area. Secondly, with how deep the Adelaide centre backs are already playing, it prevents them being forced further backwards by accommodating the shift of Isaias into the deeper spot. Had Clough not made that move, though, it’s likely that Alagich would have wanted to find himself in the space Clough occupied, with Isaias becoming the outlet and either of Mauk or Ibusuki taking up the central role. We can see another side-effect of Clough’s movement in where Kitto fins himself. Yes, he likes to attack, but here he becomes the wing option for United as they go forward, doing something Western never did: exploiting space. You can also see here the flexibility I was talking about with the front 4. In this shot, Clough is on the left, Nestor the right and Mauk has come deeper. But at other times, Irankunda would go to the right, Mauk would swing left and Clough would move central, and there were even times that Ibusuki would go deep and Mauk would lead the line. It’s these little nuances that are nice to see. And it certainly seems like these four are on the same wavelength in that regard, because there was very little of the zonal congestion issues the team has suffered with other combinations up front this season. Speaking of… The striker conundrum Where do I start with this? Adelaide has the beauty of having two strikers that are starter quality. The issue is that while they have the 4-2-2-2 system that can accommodate both, they’ve seemingly abandoned that. This means picking and choosing week to week which striker is going to play. No big deal, right? Wrong. Because Jova and Ibusuki offer such different strengths, it means there’s often a lack of consistency in the gameplan. And even then, Adelaide routinely get things backwards – lofting crosses into the box when Jovanovic is playing and trying to get Ibusuki the ball at feet in and around the box. Ibusuki is your hold up player, he’s an aerial threat in the box and can clean up a mess and put the ball in the net. Jovanovic is like a terrier. He presses relentlessly, uses his strength to body defenders, and has good footwork on the ball to fashion chances for himself (as he did against Newcastle). As a partnership they’re solid. We saw them forming some good connections for a while before Veartmania struck and things were chopped and changed again. On their own, they’re both kinda just OK as lone 9s. Ibusuki is waaaaaaaaaaay too reluctant to take a shot (unless it’s a 50 yard chip, apparently) and has no pace, whereas Jovanovic works hard in the press and is better driving with the ball, but has no aerial presence and doesn’t have that same touch-turn-pass move in his repertoire. I don’t know what the solution is, especially considering we’ve won back to back matches with Ibusuki starting and this similar flexible front 4. But the Jets win wouldn’t have happened without Jovanovic. Food for thought I guess. A new midfield maestro? So Alagich looks pretty good guys. I’ve been pretty high on him since his debut against Victory last season, but what we’ve seen from him recently has really helped us win the last couple. See, with the two-man midfield as a double pivot, you’re essentially hoping to play two 6s with a couple of players in the frontline who will drop deep in build up, or a 6 with a deep lying playmaker alongside to be the conduit. The thing is, Adelaide has plenty of midfielders – and I’ll talk about some more of them a little later – but there’s not really been anybody who has claimed that box-to-box role, whether that be in our 4-3-3 or now in this 4-2-4 system. A lot of speculation around bringing Mauk back (which I also thought) was that he’d slot into that role given it’s where he played for us last stint. However, in his time in Japan, he was utilised as a shadow striker, sometimes even as a false 9. That’s what he’s picked up for us. We’ve tried Yull in a couple of roles in the midfield, and for as clearly talented as he is, he seems to struggle when the rest of the midfield isn’t on their game and he prefers to be a more advanced player, which limits his utility as a conduit (more on this later). Alagich, though, has come in and killed it so far. If the future for this club is to take this double-pivot only midfield and run with it, then I reckon we’ve found the talisman for the next however many years. It’s not just the eye test he passes, either. His underlying metrics are incredibly solid. He had 3 key passes and a 91% pass accuracy rating against Western, won five of his six ground duels, had an interception and made four tackles. The advanced stats are a good insight, too: Credit: @ scout_aussie on twitter Now, you might look at this and go “geez, doesn’t look great – he’s barely better than Yull”. But the thing you have to remember is that this graph doesn’t take into account where on the pitch the players are receiving the passes. Amini, for instance, sits very deep in build up, so naturally he is going to progress the ball much more often simply by virtue of the fact that all his options are further up the pitch than he is. If you want someone to marvel at – take a look at Old. He plays much higher up, often as an 8 or 10, and yet still has an insane progressive action rate. This chart gives a bit better insight into how these progressions occur, roughly the situations the players find themselves in and how it all compares: Credit: @ cambi_2 on twitter. As you can see, and as anybody who’s watched him can attest to, Arslan is a fucking freak. I feel it would do some good to really break this down for those who might be struggling to understand the relevance. On the y-axis (vertical) are number of progressive passes received per 90, and the x-axis is the number of progressive passes made per 90. Each quadrant suggests a different player profile: Bottom left are recyclers – players who sit deep so they don’t receive many progressive passes, and who recycle possession laterally or backwards rather than looking to move possession forwards. Top left are your end-point or targets – they receive a lot of the progressive passes from teammates, and because they find themselves higher up the pitch, they’re less able to return the favour. (It would be interesting to see this quadrant with progressive carries added to the mix). Bottom right is where your deep lying midfielders reside. They sit very deep, hence not receiving lots of progressive passes, but they have options ahead that they’ll look towards rather than recycling the ball. This quadrant is the most difficult to analyse, because it could be that a player finds themselves here because, like Amini, they have no option but to pass the ball forward, or because they, like Sakhi, benefit from turnovers (hence fewer prog passes received) but are able to turn and get the ball upfield. The top right is where you’ll find the playmakers. I’ve had discussions with a few people about whether the role of a classic 10 is dying out, and that’s a discussion for another day, but this is where you want your most creative players to reside. They get the ball in space in the midfield, but turn that into another progressive pass themselves. You can see with Alagich that he’s making about as many progressive passes as he’s receiving. He’s a conduit – finds the space to receive a forwards pass, and is able to use that to then get the ball upfield to the likes of Mauk. So how do our other midfielders stack up? Well, one that sticks out like a sore thumb in the first graph is Duzel. I mean, what the fuck is up with that, right? He’s been rather uninspiring this season. He’s one of those players where I think the metrics paint him in potentially a better light than we’ve seen. He’s been used in a few distinct roles this season – usually as the 8 in the 4-3-3 or a 6 in the double pivot. He’s also been thrown on as a sub into a more advanced role that really doesn’t suit him. My biggest gripe with Duzel is his off the ball movement. He’s very static, not suited to sitting higher, doesn’t make space for himself or exploit the space others make. He doesn’t really have that final pass to break the lines either. I honestly think he could make a good 6, but we’ve both not seen enough of him there to make a judgement call, and I also don’t think – based on the little we have seen – that he has the defensive ability to make that spot his own. I’d rather an anchor in the 6 and a more free-flowing player alongside in the double pivot, than a Duzel-esque player and an anchor, or Lord forbid Duzel and a more advanced player. There’s a player there, I’m just not sure how he fits into Adelaide’s systems. Maybe if our backline wasn’t so awful and you could feasibly rely on them to stop attacks then a Duzel/Alagich double pivot could be interesting. But we’ll never know. Yull is an interesting one. His numbers suggest he’s been desperately misused this season. He is, plain and simple, a 10. He’s not gonna be the player that can sit inside a midfield block and pass their way out. He wants to get the ball as far upfield as possible and dribble at the backline. The issue is that Clough was on fire as the 10 to start the season, so Yull was just shoehorned into the 8 without much thought. I do think he could do well in a deeper role, where he has even more time and space on the ball to dribble, but I think his lack of ability to pick a progressive pass hurts him there. He really suits a 4-3-3, and can’t see his skillset working in the double pivot. That would mean abandoning the system that has won us the last two games. It would also likely require another 8 alongside him to be a passing player, and then the lone 6 to operate almost exclusively between the lines. Regardless, what these charts show is that, to nobody’s surprise, Veart has managed to misuse players this season, playing them in the wrong roles and sticking with that despite metrics that suggest he shouldn’t. A quick word on defending We need some serious investment in defence holy shit. The team looked actively better in defence when Warland, our now-starting CB, was not on the pitch. That’s dire. Van der Saag looked really good in his natural position. The issue is that Bovalina has that spot basically nailed on. I’ve never seen either of them play left back before, but I think VdS and his playstyle would translate easier than the complex inversions Bovalina makes. Might be worth giving VdS a shot at LB with Bova on the right, or even vice versa if Giuseppe can pull it off, just to see how things look. They’re both quality players, solid defensively, but offer (different) attacking threat and have a workrate and engine we haven’t seen from Kitto, Lopez or Madanha. That’s the other thing: it can’t go much worse than some of the full back performances we’ve seen. Speaking of, Lopez with yet another mistake to gift a goal. Why’s he in the team? In the past it was because he was a defensive stalwart, but this season he has continued to make mistakes that lead to goals. You can’t have a player in the lineup for defensive reasons if they’re the one making mistakes. We have no centre backs on contract for next year, and honestly none of them deserve it. Kikianis will be back on a scholarship deal I’d reckon, but the other three are either bad, injured, or both. Get some fresh blood in – someone who will actually do their job. There were some good options available in the last window that Adelaide didn’t take a shot at, so they better not make the same mistake. I swear to god if we see Warland, Barr and Ansell back again next season… Wrapping up I just really hope we can keep winning. We’ve shown what we can do, admittedly against two teams who also aren’t great, but you can only beat the team you’re facing. I think Veart’s time as coach has to be nearing an end, right? Like, any other club in this league would have already cut him. He made some good decisions in the Western game, and for once his gameplan worked, but too often we’ve seen an inability to adjust or do anything remotely creative. He’s also grossly mis-profiled players, using Duzel and Yull wrong especially, playing VdS and Clough out of position, and dropping players who put in good performances while backing those who have shown time after time that they can’t be relied upon. The owners aren’t free of scrutiny, either. I echo the sentiments of many fans in saying they need to open their wallets or get out. But this last week has all been about Irankunda. From hattrick to Olyroos omission. He’s our starboy, and goddamn I’m gonna miss him. |
2024.03.25 23:00 Gesopie Car buying at 21 years old, 730 credit score (2 years, 2 credit lines), 13k in bank, being paid 22/hr, 15-20 hours a week + 16 hour weekend min wage job at 8-16 hours a week.
I POSTED THIS EARLIER ON PERSONALFINANCE BUT WANT TO POST HERE AS WELL
I am in the market of purchasing a car, and i am debating if I should purchase an older car with higher mileage that I can pay in full, or a newer car and finance for 5 years or so. Right now I pay no rent and wont until august of 2025, i dont live very expensive, try to save when I can, and I am a part time student, with no tution payments (grants and scholarships) the only thing i really pay for is $150 a month for my credit cards and a couple hundred a month for small treats of food n such I am not sure if this is the correct subreddit either but, it feels more financial than anything. I am in the market for a SUV/COMPACT SUV car, and looking mainly for longevity, and reliability. cars that were in mind were CRV, Rav4, Crosstrek, Outback, Hyundai Tuscon, Nissan Rogue, or Jeep Cherokee. (my real dream is a 4runner but thats not happening) I am located in california bay area, and plan to move to santa cruz area or san jose area come august 2025, not sure if this matters. I have considered both dealerships and private sellers, and after a few months of searching, I have found that on average, the hondas and toyotas tend to be around 10k-15k for cars that are 10-14 years old, averaging 120-150k miles. which for being reliable, is less than ideal for this price. I have found a nice Nissan Rogue sport 2021 for 17k, with 55k miles on it being sold by enterprise, and i am curious now THE MAIN QUESTION: Should I persue financing a 2021 nissan rogue/similar 2020+ car for the 16-20k for about 5 yrs, OR should I attempt to look for an older higher mileage reliable honda/toyota that I can pay in full? THE ASSUMPTION is that if I do finance, it will be with a $10k downpayment. I am looking for a car ASAP and I am under my mothers car insurance right now, driving a 2000 echo thats about to die.
submitted by Gesopie to carbuying [link] [comments]
I am in the market of purchasing a car, and i am debating if I should purchase an older car with higher mileage that I can pay in full, or a newer car and finance for 5 years or so. Right now I pay no rent and wont until august of 2025, i dont live very expensive, try to save when I can, and I am a part time student, with no tution payments (grants and scholarships) the only thing i really pay for is $150 a month for my credit cards and a couple hundred a month for small treats of food n such I am not sure if this is the correct subreddit either but, it feels more financial than anything. I am in the market for a SUV/COMPACT SUV car, and looking mainly for longevity, and reliability. cars that were in mind were CRV, Rav4, Crosstrek, Outback, Hyundai Tuscon, Nissan Rogue, or Jeep Cherokee. (my real dream is a 4runner but thats not happening) I am located in california bay area, and plan to move to santa cruz area or san jose area come august 2025, not sure if this matters. I have considered both dealerships and private sellers, and after a few months of searching, I have found that on average, the hondas and toyotas tend to be around 10k-15k for cars that are 10-14 years old, averaging 120-150k miles. which for being reliable, is less than ideal for this price. I have found a nice Nissan Rogue sport 2021 for 17k, with 55k miles on it being sold by enterprise, and i am curious now THE MAIN QUESTION: Should I persue financing a 2021 nissan rogue/similar 2020+ car for the 16-20k for about 5 yrs, OR should I attempt to look for an older higher mileage reliable honda/toyota that I can pay in full? THE ASSUMPTION is that if I do finance, it will be with a $10k downpayment. I am looking for a car ASAP and I am under my mothers car insurance right now, driving a 2000 echo thats about to die.
2024.03.25 19:42 Gesopie Car buying at 21 years old, 730 credit score (2 years, 2 credit lines), 13k in bank, being paid 22/hr, 15-20 hours a week + 16 hour weekend min wage job at 8-16 hours a week.
I am in the market of purchasing a car, and i am debating if I should purchase an older car with higher mileage that I can pay in full, or a newer car and finance for 5 years or so. Right now I pay no rent and wont until august of 2025, i dont live very expensive, try to save when I can, and I am a part time student, with no tution payments (grants and scholarships) the only thing i really pay for is $150 a month for my credit cards and a couple hundred a month for small treats of food n such
I am not sure if this is the correct subreddit either but, it feels more financial than anything.
I am in the market for a SUV/COMPACT SUV car, and looking mainly for longevity, and reliability. cars that were in mind were CRV, Rav4, Crosstrek, Outback, Hyundai Tuscon, Nissan Rogue, or Jeep Cherokee. (my real dream is a 4runner but thats not happening)
I am located in california bay area, and plan to move to santa cruz area or san jose area come august 2025, not sure if this matters.
I have considered both dealerships and private sellers, and after a few months of searching, I have found that on average, the hondas and toyotas tend to be around 10k-15k for cars that are 10-14 years old, averaging 120-150k miles. which for being reliable, is less than ideal for this price. I have found a nice Nissan Rogue sport 2021 for 17k, with 55k miles on it being sold by enterprise, and i am curious now
THE MAIN QUESTION:
Should I persue financing a 2021 nissan rogue/similar 2020+ car for the 16-20k for about 5 yrs, OR
should I attempt to look for an older higher mileage reliable honda/toyota that I can pay in full?
THE ASSUMPTION is that if I do finance, it will be with a $10k downpayment.
I am looking for a car ASAP and I am under my mothers car insurance right now, driving a 2000 echo thats about to die.
submitted by Gesopie to personalfinance [link] [comments]
I am not sure if this is the correct subreddit either but, it feels more financial than anything.
I am in the market for a SUV/COMPACT SUV car, and looking mainly for longevity, and reliability. cars that were in mind were CRV, Rav4, Crosstrek, Outback, Hyundai Tuscon, Nissan Rogue, or Jeep Cherokee. (my real dream is a 4runner but thats not happening)
I am located in california bay area, and plan to move to santa cruz area or san jose area come august 2025, not sure if this matters.
I have considered both dealerships and private sellers, and after a few months of searching, I have found that on average, the hondas and toyotas tend to be around 10k-15k for cars that are 10-14 years old, averaging 120-150k miles. which for being reliable, is less than ideal for this price. I have found a nice Nissan Rogue sport 2021 for 17k, with 55k miles on it being sold by enterprise, and i am curious now
THE MAIN QUESTION:
Should I persue financing a 2021 nissan rogue/similar 2020+ car for the 16-20k for about 5 yrs, OR
should I attempt to look for an older higher mileage reliable honda/toyota that I can pay in full?
THE ASSUMPTION is that if I do finance, it will be with a $10k downpayment.
I am looking for a car ASAP and I am under my mothers car insurance right now, driving a 2000 echo thats about to die.
2024.03.24 21:43 reameir Nothing, I wallow in despair
Have heard back absolutely nothing except for two rejections 😭 and I have no confidence in anything else.
Short Abt Me:
-21 y/o junior -astrophysics major -philosophy minor -T10 public research university -previous research experience: 1) past year had a scholarship, studying binary SB1s looking for invisible compact object companions 2) researched in the libraries on Jewish history in the US -3.65 GPA -courses: intro physics, calc 1-3, diffeq, computational linear algebra, astrophysics 1-2, mech 1, thermal phys, modern phys, essentials of astro (4000 lvl) -ec leadership: founder and vp of an org for Jewish students, treasurer of a political activism org
Applied:
DAAD Rise: rejected Harvard CfA: rejected
Absolutely nothing from,
MIT Haystack University of Utah Virginia Tech LSU Maria Mitchell Observatory
Tryna keep my hopes up but I think it’s joever yall
3/26 update- got the cuntiest rejection from Virginia Tech 😭 4/2 update - LSU rejection too rip
submitted by reameir to REU [link] [comments]
Short Abt Me:
-21 y/o junior -astrophysics major -philosophy minor -T10 public research university -previous research experience: 1) past year had a scholarship, studying binary SB1s looking for invisible compact object companions 2) researched in the libraries on Jewish history in the US -3.65 GPA -courses: intro physics, calc 1-3, diffeq, computational linear algebra, astrophysics 1-2, mech 1, thermal phys, modern phys, essentials of astro (4000 lvl) -ec leadership: founder and vp of an org for Jewish students, treasurer of a political activism org
Applied:
DAAD Rise: rejected Harvard CfA: rejected
Absolutely nothing from,
MIT Haystack University of Utah Virginia Tech LSU Maria Mitchell Observatory
Tryna keep my hopes up but I think it’s joever yall
3/26 update- got the cuntiest rejection from Virginia Tech 😭 4/2 update - LSU rejection too rip
2024.03.20 10:59 BrilliantHunt9143 Mexico gaming console market flourishes; technology advancements boost sales
 | The gaming console market in Mexico continues to demonstrate strong growth, with an estimated value of approximately USD 2.10 billion expected in 2023. According to a recent report by [Research Firm], the market is poised for substantial expansion, with a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.4% forecasted between 2024 and 2032. This trajectory is expected to elevate the Mexico gaming console market to a value of USD 4.35 billion by 2032, reflecting significant growth opportunities within the industry. submitted by BrilliantHunt9143 to u/BrilliantHunt9143 [link] [comments] Mexico Gaming Console Market Key Drivers of Mexico Gaming Console Market Growth:
|
2024.03.17 05:52 Acceptable-Cow6446 Giving a background soft magic functional uses
For the sake of clarity, I’ll explain the things in terms from our world as well as I can. Known things:
There are twenty-four original gods who are more concepts than persons. They’re kind of like platonic forms, but most of them will use prophets to speak or avatars to act. They range from Flames to Whim to Liminal to Periphery to Slow-Dying Autumn. They are typically spoken of in five groupings: the Changing, the Holding-Ready, the Keepers, the Shepherds, and the Unknown. Some cultures and religions just see the twenty-four as manifestations of these five and see the five as the primal gods. Some scholars talk about the five or twenty-four as concepts that created mortals simply so they could be conceived and thought about.
Magic is a sort of background noise of living. It is like entropy in that it is tied to decay and death and like ekstasy in that it is a going out. Is enters the physical world through the second-by-second dying of whatever lives.
There are four ways of harnessing the passive power of magic and make it actively work for you: bloodline, which is a latent gift that is usually wild until trained; totemic, which uses items (sometimes of no significance, like a random rock) to guide the power; and crafts work, which uses knowledge and skill toward a desired effect. Farming and scholarship can be craftwork, anything from heirlooms or random objects can be used as totems, and bloodlines often don’t do much unless triggered by an ordeal. Bloodline magic might be associated with PTSD…. I’m not sure. I know the ordeal isn’t necessarily a daring feat. The fourth way is to enter a compact with, enslave, trick, or befriend a sprite. Sprites are pure spirit, sort of like fairies, tiny folk, but they often gain affinities to one or more of the gods more easily than mortals.
Mortals are described as “of the coin,” with the faces being spirit and mind and the edge, the ring, being body. There are beings that lack one or more of the three.
The worlds the story starts in are similar in many ways to our 1900s, though less development in tech due to restrictions on burning or tampering with oils and gasses from the earth.
There are humans, fae, lesser gods, shifters, and beasts, plants, and stones of the spirit or mind that have interbred for thousands of years. There are very few pure blood races. Shifters, originally, are any being that can shift to pass as a mortal.
Three questions for the brainstorming, assuming these known things: 1) how would you expect combat/ warfare to look? 2) how would technology look? What about sciences? 3) how would ethnicity and language behave?
Open to anything from questions to criticisms to recipes for hummus.
submitted by Acceptable-Cow6446 to fantasywriters [link] [comments]
There are twenty-four original gods who are more concepts than persons. They’re kind of like platonic forms, but most of them will use prophets to speak or avatars to act. They range from Flames to Whim to Liminal to Periphery to Slow-Dying Autumn. They are typically spoken of in five groupings: the Changing, the Holding-Ready, the Keepers, the Shepherds, and the Unknown. Some cultures and religions just see the twenty-four as manifestations of these five and see the five as the primal gods. Some scholars talk about the five or twenty-four as concepts that created mortals simply so they could be conceived and thought about.
Magic is a sort of background noise of living. It is like entropy in that it is tied to decay and death and like ekstasy in that it is a going out. Is enters the physical world through the second-by-second dying of whatever lives.
There are four ways of harnessing the passive power of magic and make it actively work for you: bloodline, which is a latent gift that is usually wild until trained; totemic, which uses items (sometimes of no significance, like a random rock) to guide the power; and crafts work, which uses knowledge and skill toward a desired effect. Farming and scholarship can be craftwork, anything from heirlooms or random objects can be used as totems, and bloodlines often don’t do much unless triggered by an ordeal. Bloodline magic might be associated with PTSD…. I’m not sure. I know the ordeal isn’t necessarily a daring feat. The fourth way is to enter a compact with, enslave, trick, or befriend a sprite. Sprites are pure spirit, sort of like fairies, tiny folk, but they often gain affinities to one or more of the gods more easily than mortals.
Mortals are described as “of the coin,” with the faces being spirit and mind and the edge, the ring, being body. There are beings that lack one or more of the three.
The worlds the story starts in are similar in many ways to our 1900s, though less development in tech due to restrictions on burning or tampering with oils and gasses from the earth.
There are humans, fae, lesser gods, shifters, and beasts, plants, and stones of the spirit or mind that have interbred for thousands of years. There are very few pure blood races. Shifters, originally, are any being that can shift to pass as a mortal.
Three questions for the brainstorming, assuming these known things: 1) how would you expect combat/ warfare to look? 2) how would technology look? What about sciences? 3) how would ethnicity and language behave?
Open to anything from questions to criticisms to recipes for hummus.
2024.03.13 03:00 ActiveClassroom8794 Who in their right mind thought it was a good idea for President Coley to send this message? What does it mean?
📷
Dear Faculty and Staff, As we are near the end of this academic year and look towards celebrating our graduating students, I write to you today to share information on challenges facing higher education nationally, within our state, and in the CSU system. We are in a period of great change and uncertainty, when we — like other institutions of higher education across the country — must respond to falling enrollments, declining state and federal support and increasing skepticism about the value of a degree to students’ career earnings and success. The decisions before us are shaped by a set of challenges unique to our 23-campus CSU system. I feel it is imperative that all members of our extraordinary learning community understand the realities and difficulties we face and the ways in which Cal Poly Pomona will continue to advance.
“I feel it is imperative that all members of our extraordinary learning community understand the realities and difficulties we face and the ways (we) will continue to advance.”
National and CSU Enrollment Challenges The CSU is facing significant enrollment challenges, with the most serious impacts at our Northern California campuses. The declines are part of a national trend attributed to changing demographics, enrollment declines at community colleges resulting in fewer transfers to the CSU, the prevalence of high-wage jobs that do not require a degree and shifting attitudes about the value of a four-year degree. These trends were highlighted in a recent report by the Campaign for College Opportunity.
Why Our Enrollment Has Declined Enrollment at CPP has also declined — but our context is different. We continue to see record numbers of applications from interested and qualified students, yet we are unable to expand our student body due to the lack of sufficient yearly permanent base funding from the state.
“We continue to see record numbers of applications…yet we are unable to expand our student body due to the lack of sufficient yearly permanent base funding.”
The CSU Chancellor’s Office sets enrollment targets for every campus and typically provides permanent base state funding to align with the target. Over the last several years, including during our transition from quarters to semesters in 2018, we intentionally increased our enrollment beyond our funded target to avoid the uncertainty about declines that other campuses typically experience during similar transitions. While we did so with the approval from the CSU system, the state funding to support the additional enrollments was allocated as one time funding, rather than permanent dollars.
In subsequent years, we worked to manage the over enrollment. However, beginning with the pandemic and the resulting fluctuation in applications and the enrollment of continuing students, we needed to implement a more stable enrollment strategy.
State Funding Compact and Enrollment Growth In 2022, the CSU and the governor agreed that in exchange for the CSU system increasing its enrollment 1% each year, the governor would increase the CSU’s base funding 5% each year beginning in 22-23 through 26-27. However, in 22-23 the CSU system was 5.6% below its enrollment target, and this year, it is projected to be 4.9% below.
Still seeking to fulfill its agreement with the governor, the CSU encouraged those campuses that can enroll beyond their state-funded target to do so, with the promise of additional permanent state funding. At the same time the CSU adopted a new funding formula in 24-25 that will reduce campuses’ budgets by 3% if they do not achieve their enrollment targets. In addition, campuses that are over enrolled must achieve a system-defined target to receive additional permanent base funding instead of a temporary “one time” allocation.
Given that Cal Poly Pomona continues to be a high-demand campus, we seek to continue growing enrollment. However, enrollment growth is likely to continue to be unevenly distributed across campus. To grow the academic programs that can respond to increased demand, we will need to shift resources and redistribute funds to those areas (similar to the approach taken by the Chancellor’s Office at the system level). This will require making some difficult choices.
“To grow the academic programs that can respond to increased demand, we will need to shift resources and…(make) some difficult choices.”
Heightened Competition for Students Before the recession hit in late 2007, the U.S. birth rate had been steadily increasing for years, allowing CSU campuses to easily meet enrollment targets. However, as the economic downturn took hold, many families postponed or opted out of having children due to financial uncertainty. This was among the factors that contributed to a decrease in the birth rate, which in turn has resulted in fewer traditional-aged college students and a discernible impact on higher education enrollment today. However, amidst this demographic shift, a silver lining emerges as rapidly changing workforce needs create a heightened demand for college-educated employees. Today’s companies seek highly skilled and trained workers. Our students understand those needs and come to our campus for an education that prepares them to meet the professional workforce demands and/or pursue graduate education.
As a result, Cal Poly Pomona is beginning to explore ways to adapt our strategies to accommodate the needs of our students, such as offering flexible learning formats, online programs, and tailored curriculum options aligned with our “learn by doing” model to guarantee that the dynamic needs of the workforce are met and to support lifelong learning opportunities for all. Other higher education institutions are also pursuing these strategies.
Studies also show that students are increasingly prioritizing shorter-term credentials over traditional degrees for some high-wage employment opportunities. This is why it is essential for our university to clearly articulate our value proposition and why Cal Poly Pomona is focused on sharing our story with students, families and the broader community. The benefits of a Cal Poly Pomona degree are numerous and help launch our students into impactful careers and success in today’s dynamic workforce landscape.
All of these factors have created intensified competition for students and funding between the CSUs, UCs, and community colleges. To address this challenge, Cal Poly Pomona is emphasizing accessibility, forging stronger pathway partnerships with our local community colleges and bolstering support services for non-traditional students. By partnering with community colleges, we are continuing to meet the evolving needs of our students and stabilize enrollment trends while creating better access to life-changing programs for thousands of Californians.
It is essential that we continue these successful partnerships in combination with strengthening recruitment efforts for all colleges, optimizing yield strategies to ensure admitted students choose Cal Poly Pomona, enhancing retention initiatives to support student success and implementing revenue-generating programs. Focusing on these priorities and shaping our Strategic Plan to sustain growth in the face of evolving higher education dynamics will allow us to continue delivering on our purpose: to help anyone who dreams of success achieve it.
CPP’s Investments and Strategy Fortunately, Cal Poly Pomona remains a top choice for many applicants, and we continue to see record levels of student interest and applications.
“The competition to successfully yield…students is fiercer than ever.”
However, the competition to successfully yield these students is fiercer than ever. That’s why our strategy includes:
We are unique among universities in bringing together the CPP polytechnic experience, diversity and economic mobility in our culture of care. Building upon these strengths will continue to position us for growth. My leadership team and I will continue to provide updates to the campus on the status of our initiatives, our progress and outcomes.
Let us never forget W.K. Kellogg’s vision for our university: “We are not making these changes just for today. We are planning for future generations.”
“We must remain adaptable to ensure continued relevance and impact as we embrace emerging challenges and opportunities.”
In making hard decisions today, we will continue to build upon Kellogg’s vision and dream of ensuring sustainability, prosperity and continuity for decades to come. By prioritizing the needs of future generations, we create a legacy of responsible stewardship and ensure a better world for tomorrow. And by working together to address our challenges, we ensure that Cal Poly Pomona will continue to lead as an innovator and bastion of growth and opportunity for all.
Sincerely,
📷
Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President
📷
submitted by ActiveClassroom8794 to CalPolyPomona [link] [comments]
Dear Faculty and Staff, As we are near the end of this academic year and look towards celebrating our graduating students, I write to you today to share information on challenges facing higher education nationally, within our state, and in the CSU system. We are in a period of great change and uncertainty, when we — like other institutions of higher education across the country — must respond to falling enrollments, declining state and federal support and increasing skepticism about the value of a degree to students’ career earnings and success. The decisions before us are shaped by a set of challenges unique to our 23-campus CSU system. I feel it is imperative that all members of our extraordinary learning community understand the realities and difficulties we face and the ways in which Cal Poly Pomona will continue to advance.
“I feel it is imperative that all members of our extraordinary learning community understand the realities and difficulties we face and the ways (we) will continue to advance.”
National and CSU Enrollment Challenges The CSU is facing significant enrollment challenges, with the most serious impacts at our Northern California campuses. The declines are part of a national trend attributed to changing demographics, enrollment declines at community colleges resulting in fewer transfers to the CSU, the prevalence of high-wage jobs that do not require a degree and shifting attitudes about the value of a four-year degree. These trends were highlighted in a recent report by the Campaign for College Opportunity.
Why Our Enrollment Has Declined Enrollment at CPP has also declined — but our context is different. We continue to see record numbers of applications from interested and qualified students, yet we are unable to expand our student body due to the lack of sufficient yearly permanent base funding from the state.
“We continue to see record numbers of applications…yet we are unable to expand our student body due to the lack of sufficient yearly permanent base funding.”
The CSU Chancellor’s Office sets enrollment targets for every campus and typically provides permanent base state funding to align with the target. Over the last several years, including during our transition from quarters to semesters in 2018, we intentionally increased our enrollment beyond our funded target to avoid the uncertainty about declines that other campuses typically experience during similar transitions. While we did so with the approval from the CSU system, the state funding to support the additional enrollments was allocated as one time funding, rather than permanent dollars.
In subsequent years, we worked to manage the over enrollment. However, beginning with the pandemic and the resulting fluctuation in applications and the enrollment of continuing students, we needed to implement a more stable enrollment strategy.
State Funding Compact and Enrollment Growth In 2022, the CSU and the governor agreed that in exchange for the CSU system increasing its enrollment 1% each year, the governor would increase the CSU’s base funding 5% each year beginning in 22-23 through 26-27. However, in 22-23 the CSU system was 5.6% below its enrollment target, and this year, it is projected to be 4.9% below.
Still seeking to fulfill its agreement with the governor, the CSU encouraged those campuses that can enroll beyond their state-funded target to do so, with the promise of additional permanent state funding. At the same time the CSU adopted a new funding formula in 24-25 that will reduce campuses’ budgets by 3% if they do not achieve their enrollment targets. In addition, campuses that are over enrolled must achieve a system-defined target to receive additional permanent base funding instead of a temporary “one time” allocation.
Given that Cal Poly Pomona continues to be a high-demand campus, we seek to continue growing enrollment. However, enrollment growth is likely to continue to be unevenly distributed across campus. To grow the academic programs that can respond to increased demand, we will need to shift resources and redistribute funds to those areas (similar to the approach taken by the Chancellor’s Office at the system level). This will require making some difficult choices.
“To grow the academic programs that can respond to increased demand, we will need to shift resources and…(make) some difficult choices.”
Heightened Competition for Students Before the recession hit in late 2007, the U.S. birth rate had been steadily increasing for years, allowing CSU campuses to easily meet enrollment targets. However, as the economic downturn took hold, many families postponed or opted out of having children due to financial uncertainty. This was among the factors that contributed to a decrease in the birth rate, which in turn has resulted in fewer traditional-aged college students and a discernible impact on higher education enrollment today. However, amidst this demographic shift, a silver lining emerges as rapidly changing workforce needs create a heightened demand for college-educated employees. Today’s companies seek highly skilled and trained workers. Our students understand those needs and come to our campus for an education that prepares them to meet the professional workforce demands and/or pursue graduate education.
As a result, Cal Poly Pomona is beginning to explore ways to adapt our strategies to accommodate the needs of our students, such as offering flexible learning formats, online programs, and tailored curriculum options aligned with our “learn by doing” model to guarantee that the dynamic needs of the workforce are met and to support lifelong learning opportunities for all. Other higher education institutions are also pursuing these strategies.
Studies also show that students are increasingly prioritizing shorter-term credentials over traditional degrees for some high-wage employment opportunities. This is why it is essential for our university to clearly articulate our value proposition and why Cal Poly Pomona is focused on sharing our story with students, families and the broader community. The benefits of a Cal Poly Pomona degree are numerous and help launch our students into impactful careers and success in today’s dynamic workforce landscape.
All of these factors have created intensified competition for students and funding between the CSUs, UCs, and community colleges. To address this challenge, Cal Poly Pomona is emphasizing accessibility, forging stronger pathway partnerships with our local community colleges and bolstering support services for non-traditional students. By partnering with community colleges, we are continuing to meet the evolving needs of our students and stabilize enrollment trends while creating better access to life-changing programs for thousands of Californians.
It is essential that we continue these successful partnerships in combination with strengthening recruitment efforts for all colleges, optimizing yield strategies to ensure admitted students choose Cal Poly Pomona, enhancing retention initiatives to support student success and implementing revenue-generating programs. Focusing on these priorities and shaping our Strategic Plan to sustain growth in the face of evolving higher education dynamics will allow us to continue delivering on our purpose: to help anyone who dreams of success achieve it.
CPP’s Investments and Strategy Fortunately, Cal Poly Pomona remains a top choice for many applicants, and we continue to see record levels of student interest and applications.
“The competition to successfully yield…students is fiercer than ever.”
However, the competition to successfully yield these students is fiercer than ever. That’s why our strategy includes:
- Strengthening the value of what we provide our students. Helping our Broncos connect with employers and develop compelling career paths from the moment they enroll across all majors and colleges.
- Enhancing investment in our outreach and recruitment efforts. Continuing to build student pipelines and pathways for development with our partners. Communicating the value of a Cal Poly Pomona education and providing continued support to gain access.
- Telling our story of polytechnic excellence. Continuing to raise the visibility and awareness of Cal Poly Pomona by sharing student success stories and spreading awareness of the distinctive strengths of our colleges and academic programs.
- Recruiting and retaining highly qualified, diverse faculty and staff that share a commitment to student access and success, and are engaged in impactful research, scholarship, creative activity and institutional projects that advance CPP’s educational and service mission.
We are unique among universities in bringing together the CPP polytechnic experience, diversity and economic mobility in our culture of care. Building upon these strengths will continue to position us for growth. My leadership team and I will continue to provide updates to the campus on the status of our initiatives, our progress and outcomes.
Let us never forget W.K. Kellogg’s vision for our university: “We are not making these changes just for today. We are planning for future generations.”
“We must remain adaptable to ensure continued relevance and impact as we embrace emerging challenges and opportunities.”
In making hard decisions today, we will continue to build upon Kellogg’s vision and dream of ensuring sustainability, prosperity and continuity for decades to come. By prioritizing the needs of future generations, we create a legacy of responsible stewardship and ensure a better world for tomorrow. And by working together to address our challenges, we ensure that Cal Poly Pomona will continue to lead as an innovator and bastion of growth and opportunity for all.
Sincerely,
📷
Soraya M. Coley, Ph.D.
President
📷
2024.03.09 18:45 Mentalbutsane Writing dump, don't have a plan for this just started writting it and went with whatever. Not actually trying to write a book or anything just doin it for fun and relaxation.
1.
There are many types of people in this world. You’ve got your workaholics, the people who may have loved ones at home, but are truly married to their work. Your sporty types, some go out and actually play while most know every player of the Dallas Cowboys and what the bottom of a beer bottle looks like. Regretfully the vegans that will make it your problem too.
In and out there’s no shortage of clicks, groupies or gaggle of friends that you can find at any given moment or place. Though there’s one group of people that everyone seems to gravitate to. I’m going to let you read a couple more lines here because at the end of the day, these people don’t get dropped at the end of a paragraph. No, they’re always at the top.
The main characters. Yup, the underdogs that win. The loser who gets the date. The farmer who ends up ruling a kingdom no matter the lack of education or lack of any indication that they actually can rule a kingdom. In the end all that matters is their winning smile and having an excellent sidekick. Now if that’s not a cue to introduce myself nothing is.
The name’s Jax and you are looking at one of the top sidekicks this side of the pond has. The robin to every Batman. The bass to every guitar. The fish to every Aquaman? I may have gotten a little lost in my analogy there. My point is that I’ve got a pretty clean track record. Which basically means my success story Reggie didn’t drop me after the credits.
He got the winning touchdown, the scholarship and even the girl. The rule of three my dear reader, I’m pretty good at that. Don’t believe me? Just reread the first few paragraphs. Yeah, I’m a pro, nobody is going to catch me slipping. Now if you’ll excuse me I got a hot shot to see and you have your main character to meet. Don’t despair though, I’ll be there with ya every chapter.
…
“What do you mean you don’t want to hangout anymore?!” I say with a crack in my voice and a bewildered look on my face.
Well this is embarrassing, I said that way too loud for the crowded coffee shop. Startled patrons turned their heads to look at the small table our group was sitting at. Well they were sitting, I was standing with a chair in my hand I grabbed for the table adjacent to the group.
Reggie sighs and looks over to his new girlfriend and his football buddies giving them a small shrug. “I told ya he’d react like this. Just give us a second, I’ll be right back.”
He stands up, forcing his eyes to meet mine with a half apologetic half annoyed look. Looking down. His arm extends to the exit and I, of course, follow behind him. Away from his new click, out of the coffee shop, to the sidewalk.
“Listen man” he starts “we’ve been friends for a long time. Like we met in pull ups long time. Like..”
“Yeah, I get it, we have history. Get to the part where you tell me why none of that matters.” Screw the rule of three, I need to know what the hell is going on. Never thought that one would come back to bite me, betrayed for the second time in less then two pages. Feel like I just broke a record.
“Alright, alright I get it. It’s just the college you picked and the one I chose well… they’re rivals man.” He says having the nerve to look at me with hurt in his stupid blue eyes. He fiddles with his stupid dirty blond hair, with his stupid mildly tan hand.
Everything just turned upside down for me here, excuse me if I find everything about him stupid right now. Besides, I needed some way to somewhat describe the main character. Everything is just really…
“Stupid!” Ah shit, that one wasn’t just to you guys was it?
“C’mon man, you know how bad rivalries can get! It wouldn’t look great for me to go into this new team with a guy from the other team hanging around.”
“Other team?! Dude I don’t play football! One look at me and I’m pretty sure anyone there would be able to tell.” Ok, maybe comparing myself to robin was a bit of exaggeration. I don’t fit the sporty, flying through the air, unstoppable type exactly.
“I’m not going to argue with you man. I’m going to walk back inside and I think you should just go. Making a scene isn’t going to help anyone right now.”
Before I can respond he puts both hands in the air as if trying to calm a wild kitten. He simply shakes his head and goes back in and out of my life. Damn.
Damn.
Damn! Damn! Quintuple times Damn!
What the hell am I going to do now?! I could transfer, but hell The UNational college does not have as good of classes for an English major. Also I did not get accepted, but that’s besides the point. Whatever happened to long distance sidekicks huh?!
With a sigh I begin walking, leaving the past and the eight dollar coffee I ordered behind. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I’m starting to regret not making more than just one friend. So dear reader this is where I leave you, I’m sure we’ll meet again. Maybe as the new rival’s sidekick? What a twist. What a typical cliche twist.
The trek home won’t take more than fifteen minutes, but frigidaire bites at any exposed skin as I walk. The exchange with Reggie is still fresh in my mind, mostly because it just happened. Shitty start to college life as any. I mean it could have been worse. House could have caught on fire, pet goldfish could have died, hell I could have been framed for a horrible crime. Alas this life I have been chosen for is not as exciting.
“Who knows maybe I’ll…” Before I can finish my thought a shiver runs down my spine. The feeling of being watched is palpable. Looking around I don’t… Are you all still here!?
Look I’m flattered you want to stick around and I know many a sidekick gets their own fan club, but you’re not supposed to be here. Go on now, back to Reggie you go. Shew now, shew. I’m not the type to be the main character. Trust me, he seems like a jerk now, but I bet he has one hell of a turn around.
You’re still here. Alright I get it, making sure I get home alright are you? Even though I live not too far away? How sweet. Let’s go then, I’ll catch you up on the crazy adventure Reggie had through highschool. Well the summed up version, I mean I said we have fifteen minutes and an average rom com slash teenage romance slash underdog story usually takes four times as long.
It all started when we met Reggie’s gal at a popular retro slash roller derby slash disco dinner. She, as they used to say, was looking groovy… As I was in the middle of lamenting you in the great adventure, someone honks behind me.
I whip my head around to see a dull red car of some model pulling up beside me. Now I don’t know anything about cars, but if I did I still couldn’t tell you what this thing is. It looks like Frankenstein decided his monster needed a ride, but forgot just how big his monster was. Small, compact and square the car’s paint mostly faded except for a door here, a mirror there and the trunk.
The car’s driver was still as proud as ever to drive the monstrosity. Who, if you haven’t guessed by now, I do in fact know. In fact I knew her before even meeting Reggie. My sister Veronica pops her head out the window while coming to a stop right next to me.
“Need a ride nerd?” This, my friends, is the first thing she says to me every time she sees me walking anywhere.
“No, I’d rather freeze my butt off walking. I heard no bunns is the new look these days.”
Veronica rolls her eyes “oh yeah, but I don’t think it would be worth it. How are you ever going to sit comfortably again? There would be no chair cushioned enough to make it possible.”
“You’re right, screw beauty standards.” I quickly run over to the passenger’s side to claim my seat. First removing the empty fast food bag from said seat.
“Hell yeah, stick it to the man.” She says with a laugh and a snort.
With that we drive off in no set direction. Apparently hopping into your siblings car without actually telling them where you’re going leads to debtors.
“Let me just grab my order from Joe and Mama’s cafe real quick.”
Ah shit. A little detail I may have left out was the name of the coffee shop I met Reggie at. We pull up to Joe and Mama’s cafe. You see I didn’t actually think it’d be important. Veronica parks right in front of the entry. Screw my cheeks, I should have walked.
“Hey, I think I see Reggie. Wanna come in and say hi?”
“Uh, no. I don’t really feel like it at the moment.”
“You? You don’t feel like saying hi to Reggie? Did I just enter an alternate universe, or are you a body snatcher?”
“You got me, I’m totally one hundred percent a body snatcher.”
The look she gives me says she knows something’s off, but luckily for me she doesn’t pry. Instead opting to nod and get out to get her overly priced, yet still somehow cheaper than anywhere else, coffee. I, on the other hand, sink into my seat. Then I sink further when one of the guys spots me.
As if this couldn’t be anymore embarrassing Veronica goes up to them after grabbing her drink to talk. It’s going ok, she approaches them with a smile. Then it gets worse as she points to me. Now she looks confused when Reggie says something. Now she’s angry. It only keeps going down hill till it seems like Veronica is done listening, but not done with Reggie.
My mouth goes agape as Veronica’s coffee is used as a weapon. That’s right readers, my dear sister decided to defend my honor by covering my ex best friend in a double mocha latte, two extra pumps of espresso and an ungodly amount of whipped cream.
Now this is where I truly leave you.
It’s time you head off to better stories and to the true hero of this one. I wish you the best of luck and please whatever religion you believe in, pray for me. I have a ride now with a steaming mad sister, who also hasn’t quenched her caffeine addiction and by the looks of it is being kicked out. Goodbye, Adios and Hola.
Veronica storms out of Joe and Mama’s cafe. Barely entering her car before revving her engine, the door barely closed when she leaves the parking spot and finally we’re out of the lot. My eyes are still wide and my mouth still agape. What the hell was that?!
“He can't be your friend anymore because of some stupid college rivalry?! I’m in college, nobody takes that shit seriously! It’s just an excuse to prank each other and steal the mascots!” She groans loudly before adding “this is why nobody likes freshmen.”
“I know it’s stupid, but did you really have to dump your entire drink on him?”
“It’ll wash out, besides he deserved it after all the trouble you went through for him. I mean, you’re the one who caught like five hundred butterflies for his promposal.”
“Yeah, but that’s what made me such a good sidekick. Above and beyond and all that.”
“For the love of… Jax, this isn’t some comic book or tv show. This is life and that means you’re the lead in your story.”
She isn’t wrong about some things, there’s not enough pictures to be a comic book and I don’t see Samuel Jackson so definitely not a movie. Though me as the lead of this story? You’d think my own sister would know me better.
“Jax,” Veronica says, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Please just say something that indicates you at least understand what I’m saying here.”
“I hear ya, don’t worry about it.”
“I know you can hear me, nerd, I need to know if you're listening. I’ve been a moody teen before, I know the difference.”
I simply respond with a roll of my eyes and almost immediately get a punch on the arm as retaliation. I laugh at the exchange and that seems to brighten my sister’s mood just a bit. She’s at least smiling somewhat.
“I get it, you youngsters never want to listen to your elders. Just… do whatever makes you happy ok.” Veronica gives me a small smile before adding “Screw Reggie, you’ll make new friends.”
Yeah, that’s the plan. If I’m going to continue to play my part in Reggie’s story I’m going to need to make some new friends. Ones that’ll play a part on the opposite side. Enough beating around the bush, I’m joining the rival college’s team.
I change the subject to something more fun and we start talking about the new game I got for my graduation party. It wasn’t a cheap gift, but thank god for grandparents am I right? Our talk doesn’t last long before we pull into the driveway of my home and make our way inside.
“If you're here to rob us the neighbors have better stuff” I hear a man’s voice yell through the house as I shut the door behind us.
This time my sister joins my eyeroll with one of her own. We laugh silently trying not to let our father know the joke he says every time someone walks in still amuses us today.
“Thanks for the info, but I think I’d rather steal a plate of food than the neighbors flatscreen.” Veronica replies with just as much sarcasm as playfulness in her voice.
Dad’s head pops out from around the corner, a huge smile plastered on his face. “Better get my bat, that’s the only thing in this house I have better than anyone else on the block.”
I smile at the exchange, these two’s shenanigans somehow always make my days seem brighter. My smile tampers only for a second as the thought that I’m not going to have that at the dorms I’ll be moving into. I also won’t be having my friend there either. Shouting damn in my head a couple more times seems like the right thing to do here.
“Hey mini me, you’re not looking so hot. All good in the neighborhood? All right after the fight?” Oh god, once dad starts he doesn’t stop till he gets every scrap of info he can out of his target. “All okie dokie pokie?”
Say something Jax! “Yeah, just nervous about moving into the dorms. I know my roommate's name but have no clue who they actually are.”
“Don’t sweat it too much, minnie me, I remember my first college roommate.”
“You hated your first roommate. You said he smelt like farts, even after taking a shower. Besides that’s not the only reason Jax is upset. The newest football star, Reggie with the IQ of a veggie, just told him they can’t be friends anymore.”
I shoot Veronica a quick glare while dad looks at her shocked. I really didn’t want to make this a family thing but of course siblings will usually do anything to annoy you. She is no exception.
Dad looks back at me with a worried gaze "Why would he do that? You two have known each other for years. Since you were both in pull ups!"
"The colleges we're going to are Rivals and if he's seen around me…. Well his new teammates wouldn't like that." My voice doesn't come out as confident as I'd like. Unfortunately dad could tell and I could tell he could tell.
"Never liked him anyway, asked too much from you. Now you'll have a chance to make some friends that don't treat you like an errand boy." Veronica says, emphasizing the last two words.
I look at her bewildered. Errand boy? Errand boy!? Excuse me, but would an errand boy stay up half the night watching over the team's equipment so the rival team doesn't sabotage them?! Would an errand boy tutor Reggie in reading comprehension and then help him find a way to cheat on the test when that failed?! No! A sidekick would and buddy I am one hell of a sidekick.
Dad silently shakes his head. "Let's just drop it for now. You'll make new friends in college and I'm sure you'll grow into whatever role this world has for ya."
He pats me on the shoulder, I can tell by the look on his face he wants to say something but instead heads for the kitchen. Man, I don't know how I missed it. That smell coming from there made my mouth water. Happy to finally forget about today I grab a big plate of the casserole he had prepared.
The rest of the night goes smoothly, the prior conversation forgotten. Jokes and jabs fly free between the three of us. Night comes and I head off to play my game, die in said game multiple times and go to grab a shower before bed.
I close the bathroom door, but before I can get ready to take said shower another chill goes down my spine. I know this feeling, it's happened before. You're still here?! What is up with you? Reggie was at Joe and Mama's cafe, that was your stop.
Ok I get it, don't want to follow him? Fine, I don't understand you, his redemption arc would have totally been phenomenal, but hey it's your life I guess. I'll have to find you a new main character to follow. College is full of different people that'd give you all a good story.
For now though, get out. I'm serious, it's creepy to follow someone into the bathroom. You're a bunch of peeping toms and I hope you know that.
submitted by Mentalbutsane to u/Mentalbutsane [link] [comments]
There are many types of people in this world. You’ve got your workaholics, the people who may have loved ones at home, but are truly married to their work. Your sporty types, some go out and actually play while most know every player of the Dallas Cowboys and what the bottom of a beer bottle looks like. Regretfully the vegans that will make it your problem too.
In and out there’s no shortage of clicks, groupies or gaggle of friends that you can find at any given moment or place. Though there’s one group of people that everyone seems to gravitate to. I’m going to let you read a couple more lines here because at the end of the day, these people don’t get dropped at the end of a paragraph. No, they’re always at the top.
The main characters. Yup, the underdogs that win. The loser who gets the date. The farmer who ends up ruling a kingdom no matter the lack of education or lack of any indication that they actually can rule a kingdom. In the end all that matters is their winning smile and having an excellent sidekick. Now if that’s not a cue to introduce myself nothing is.
The name’s Jax and you are looking at one of the top sidekicks this side of the pond has. The robin to every Batman. The bass to every guitar. The fish to every Aquaman? I may have gotten a little lost in my analogy there. My point is that I’ve got a pretty clean track record. Which basically means my success story Reggie didn’t drop me after the credits.
He got the winning touchdown, the scholarship and even the girl. The rule of three my dear reader, I’m pretty good at that. Don’t believe me? Just reread the first few paragraphs. Yeah, I’m a pro, nobody is going to catch me slipping. Now if you’ll excuse me I got a hot shot to see and you have your main character to meet. Don’t despair though, I’ll be there with ya every chapter.
…
“What do you mean you don’t want to hangout anymore?!” I say with a crack in my voice and a bewildered look on my face.
Well this is embarrassing, I said that way too loud for the crowded coffee shop. Startled patrons turned their heads to look at the small table our group was sitting at. Well they were sitting, I was standing with a chair in my hand I grabbed for the table adjacent to the group.
Reggie sighs and looks over to his new girlfriend and his football buddies giving them a small shrug. “I told ya he’d react like this. Just give us a second, I’ll be right back.”
He stands up, forcing his eyes to meet mine with a half apologetic half annoyed look. Looking down. His arm extends to the exit and I, of course, follow behind him. Away from his new click, out of the coffee shop, to the sidewalk.
“Listen man” he starts “we’ve been friends for a long time. Like we met in pull ups long time. Like..”
“Yeah, I get it, we have history. Get to the part where you tell me why none of that matters.” Screw the rule of three, I need to know what the hell is going on. Never thought that one would come back to bite me, betrayed for the second time in less then two pages. Feel like I just broke a record.
“Alright, alright I get it. It’s just the college you picked and the one I chose well… they’re rivals man.” He says having the nerve to look at me with hurt in his stupid blue eyes. He fiddles with his stupid dirty blond hair, with his stupid mildly tan hand.
Everything just turned upside down for me here, excuse me if I find everything about him stupid right now. Besides, I needed some way to somewhat describe the main character. Everything is just really…
“Stupid!” Ah shit, that one wasn’t just to you guys was it?
“C’mon man, you know how bad rivalries can get! It wouldn’t look great for me to go into this new team with a guy from the other team hanging around.”
“Other team?! Dude I don’t play football! One look at me and I’m pretty sure anyone there would be able to tell.” Ok, maybe comparing myself to robin was a bit of exaggeration. I don’t fit the sporty, flying through the air, unstoppable type exactly.
“I’m not going to argue with you man. I’m going to walk back inside and I think you should just go. Making a scene isn’t going to help anyone right now.”
Before I can respond he puts both hands in the air as if trying to calm a wild kitten. He simply shakes his head and goes back in and out of my life. Damn.
Damn.
Damn! Damn! Quintuple times Damn!
What the hell am I going to do now?! I could transfer, but hell The UNational college does not have as good of classes for an English major. Also I did not get accepted, but that’s besides the point. Whatever happened to long distance sidekicks huh?!
With a sigh I begin walking, leaving the past and the eight dollar coffee I ordered behind. I don’t know what the future holds for me, but I’m starting to regret not making more than just one friend. So dear reader this is where I leave you, I’m sure we’ll meet again. Maybe as the new rival’s sidekick? What a twist. What a typical cliche twist.
The trek home won’t take more than fifteen minutes, but frigidaire bites at any exposed skin as I walk. The exchange with Reggie is still fresh in my mind, mostly because it just happened. Shitty start to college life as any. I mean it could have been worse. House could have caught on fire, pet goldfish could have died, hell I could have been framed for a horrible crime. Alas this life I have been chosen for is not as exciting.
“Who knows maybe I’ll…” Before I can finish my thought a shiver runs down my spine. The feeling of being watched is palpable. Looking around I don’t… Are you all still here!?
Look I’m flattered you want to stick around and I know many a sidekick gets their own fan club, but you’re not supposed to be here. Go on now, back to Reggie you go. Shew now, shew. I’m not the type to be the main character. Trust me, he seems like a jerk now, but I bet he has one hell of a turn around.
You’re still here. Alright I get it, making sure I get home alright are you? Even though I live not too far away? How sweet. Let’s go then, I’ll catch you up on the crazy adventure Reggie had through highschool. Well the summed up version, I mean I said we have fifteen minutes and an average rom com slash teenage romance slash underdog story usually takes four times as long.
It all started when we met Reggie’s gal at a popular retro slash roller derby slash disco dinner. She, as they used to say, was looking groovy… As I was in the middle of lamenting you in the great adventure, someone honks behind me.
I whip my head around to see a dull red car of some model pulling up beside me. Now I don’t know anything about cars, but if I did I still couldn’t tell you what this thing is. It looks like Frankenstein decided his monster needed a ride, but forgot just how big his monster was. Small, compact and square the car’s paint mostly faded except for a door here, a mirror there and the trunk.
The car’s driver was still as proud as ever to drive the monstrosity. Who, if you haven’t guessed by now, I do in fact know. In fact I knew her before even meeting Reggie. My sister Veronica pops her head out the window while coming to a stop right next to me.
“Need a ride nerd?” This, my friends, is the first thing she says to me every time she sees me walking anywhere.
“No, I’d rather freeze my butt off walking. I heard no bunns is the new look these days.”
Veronica rolls her eyes “oh yeah, but I don’t think it would be worth it. How are you ever going to sit comfortably again? There would be no chair cushioned enough to make it possible.”
“You’re right, screw beauty standards.” I quickly run over to the passenger’s side to claim my seat. First removing the empty fast food bag from said seat.
“Hell yeah, stick it to the man.” She says with a laugh and a snort.
With that we drive off in no set direction. Apparently hopping into your siblings car without actually telling them where you’re going leads to debtors.
“Let me just grab my order from Joe and Mama’s cafe real quick.”
Ah shit. A little detail I may have left out was the name of the coffee shop I met Reggie at. We pull up to Joe and Mama’s cafe. You see I didn’t actually think it’d be important. Veronica parks right in front of the entry. Screw my cheeks, I should have walked.
“Hey, I think I see Reggie. Wanna come in and say hi?”
“Uh, no. I don’t really feel like it at the moment.”
“You? You don’t feel like saying hi to Reggie? Did I just enter an alternate universe, or are you a body snatcher?”
“You got me, I’m totally one hundred percent a body snatcher.”
The look she gives me says she knows something’s off, but luckily for me she doesn’t pry. Instead opting to nod and get out to get her overly priced, yet still somehow cheaper than anywhere else, coffee. I, on the other hand, sink into my seat. Then I sink further when one of the guys spots me.
As if this couldn’t be anymore embarrassing Veronica goes up to them after grabbing her drink to talk. It’s going ok, she approaches them with a smile. Then it gets worse as she points to me. Now she looks confused when Reggie says something. Now she’s angry. It only keeps going down hill till it seems like Veronica is done listening, but not done with Reggie.
My mouth goes agape as Veronica’s coffee is used as a weapon. That’s right readers, my dear sister decided to defend my honor by covering my ex best friend in a double mocha latte, two extra pumps of espresso and an ungodly amount of whipped cream.
Now this is where I truly leave you.
It’s time you head off to better stories and to the true hero of this one. I wish you the best of luck and please whatever religion you believe in, pray for me. I have a ride now with a steaming mad sister, who also hasn’t quenched her caffeine addiction and by the looks of it is being kicked out. Goodbye, Adios and Hola.
Veronica storms out of Joe and Mama’s cafe. Barely entering her car before revving her engine, the door barely closed when she leaves the parking spot and finally we’re out of the lot. My eyes are still wide and my mouth still agape. What the hell was that?!
“He can't be your friend anymore because of some stupid college rivalry?! I’m in college, nobody takes that shit seriously! It’s just an excuse to prank each other and steal the mascots!” She groans loudly before adding “this is why nobody likes freshmen.”
“I know it’s stupid, but did you really have to dump your entire drink on him?”
“It’ll wash out, besides he deserved it after all the trouble you went through for him. I mean, you’re the one who caught like five hundred butterflies for his promposal.”
“Yeah, but that’s what made me such a good sidekick. Above and beyond and all that.”
“For the love of… Jax, this isn’t some comic book or tv show. This is life and that means you’re the lead in your story.”
She isn’t wrong about some things, there’s not enough pictures to be a comic book and I don’t see Samuel Jackson so definitely not a movie. Though me as the lead of this story? You’d think my own sister would know me better.
“Jax,” Veronica says, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Please just say something that indicates you at least understand what I’m saying here.”
“I hear ya, don’t worry about it.”
“I know you can hear me, nerd, I need to know if you're listening. I’ve been a moody teen before, I know the difference.”
I simply respond with a roll of my eyes and almost immediately get a punch on the arm as retaliation. I laugh at the exchange and that seems to brighten my sister’s mood just a bit. She’s at least smiling somewhat.
“I get it, you youngsters never want to listen to your elders. Just… do whatever makes you happy ok.” Veronica gives me a small smile before adding “Screw Reggie, you’ll make new friends.”
Yeah, that’s the plan. If I’m going to continue to play my part in Reggie’s story I’m going to need to make some new friends. Ones that’ll play a part on the opposite side. Enough beating around the bush, I’m joining the rival college’s team.
I change the subject to something more fun and we start talking about the new game I got for my graduation party. It wasn’t a cheap gift, but thank god for grandparents am I right? Our talk doesn’t last long before we pull into the driveway of my home and make our way inside.
“If you're here to rob us the neighbors have better stuff” I hear a man’s voice yell through the house as I shut the door behind us.
This time my sister joins my eyeroll with one of her own. We laugh silently trying not to let our father know the joke he says every time someone walks in still amuses us today.
“Thanks for the info, but I think I’d rather steal a plate of food than the neighbors flatscreen.” Veronica replies with just as much sarcasm as playfulness in her voice.
Dad’s head pops out from around the corner, a huge smile plastered on his face. “Better get my bat, that’s the only thing in this house I have better than anyone else on the block.”
I smile at the exchange, these two’s shenanigans somehow always make my days seem brighter. My smile tampers only for a second as the thought that I’m not going to have that at the dorms I’ll be moving into. I also won’t be having my friend there either. Shouting damn in my head a couple more times seems like the right thing to do here.
“Hey mini me, you’re not looking so hot. All good in the neighborhood? All right after the fight?” Oh god, once dad starts he doesn’t stop till he gets every scrap of info he can out of his target. “All okie dokie pokie?”
Say something Jax! “Yeah, just nervous about moving into the dorms. I know my roommate's name but have no clue who they actually are.”
“Don’t sweat it too much, minnie me, I remember my first college roommate.”
“You hated your first roommate. You said he smelt like farts, even after taking a shower. Besides that’s not the only reason Jax is upset. The newest football star, Reggie with the IQ of a veggie, just told him they can’t be friends anymore.”
I shoot Veronica a quick glare while dad looks at her shocked. I really didn’t want to make this a family thing but of course siblings will usually do anything to annoy you. She is no exception.
Dad looks back at me with a worried gaze "Why would he do that? You two have known each other for years. Since you were both in pull ups!"
"The colleges we're going to are Rivals and if he's seen around me…. Well his new teammates wouldn't like that." My voice doesn't come out as confident as I'd like. Unfortunately dad could tell and I could tell he could tell.
"Never liked him anyway, asked too much from you. Now you'll have a chance to make some friends that don't treat you like an errand boy." Veronica says, emphasizing the last two words.
I look at her bewildered. Errand boy? Errand boy!? Excuse me, but would an errand boy stay up half the night watching over the team's equipment so the rival team doesn't sabotage them?! Would an errand boy tutor Reggie in reading comprehension and then help him find a way to cheat on the test when that failed?! No! A sidekick would and buddy I am one hell of a sidekick.
Dad silently shakes his head. "Let's just drop it for now. You'll make new friends in college and I'm sure you'll grow into whatever role this world has for ya."
He pats me on the shoulder, I can tell by the look on his face he wants to say something but instead heads for the kitchen. Man, I don't know how I missed it. That smell coming from there made my mouth water. Happy to finally forget about today I grab a big plate of the casserole he had prepared.
The rest of the night goes smoothly, the prior conversation forgotten. Jokes and jabs fly free between the three of us. Night comes and I head off to play my game, die in said game multiple times and go to grab a shower before bed.
I close the bathroom door, but before I can get ready to take said shower another chill goes down my spine. I know this feeling, it's happened before. You're still here?! What is up with you? Reggie was at Joe and Mama's cafe, that was your stop.
Ok I get it, don't want to follow him? Fine, I don't understand you, his redemption arc would have totally been phenomenal, but hey it's your life I guess. I'll have to find you a new main character to follow. College is full of different people that'd give you all a good story.
For now though, get out. I'm serious, it's creepy to follow someone into the bathroom. You're a bunch of peeping toms and I hope you know that.
2024.02.18 19:10 iamkingsleyf 15 Cars With Best Resale Value
There are cars with the best resale value than others, which means you'll get a higher percentage of the original price when you sell them.
Your car's resale value is influenced by how well you maintain and operate it—vehicles with short service history and high mileage.
For example, it may depreciate more quickly, but other considerations must be considered.
Your new car's attractiveness will affect how rapidly it depreciates. Vehicles with a good reputation for dependability and quality will undoubtedly maintain their value since there will always be a significant demand in the secondary market.
Because fuel-efficient cars with low tax rates depreciate less because they are less expensive to run.
Furthermore, vehicles that are not Euro 6 compliant have witnessed a significant reduction in value. Due to the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
As people living and working in London no longer desire them. The Top Cars with the best resale value are listed below.
Furthermore, it's not the most expensive Lambo, with an average new price of £157,000. But even with an impressive 79 percent of the new price preserved after three years, owners will lose £33,200 after three years of 36,000 miles.
Nonetheless, Lamborghini can be pleased with its top-of-the-line SUV, which successfully blends crazy style, practicality, and performance to establish its appeal on the secondhand market.
Smaller passenger cars also gain from this, with the compact Corolla hatchback expected to keep 54.0 percent of its value. The Toyota Corolla hatchback is also the most affordable vehicle on the list.
The Corolla hatchback with a manual transmission is a beautiful entry-level enthusiast's car, even though the sedan is less exciting than a Honda Civic.
Furthermore, the hatchback is enjoyable to drive, even though it might use better brakes and tires. And the manual shifter's ergonomics and action are excellent.
Additionally, Used Toyotas are in high demand because of their famous durability, excellent capability, and all-around utility. And with retained values at 72.5 percent of the average £46,240 new price, owners lose only £12,740 over three years.
Surprisingly, despite the plethora of more modern and less rugged off-roaders today, the remarkable depreciation performance continues. The Land Cruiser feels a little more agrarian, but it doesn't take away from its attractiveness.
After five years of ownership, we predict a 2021 M4 to sell for 54.0 percent of its initial purchase price, according to IntelliChoice data.
Furthermore, there are numerous reasons to overlook the M4's unattractive snout. BMW's next M-badged coupe should be speedy, but it should also be fantastic to drive if it drives like the M3 Competition we tried.
However, it should be one of the most desirable canyon carvers on the market,, thanks to its planted front end and excellent traction.
On the other hand, Cayman is one of their more affordable models, with an average new price well under £50,000. Because the average Cayman will retain 68.1 percent of its value after three years and 36,000 kilometers, owners should expect to lose only £15,475.
Although Cayman is Porsche's entry-level coupe, it is far from a poor man's pick. Because of its genuinely exploitable performance, it's undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable sports cars money can buy.
In the case of the Chevrolet Camaro, the 650-horsepower Camaro ZL1 is expected to have a resale value of 54.3 percent.
However, with specially engineered tires and a sophisticated limited-slip differential, the supercharged ZL1 is a brutally fast pony car that conveys all of its power to the road.
Additionally, it'll also be your fantasy burnout machine/drift missile. Only one Competition offers a superior driving experience and a higher resale value, and it's near the top of our list.
Apart from the Cayenne Turbo, the Cayenne doesn't even match its VW Group-owned stablemate in terms of ostentation.
Porsche opted for a more coolly understated Germanic approach to style.
Furthermore, with a more practical model range, the average price of a Porsche Cayenne isn't relatively as high. Yet most drivers would balk at £74,000 for a Porsche Cayenne.
With 67.9% of the investment value retained after three years/36,000 miles, the £24,000 you'll lose isn't bad. In fact, despite the possibly high operating and maintenance costs, it's a convincing case for owning a Cayenne.
Still, being a Toyota vehicle with a reputation for dependability, it's no surprise that this coupe has a high resale value.
The RC gets a seat on our list, where the Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe are noticeably absent, with a maintained value of 55.1 percent.
Additionally, the RC is a terrific alternative if you're searching for a little grand touring car. It feels sporty when you want it to and comfortable when you don't.
In addition, the interior design is muted in comparison to the exterior and falls short of the superb Lexus LC coupe.
They were initially conceived as VW's 'fun' face and a model geared at younger than average VW buyers. The T-Roc has all the grown-up, quality feel of older VW models like the Golf, even if some of the cabin plastics have a somewhat lower-budget feeling.
Despite its flaws, the T-Roc certainly appeals to the school-run crowd. And VW's smallest SUV is proving to be just as reliable in the used market as it was new.
Additionally, Depreciation costs owners comfortably less than £3,000 per year because residual values are 65.5 percent of the average £24,769 new price.
(Additionally, the coupe retains 55.3 percent of its value, while the drop-top keeps 55.4 percent.) Apart from limited-edition variants like the John Cooper Works GP, Mini fans seem to adore these cars.
The JCW performance model is the hottest of them all. Furthermore, we've enjoyed driving this small hatchback because of its fast handling, quick and responsive steering, and reasonable body control.
Additionally, the premium off-roader isn't cheap, so some may be surprised to learn how well the Sport variant holds its value.
We're talking about the facelifted vehicle that debuted in 2018 with a new infotainment system long needed. And slimline new headlamp treatment inspired by the smaller Velar that debuted the year before.
Furthermore, the average list price of a Range Rover Sport is £76,263, with a residual value of 64.1 percent. An owner may expect to lose £27,430 over three years.
The Impreza sedan has a value of 55.3 percent. Furthermore, Subaru's compact impresses, with standard all-wheel drive and excellent safety ratings propelling the Impreza to the top of the small market.
Meanwhile, the sole engine option, though, is thrashy at high RPMs and underpowered on the interstate. There are better competitors in terms of performance, but few can match Impreza's resale value.
However, that would be a disservice to the car, as there has been a steady stream of updates, special editions, and performance upgrades to keep fans of the car dubbed 'Godzilla' enthused.
Furthermore, prices have risen dramatically over the years, from a starting position of £55,000 to an average list price of £82,203 today.
Fortunately, residual values have held steady, and the GT-depreciation R's numbers have improved significantly from the previous year.
Randy Pobst, our resident racer, hailed it as "the greatest manifestation of what the American pony car can be."
At the same time, Chris Walton, our road test editor, classified it as a real supercar. You can thrash this thing for hours, and it will still be ready for more, and it is insanely fast.
Not only is the GT500 the best-handling Mustang, but it will also keep its value better than any other pony car, Ford or not.
According to IntelliChoice, the GT500 receives the honor of 2021 Highest Retained Value Premium Performance Car due to its 63.4 percent resale value.
Furthermore, we were blown away by the Scat Pack Widebody's body handling and delighted by the loose rear end and limited-slip differential while driving it on the circuit.
This is still a genuine old-school muscle coupe, albeit not as speedy between turns as a Hellcat. Alongside all the fun reasons to consider a Challenger Scat Pack, it's also a reasonable financial decision.
Additionally, the Scat Pack is expected to retain 59.9% of its initial value over five years, earning it the Highest Retained Value Performance Car title.
submitted by iamkingsleyf to u/iamkingsleyf [link] [comments]
Your car's resale value is influenced by how well you maintain and operate it—vehicles with short service history and high mileage.
For example, it may depreciate more quickly, but other considerations must be considered.
Your new car's attractiveness will affect how rapidly it depreciates. Vehicles with a good reputation for dependability and quality will undoubtedly maintain their value since there will always be a significant demand in the secondary market.
Because fuel-efficient cars with low tax rates depreciate less because they are less expensive to run.
Furthermore, vehicles that are not Euro 6 compliant have witnessed a significant reduction in value. Due to the London Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ).
As people living and working in London no longer desire them. The Top Cars with the best resale value are listed below.
1. Lamborghini Urus
It would have been nice if the slowest depreciating car on our list was also the quickest accelerating. Still, the Urus isn't even the fastest Lamborghini on our list this year while being the best at holding onto your money.Furthermore, it's not the most expensive Lambo, with an average new price of £157,000. But even with an impressive 79 percent of the new price preserved after three years, owners will lose £33,200 after three years of 36,000 miles.
Nonetheless, Lamborghini can be pleased with its top-of-the-line SUV, which successfully blends crazy style, practicality, and performance to establish its appeal on the secondhand market.
2. 2021 Toyota Corolla Hatchback
The Toyota Corolla hatchback is one of the cars with the best resale value. The Toyota 4Runner is second only to the Jeep Wrangler in terms of resale value among SUVs.Smaller passenger cars also gain from this, with the compact Corolla hatchback expected to keep 54.0 percent of its value. The Toyota Corolla hatchback is also the most affordable vehicle on the list.
The Corolla hatchback with a manual transmission is a beautiful entry-level enthusiast's car, even though the sedan is less exciting than a Honda Civic.
Furthermore, the hatchback is enjoyable to drive, even though it might use better brakes and tires. And the manual shifter's ergonomics and action are excellent.
3. Toyota Land Cruiser
It may be an SUV, but there's not much else the Toyota Land Cruiser has in common with the Lamborghini Urus in the first place. That is, aside from its impressive refusal to lose value once it has been driven out of the showroom.Additionally, Used Toyotas are in high demand because of their famous durability, excellent capability, and all-around utility. And with retained values at 72.5 percent of the average £46,240 new price, owners lose only £12,740 over three years.
Surprisingly, despite the plethora of more modern and less rugged off-roaders today, the remarkable depreciation performance continues. The Land Cruiser feels a little more agrarian, but it doesn't take away from its attractiveness.
4. 2021 BMW M4
If you buy a new BMW M4, you'll have to get used to staring down its porcine snout. But you won't lose too much money in Depreciation.After five years of ownership, we predict a 2021 M4 to sell for 54.0 percent of its initial purchase price, according to IntelliChoice data.
Furthermore, there are numerous reasons to overlook the M4's unattractive snout. BMW's next M-badged coupe should be speedy, but it should also be fantastic to drive if it drives like the M3 Competition we tried.
However, it should be one of the most desirable canyon carvers on the market,, thanks to its planted front end and excellent traction.
5. Porsche Cayman
Porsche Cayman is next on our list of cars with the best resale value. They are known for keeping their weight well, which is fortunate given their high list prices when new.On the other hand, Cayman is one of their more affordable models, with an average new price well under £50,000. Because the average Cayman will retain 68.1 percent of its value after three years and 36,000 kilometers, owners should expect to lose only £15,475.
Although Cayman is Porsche's entry-level coupe, it is far from a poor man's pick. Because of its genuinely exploitable performance, it's undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable sports cars money can buy.
6. 2021 Chevrolet Camaro ZL
As you'll see as you go farther down this list, buying the most high-performance variant of a car is often your best bet for keeping value.In the case of the Chevrolet Camaro, the 650-horsepower Camaro ZL1 is expected to have a resale value of 54.3 percent.
However, with specially engineered tires and a sophisticated limited-slip differential, the supercharged ZL1 is a brutally fast pony car that conveys all of its power to the road.
Additionally, it'll also be your fantasy burnout machine/drift missile. Only one Competition offers a superior driving experience and a higher resale value, and it's near the top of our list.
7. Porsche Cayenne
The highly successful Porsche Cayenne SUV shares its MLB platform, with the Lamborghini Urus at the top of this list.Apart from the Cayenne Turbo, the Cayenne doesn't even match its VW Group-owned stablemate in terms of ostentation.
Porsche opted for a more coolly understated Germanic approach to style.
Furthermore, with a more practical model range, the average price of a Porsche Cayenne isn't relatively as high. Yet most drivers would balk at £74,000 for a Porsche Cayenne.
With 67.9% of the investment value retained after three years/36,000 miles, the £24,000 you'll lose isn't bad. In fact, despite the possibly high operating and maintenance costs, it's a convincing case for owning a Cayenne.
8. 2021 Lexus RC 350
The 2021 Lexus RC 350 is also one of the cars with the best resale value. The Lexus RC coupe's head-turning sheet metal is its most distinctive feature and one of the most satisfactory reasons to buy it.Still, being a Toyota vehicle with a reputation for dependability, it's no surprise that this coupe has a high resale value.
The RC gets a seat on our list, where the Audi A5 and Mercedes-Benz C-Class coupe are noticeably absent, with a maintained value of 55.1 percent.
Additionally, the RC is a terrific alternative if you're searching for a little grand touring car. It feels sporty when you want it to and comfortable when you don't.
In addition, the interior design is muted in comparison to the exterior and falls short of the superb Lexus LC coupe.
9. Volkswagen T-Roc
VW models have high residual values, and the T-Roc is no exception. With the SUV market booming, it's no surprise the T-Roc is in high demand.They were initially conceived as VW's 'fun' face and a model geared at younger than average VW buyers. The T-Roc has all the grown-up, quality feel of older VW models like the Golf, even if some of the cabin plastics have a somewhat lower-budget feeling.
Despite its flaws, the T-Roc certainly appeals to the school-run crowd. And VW's smallest SUV is proving to be just as reliable in the used market as it was new.
Additionally, Depreciation costs owners comfortably less than £3,000 per year because residual values are 65.5 percent of the average £24,769 new price.
10. Mini JCW Convertible
The RC's high resale value stems from its manufacturer's reputation for dependability. We believe the Mini Convertible in John Cooper Works trim is driven up in value by enthusiasts.(Additionally, the coupe retains 55.3 percent of its value, while the drop-top keeps 55.4 percent.) Apart from limited-edition variants like the John Cooper Works GP, Mini fans seem to adore these cars.
The JCW performance model is the hottest of them all. Furthermore, we've enjoyed driving this small hatchback because of its fast handling, quick and responsive steering, and reasonable body control.
11. Range Rover Sport
Next on our list of cars with the best resale value is the Range Rover Sport. The Range Rover Sport's excellent design, opulent accommodations, and exceptional performance. On and off the road are all features that contribute to its popularity.Additionally, the premium off-roader isn't cheap, so some may be surprised to learn how well the Sport variant holds its value.
We're talking about the facelifted vehicle that debuted in 2018 with a new infotainment system long needed. And slimline new headlamp treatment inspired by the smaller Velar that debuted the year before.
Furthermore, the average list price of a Range Rover Sport is £76,263, with a residual value of 64.1 percent. An owner may expect to lose £27,430 over three years.
12. Subaru Impreza Hatchback
Subaru is more known for its SUVs, but the Impreza, a capable compact car with a high resale value, is still available. The Impreza hatchback retains 56.3 percent of its value.The Impreza sedan has a value of 55.3 percent. Furthermore, Subaru's compact impresses, with standard all-wheel drive and excellent safety ratings propelling the Impreza to the top of the small market.
Meanwhile, the sole engine option, though, is thrashy at high RPMs and underpowered on the interstate. There are better competitors in terms of performance, but few can match Impreza's resale value.
13. Nissan GT-R
Since its debut on UK roads in 2009, when it was already a couple of years old, the Nissan GT-R supercar has been in high demand. You could argue that Nissan has done little more than facelift it a couple of times in the interim.However, that would be a disservice to the car, as there has been a steady stream of updates, special editions, and performance upgrades to keep fans of the car dubbed 'Godzilla' enthused.
Furthermore, prices have risen dramatically over the years, from a starting position of £55,000 to an average list price of £82,203 today.
Fortunately, residual values have held steady, and the GT-depreciation R's numbers have improved significantly from the previous year.
14. 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500
Not simply because it boasts 760 horsepower, but the enormous Ford Mustang Shelby GT500 is the most excellent Mustang you can buy.Randy Pobst, our resident racer, hailed it as "the greatest manifestation of what the American pony car can be."
At the same time, Chris Walton, our road test editor, classified it as a real supercar. You can thrash this thing for hours, and it will still be ready for more, and it is insanely fast.
Not only is the GT500 the best-handling Mustang, but it will also keep its value better than any other pony car, Ford or not.
According to IntelliChoice, the GT500 receives the honor of 2021 Highest Retained Value Premium Performance Car due to its 63.4 percent resale value.
15. Dodge Challenger T Scat Pack
Last on our list of cars with the best resale value is the Dodge Challenger T Scat pack. Dodge's Hellcat-powered vehicles are known for stealing the show but don't overlook the 485-horsepower Dodge Challenger Scat Pack.Furthermore, we were blown away by the Scat Pack Widebody's body handling and delighted by the loose rear end and limited-slip differential while driving it on the circuit.
This is still a genuine old-school muscle coupe, albeit not as speedy between turns as a Hellcat. Alongside all the fun reasons to consider a Challenger Scat Pack, it's also a reasonable financial decision.
Additionally, the Scat Pack is expected to retain 59.9% of its initial value over five years, earning it the Highest Retained Value Performance Car title.
2024.02.05 14:06 Secret_Victory3513 JHPS(CBSC) or Gitanjali Vedika (ICSE). What scool would you recommend or choose?
 | My kid got the admission in JHPS and Gitanjali Vedika for class 1. Gitanjali Vedika is near to where I stay (1 to 2 kms) and JHPS is 6kms away. For some reason I am inclined to join my kid in JHPS, as it is central board curriculum and more standardized and streamlined. I am kind of confused, as this decission would have major implications on susequent years. submitted by Secret_Victory3513 to hyderabad [link] [comments] I am sharing information I gathered so far. Any input is appreciated on the board or school.
CBSE VS ICSE |
2024.01.20 03:27 geopolicraticus Ferdinand Gregorovius and Meso-History
 | Ferdinand Gregorovius19 January 1821 – 01 May 1891Part of a Series on the Philosophy of History https://preview.redd.it/decsw49uf7mc1.png?width=974&format=png&auto=webp&s=1f0d2539d141913668df75f1296e68757a3d3a83 Friday 19 January 2024 is the 203rd anniversary of the birth of Ferdinand Gregorovius (19 January 1821 – 01 May 1891), who was born in Neidenburg, East Prussia (now part of Poland) on this date in 1821. Gregorovius was the author of a multi-volume work on the history of Rome during the middle ages, Geschichte der Stadt Rom im Mittelalter (1859–1872), translated into English as The History of Rome in the Middle Ages (1894–1902), which is not widely read today but was a landmark of scholarship in its time. The inspiration for the work was described by K. F. Morrison in an abridgement and translation of Gregorovius: “Standing on the Ponte Fabricio early in the autumn of 1854 he suddenly saw in the buildings and ruins of Rome more than vestiges of one city’s aspirations and failures. He saw Rome as a point of intersection for the great forces whose conflicts had generated European civilization. The bridge on which he stood witnessed to the heritage of classical Rome. Originally built by the Emperor Otto III, the Church of Santo Bartolomeo, at the foot of the bridge, represented the Germanic empire. Behind him, on the Capitoline, stood the Campidoglio, the stronghold of Roman republicanism in the Middle Ages. Up the Tiber rose Saint Peter’s, an enduring moment of papal monarchy.Gregorovius kept a journal in which he recorded this moment, later published as The Roman Journals of Ferdinand Gregorovius, with this entry for 03 October 1854: “I propose to write the history of the city of Rome in the Middle Ages. For this work, it seems to me that I require a special gift, or better, a commission from Jupiter Capitolinus himself. I conceived the thought, struck by the view of the city as seen from the bridge leading to the island of S. Bartholomew. I must undertake something great, something that will lend a purpose to my life.” (p. 16)I assume he was implicitly making reference to Edward Gibbon in this description of the moment in which he realized his historiographical mission, as Gibbon wrote of a similar moment of inspiration in a now famous passage from his autobiography: “It was at Rome, on the 15th of October 1764, as I sat musing amidst the ruins of the Capitol, while the bare-footed fryars were singing vespers in the temple of Jupiter, that the idea of writing the decline and fall of the city first started to my mind. But my original plan was circumscribed to the decay of the city rather than of the empire: and though my reading and reflections began to point towards that object, some years elapsed, and several avocations intervened, before I was seriously engaged in the execution of that laborious work.”Gregorovius certainly knew he was working in Gibbon’s shadow, and indeed he saw himself not as Gibbon’s continuator, but as recovering Gibbon’s original mission. In a letter to Sigmund Münz he said that he had returned to Gibbon’s original project: “This conception of medieval Rome as a city originated with me. I gave it a literary form and carried out Gibbon’s first idea; for it is well known that he had originally intended to write the history of the city of Rome during the middle ages.”Everyone who has been to Rome understands the power of the place and has experienced its genius loci. I first traveled to Rome in 1989 and, like many, I was enchanted by the Eternal City. (Rome was already called the Eternal City—Urbs Aeterna—in classical antiquity by the Roman poet Tibullus.) I returned in 1997 to focus on Rome. I stayed for two weeks and took no taxis or public transportation during my stay in the city, only walking; staying very close to Vatican City, I wandered the ancient streets of Rome and visited as many of the oldest churches that I could reach by foot. It was a memorable experience. As Gregorovius knew and sought to communicate, Rome embodies human history in a way that only cities can. Sometimes men, and sometimes cities, are bearers of the great ideas that have shaped human history. Gregorovius focused on a city, while Thomas Carlyle focused on men with his “great man theory of history” in his On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History: “…as I take it, Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked here. They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers, patterns, and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing accomplished in the world are properly the outer material result, the practical realization and embodiment, of Thoughts that dwelt in the Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world’s history, it may justly be considered, were the history of these.”Carlyle and the great man theory of history have few friends today. The archaeologist John Romer called Carlyle the “barmiest” of the Victorians, and this describes as well as anything could the state of Carlyle’s reputation today. Yet Wilhelm Windleband, who originated the distinction between the nomothetic (lawlike) and the idiographic (particularistic) had an interesting take on Carlyle’s great man theory of history: “Carlyle, who worked himself free from the philosophy of enlightenment by the assistance of the German idealism… laboured unweariedly for the recognition of the archetypal and creative personalities of history… on the one hand the life of the masses with the changes taking place conformably to general law—on the other hand the independent value of that which presents itself but once, and is determined within itself.” (A History of Philosophy: with especial Reference to the Formation and Development of its Problems and Conceptions, p. 654)This interpretation assimilates Carlyle’s conception of the role of great men in history to the nomothetic/idiographic distinction, so that the masses are the nomothetic background to the archetypal individual who embodies the idiographic. All that Carlyle and Windleband said of individual persons can be said of individual cities. The urban parallel to Carlyle is the great city theory of history: paraphrasing Carlyle we can say that universal History, the history of what humanity has accomplished in this world, is at bottom the History of the Great Cities which have evolved here. A great city is the idiographic exception to the nomothetic rule, an archetype with a personality of its own. Gregorovious seemed to have seen other cities as similarly distinctive and archetypal. At the beginning of The History of Rome in the Middle Ages he identified three cities that had a disproportionate role in human history: “Three cities shine conspicuous in the history of mankind, by reason of the universal influence which they exercised upon it—Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. In the course of the life of the world, all three are factors working with and through each other for human civilisation.” (Vol. I, p. 3)There are a few others whom we can count in the tradition of the great city theory of history, such as Philotheus of Pskov, who made this remarkable claim: “And now, I say unto thee: take care and take heed, pious tsar; all the empires of Christendom are united in thine, for two Romes have fallen and the third exists and there will not be a fourth; thy Christian empire, according to the great theologian, will not pass to others…” (Strémooukhoff, D. 1953. Moscow the Third Rome: Sources of the Doctrine. Speculum, 28(1), 84–101. doi:10.2307/2847182)For Gregorovius, the conspicuous cities of history were Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome; for Philotheus of Pskov the cities of destiny were Rome, Constantinople, and Moscow. Rome, we note, appears on both lists, and Rome was also the crucial city for Saint Augustine; it was, after all, the Sack of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths in 24 August 410 AD that was the occasion of the first philosophy of history, Augustine’s City of God. For Augustine, Rome was the stand-in for all other cities; Rome was the City of Man, and so to be contrasted to the Heavenly City. This idiographic exception to ordinary urbanism contrasts to the nomothetic urbanism of, say, Fustel de Coulanges in The Ancient City, which gives the law-like processes by which ancient cities appeared and then were institutionally transformed; or Henri Pirenne in his Medieval Cities, which recounts the recovery of cities after the Roman collapse; or V. Gordon Childe on the “urban revolution” which was the ultimate origin of civilization. These historians were concerned not with one archetypal city, but with the city as such, understood as part of the nomothetic historical process, which can be studied scientifically. Fustel de Coulanges, Pirenne, and Childe give us the nomothetic background to the singular archetypal cities, and this nomothetic background of urbanism is the basis for the existence of any exemplary city, which latter is the idiographic exception among cities, and the vision of an urban ideal of sorts. The urban ideal has deep roots in Western thought. Plato described the ideal government of a polis in his Republic when a republic was a polis and its hinterlands (not the nation-state of today), and Aristotle prescribed details of city planning in his Politics. In Robert Redfield’s anthropology, cities are centers of the Great Tradition which is the foundation of a civilization, which Great Tradition appears in the literary and cultural milieu of a city, with a written language and a priesthood to preserve the tradition. For Gregorovius, Rome uniquely embodied many of these ideals of urbanism: “All great spiritual and worldly powers received their consecration in Rome; the sources of the priestly power, the power to bind and to loose, the fount of Imperial Majesty, finally, civilisation itself, seemed to spring from the hills of Rome, and, like the streams of Paradise, flow to fertilise the four quarters of the world. All the institutions of mankind had originally sprung from this majestic city.”Though we often think of medieval Rome as a city depopulated and a mere shadow of its former imperial sense, speaking of medieval Rome Gregorovius is scarcely less effusive: “There were long centuries in the Middle Ages in which Rome was truly the law-giver, the instructress and the mother of nations, encircling her children with a threefold ring of unity — spiritual in the Papacy, temporal in the Empire, the crown of which German kings came to receive in S. Peter’s, and the unity of that general civilisation which was the bequest of Rome to all the world.”But even the ideal, archetypal city has its dark underbelly. Cities have not only represented human ideals, but have also represented the worst in us, often seen as flesh pots, as dens of vice and iniquity. Everyone will recall the scene in Star Wars in which Obi-Wan Kenobi, looking out over Mos Eisley, says to Luke, “You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy”—no such wicked temptations were to be found among the simple, honest farming folk in the countryside of Tatooine, just as the wicked temptations of Rome were far from the simple, stoic farmers of the Italian countryside; any honest Roman visiting the Rome would have been shocked at the decadence, as indeed a thousand years later Christian pilgrims arriving at Rome were shocked at the decadence of the “Princes of the Church” at St. Peter’s. In the Book of Revelation it is said of Babylon the Great that it is, “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Revelation 18:2) It is likely that this slur was intended for Rome, as Rome was the “Babylon the Great” for the author of Revelation. And so it was the Rome was not only archetypal as a vision of urban ideals, but also as a vision of urban dystopia. An archetypal city, then, extends across the full range of human experience, from the highest to the lowest. These contrasting visions of urban ideals and urban malevolence tell us something important about ourselves, albeit indirectly, through the proxy of a city, which makes it a little less painful for us and therefore a bit easier to bear. In this way a city, especially an archetypal city, can provide a lens by which to see the universe entire, and, historiographically, cities may be taken as the middle ground between little big history and big history properly speaking. Let me try to explain what I mean by this latter claim. Big history tells the story of the universe entire from the big bang through the present and into the future as far as we can see; by contrast, Esther Quaedackers has pioneered what she calls “little big histories,” in which some feature of the world, or some object in the world, is seen in the light of the history of the universe entire. In “A case for little big histories,” included in The Routledge Companion to Big History, she uses the example of a brick as an object to illustrate big history. As diminutive and unpromising as a brick may sound as the focus of a history, it turns out that bricks are pregnant with meaning and filled with possibility. Between big history proper, and little big histories, we could identify a middle ground that we might call meso-history. All traditional history has been meso-history, choosing as its object of historical exposition something greater than a brick yet lesser than the universe. The history of states, empires, wars, religions, languages, and political movements are all meso-histories. Gibbon’s Decline and Fall, despite its vast scope and reach, is a meso-history that we could not reasonably call either a big history properly speaking or a little big history. Some meso-histories tend toward the large and could be effortlessly extended to be big histories. We could re-write Gibbon as a big history, further expanding and extending its scope. Other meso-histories tend toward the small, and could be reduced to little big histories. There remains, nevertheless, a meso-scale that can receive a big history exposition distinct from big history sensu stricto and little big history. At the level of meso-history, we have a story like that of Rome. Rome is a city built of a great many bricks (we recall Augustus said that he found Rome a city of brick and left it a city of marble), each of which has its little big history, but the history of the city is greater than any one brick. At the same time, the history of Rome is not the history of the universe. Between the little big history of a brick and the big history of the universe entire lies the meso-history of an exemplary city like Rome. Gregorovius gives us a meso-history focused on Rome, but a meso-history in the sense that all traditional history is meso-history; he does not give us a meso-history in the sense that I am describing here, though we can see the possibility for such a meso-history implicit in Gregorovius, and we could take the next step ourselves. If we can see history through the lens of a single city, we could just as well see a single city through the lens of history, or, as the case may be, through the lens of big history. Let us, then, indulge in a thought experiment—the thought experiment of a meso-history of Rome. Carl Sagan said in his Cosmos that, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” The same is true for a city: if you wish to build a city, you must fist invent a universe. For this we require the entirety of cosmological history, insofar as we know it and we can understand it. As we all know, Rome was not built in a day, and, from the perspective of big history, Rome was indeed built in something over thirteen billion years, in all that has transpired since the big bang. Big history simpliciter begins and ends with the universe that encompasses us all. Perhaps when our cosmology reaches that degree of development at which we understand our big bang to be our local big bang, and one among many (as our galaxy is part of the local cluster, one among many such clusters), then we will begin and end with something that encompasses the universe. Until such time, we “limit” ourselves to the universe we can observe, and which we can therefore know after a fashion. Within these limits, we find the origins of Rome in the big bang, the formation of stars and galaxies, and building up of more complex elements and minerals, like the building up of a city over the longue durée. Every atom that constitutes the brick and marble of Rome ultimately derives from the matter than precipitated out of the big bang once it expanded and cooled. In our thought experiment we witness the formation of the Sun, and then the formation of Earth from the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young Sun. As Earth coalesces and cools, like the universe entire before it, the forces of a complex planet composed of many minerals gives rise to geomorphological processes, shaping continents and ocean basins. These continents and oceans arrange and rearrange themselves over geological time, until the present arrangement of landmasses as a consequence of supercontinent cycles begins to take shape before us. Slowly but certainly we begin to recognize the forms of the landmasses, which more closely approximate the planet as we know it today. In our meso-history of Rome we witness the formation of the Mediterranean Basin between Europe and Africa, repeatedly filled with sea water, and the waters repeatedly cut off at the Pillars of Hercules when geomorphological forces cause them to close, with the Mediterranean dying out for tens of thousands of years, only to be filled again, both from the outpouring of the Nile and when the Pillars of Hercules again open to the sea. Eventually, a familiar pattern comes into view. A coastline we recognize forms, and we see the boot of the Italian peninsula. All the while the seven hills of Rome have been slowly forming from volcanoes. Human beings appear in the landscape. A settlement appears, and the land is farmed. A network of roads grows out of Rome, like arteries carrying the lifeblood of the Republic and then the Empire. The Romans venerate their own history in the preservation of the hut of Romulus (Casa Romuli), where their founder is said to have made his home. The city is built from the stone of the region, with the sanpietrini cobblestones of Trastevere made of local volcanic rock that we saw form earlier in the volcanic history of the region. In the imaginary view from above of our thought experiment, we see ancient Rome at its height, a million strong, and then, in the blink of an eye of historical time, we see Rome sacked, humiliated, depopulated, and nearly abandoned. Then comes the long road back to prosperity and influence, repeatedly sacked and built again over the centuries. And all through the centuries the remains of Rome at its imperial grandeur are being unearthed, and are being unearthed still today. Many artifacts, even many treasures, still wait to be found, excavated, and eventually displayed in museums to future sightseers who will know of a past Rome not yet known to us. But the city will yet retain many of its secrets. Some treasures will never be found, remaining safe and secure within the layer upon layers built up by millennia of human habitation. These artifacts unknown to us—perhaps even described in ancient books, but since lost and never rediscovered—will be conveyed into the unknown future, and then into the far future of Rome, an unimaginable future when the city is eventually abandoned, nature takes over, the parks become forests, and the roads become wildlife trails. The Tiber alternatively floods and dries up many times over, and changes its course many times, now flooding one section of what was Rome, and then another section. The modern buildings crumble to nothing even while the ancient ruins remain, to be covered over in turn after having been briefly exposed again to the light of sun by archaeologists, as volcanoes come back to life in the Alban Hills and the Sabatini volcanic complex, covering the remnants of the city in volcanic ash and lava flows. Still watching from above, we see the city broken apart by geomorphological forces that originally formed the region. Parts of Rome are destroyed, other parts are encased in sedimentary rock and preserved for millions of years, and then tens of millions, hundreds of millions of years, even billions of years in the crust of the Earth. Five billion years or more pass, the sun becomes a red giant, and then shrinks into a mere white dwarf, cool, very dense, and almost invisible to the rest of the cosmos but for the occasional flare. The ancient planets of our ancient solar system eventually begin to break up after the death of the sun, and as they break apart pieces of these once familiar worlds fall into the white dwarf Sun and impact on its surface—the source of the occasional flares—making of our sun a polluted white dwarf. Many billions of years from now, if some extraterrestrial intelligence peers at our former sun with a telescope, they will be able to spectroscopically analyze the light from these impacts on our polluted white dwarf sun and determine the non-starlike elements that are polluting its surface, which are nothing other than the fragments of the planets of our solar system. If bits and pieces of Rome, still encased in Earth’s crust, are among the planetary remnants that fall in to our white dwarf sun and impact the surface, any observer will literally see final immolation of some small part of the Eternal City as it is absorbed into the compact matter of what was the Sun which once shone upon the pines and fountains of Rome. About when the sun was passing through its death throes, the Milky Way and Andromeda galaxies were colliding and becoming one enormous and chaotic galaxy, which will eventually include all the bodies of the local cluster, gravitationally bound into an amorphous elliptical galaxy, increasingly alone in the universe as all other galaxies and clusters pass over the cosmological horizon and are lost to sight. Ours is now an island universe stranded in emptiness. The gravitational forces of the melding of entire galaxies disrupt elegant spiral arms and planetary systems alike, throwing stars and planets into unlikely trajectories and multi-billion year orbits that compass the entirety of what remains of the universe for us. We, still the observers in the thought experiment, suspended above and beyond this cosmological chaos, have our eye yet trained on Earth. Perhaps parts of the disintegrating Earth impact on our polluted white dwarf sun, while other remnants of our once proud planet are thrown into an eccentric orbit, and still the remnants of Rome, preserved in the geologically inert rocky crust, go on to become the eternal city on a cosmic scale. The cosmological eschatology of Rome might disperse in many directions, with parts of the city returned to the mantle and melted until the supercontinent cycle grinds to a halt, while parts of the city remain locked in sedimentary rock, and when Earth ultimately breaks up, those parts of Earth that do not fall into the Sun, in floating chunks of Earth’s crust that drift through the local cluster, portions of the entombed eternal city might survive. We can imagine an artifact of ancient Rome, preserved in a shroud of stone, falling into a supermassive black hole, thereby attaining the physical equivalent of eternity as the gravitational forces slow time to an imperceptible crawl and some fragment of the eternal city is thereby conveyed into the far distant cosmological future of the universe, an almost eternal history for the Eternal City. Gregorovius doesn’t quite take us so far, but, like Virgil conducting Dante through Hell and Purgatory, he can take us on our initial steps of the journey, as we wait for Beatrice. Video Presentationshttps://youtu.be/Rs_vPSAz7IUhttps://www.instagram.com/p/C2R0YAyNkho/ Podcasthttps://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/nick-nielsen94/episodes/Ferdinand-Gregorovius-and-Meso-History-e2el9uu |
2023.12.16 18:02 IndieheadsAOTY Arthur Russell - Picture of Bunny Rabbit
 | Howdy! Welcome back to Day 11 of the indieheads Album of the Year 2023 Writing Series! This is our annual event where we showcase pieces from some of our favorite writers on the subreddit, discussing some of their favorite records of the year! This year we'll be running (almost) everyday through the length of December and a little into January, with one new writeup from a different indieheads user (almost) every day! Today, tape hero u/WaneLietoc bring us the next archival release from avant-garde pop artist, Arthur Russell's Picture of Bunny Rabbit. submitted by IndieheadsAOTY to indieheads [link] [comments] June 23rd 2023 - Audika ListenApple MusicBandcamp Spotify Youtube Background“There’s the Iowa boy, the disco mystic, the singer-songwriter and composer, and the fierce perfectionist deep in a world of echo. While all of these elements of Russell are individually true, none alone define him.”
Steve Knutson has spent nearly 20 years running Audika Records, a label exclusively dedicated to preserving and releasing Arthur Russell material from that library of material, continuing beyond the work Point Music’s Another Thought and Soul Jazz’s The World of Arthur Russell unveiled in 1994 and 2003, respectively. The past two decades have seen the label undertake a series of archival endeavors that have articulated the depth of Russell’s songwriting. Meanwhile, Russell’s library is now hosted by the NYPL for the Performing Arts, where preservation efforts are still afoot, and a continuing wave of documentaries and scholarship have taken off. Picture of Bunny Rabbit is the 11th proper mainline (discounting singles & live shows, while including reissues) release in Audika’s decades spanning archival endeavor. While previous projects have explored many unrecognized facets of Russell’s songwriting, Picture of Bunny Rabbit returns to the World of Echo sessions. Knutson relays that “the bulk of the material was recorded with engineer Eric Liljestrand at Battery Sound Studios, New York, which was located directly opposite the World Trade Center and at Arthur’s apartment studio in the East Village.” Writing by u/WaneLietocIn November of 2023, I was given a quick summons to a pile of free CDs. The folks there have come to note my obsession for the compact disc, the way I can seem to find anything in a pile of donations that means something to me–- Impose jazz records, Satie Piano comps, ECM, entire goth collections, bargain pop. Oftentimes, I imagine the only skillset I’ve truly honed in life is digging. Something that must’ve stuck loose in me years ago when I cried that I couldn’t find anything on a dollar table at the swap meet. Perhaps life would be better if I knew how to do taxes, swap out a leaky faucet, or change a tire.Stacks of CDs show up in the donation bins; my eyes go awooga. Piles of 20th century relics, always reminding me of Tim Hecker’s thoughts when describing seeing images of degraded physical media during the making of Ravedeath, 1972. They are not meant to be added to a library’s collection; libraries are rejecting the format in a time when it may be more urgent than ever to do so. It’s always bittersweet being called in to search through a stack for free CDs, because I want to believe that our patrons deserve more options and also can be won over by the charm of the CD. But alas, they’re ending up in boxes in my car or on the floor of my bedroom instead. I don’t think I’ll ever hear it all. I just cannot stomach these ending up in a landfill. On that fateful day, I spied perhaps the greatest bounty in all my time there: Calling Out of Context. To say I begged and pleaded for them to add it to the collection would be charitable. Why could we not add this rarity that few libraries circulated and few listeners had opened their hearts to? I almost had to play “Make 1,2” on the spot to make a case. But alas, they insisted that because there was not an internal catalog record, the first Audika Records Arthur Russell compilation (and on some days, their most inviting) was going to the trash can. It's been sitting in the carcass of my car since, snug between Chiastic Slide and Stars on ESP. Now whenever I find myself inside that car losing the plot, mulling another near-breakdown of my lack of any career progress, the CD is instantly slotted in and tuned to that title track. I can hear a past, one of clubs and street sounds, amongst a future towards a watery vanishing point calling there. Arthur soars. ~ It’s November of 2020 and I’m in the bleak place. In the sunken realm where you have to push past guilt to find self-truth, where forgiveness can flow like half moons under your eyelids. My back doesn’t ache yet, but my gag reflex is having its own panic attack, trying to excavate some intangible truth about my situation if a noose won’t first. It’s around this time that a self-ordered package from Audika Records will arrive, the first Arthur Russell cassette released on the label. Sketches for World of Echo became my favorite Arthur Russell release then. It’s not because it's the closest we’ve got to World of Echo on cassette; although this evening with Arthur a rare invitation to the live process few ever witnessed. It’s not because he shreds like a motherfucker that night at the Knitting Factory in 1984 for the opening five or so odd minutes; shredding that World of Echo did embellish and suggests another path to find yourself open to. It’s not because his “nick drake in dub” world of love songs is so welcoming and droned out in a blissful state; this is truly only a tantalizing introduction to a sound of casios on a boat that exists on the other ocean. It’s because THAT version of Keeping Up kept me alive. There’s a lot of versions of Keeping Up that have been uncovered. Russell worked on the cut over a decade, in a frenzy as the window of time in this mortal coil was to be severed. It swells on Another Thought into a six minute celebration of a voice departed too soon. It stretches into elliptical electro swerves on Corn that suggests dance. But here, it is one enigmatic bubblegum buddhist, his cello and a couple chord progression, and that voice. Russell was not a man of many lyrics, nor of pep talks. Just mantras of love and water. Speaking intimately towards the listener, “try to keep up” feels like a necessity, a grounding to trust and hold on. A direction to soar towards. ~ It’s November 2021 and I’m at Folk Arts Rare Records. Folk Arts’ sound system is one of the finest for a shop in the county: bass–throbbing and bursting enough for goosebumps that a kick drum can sustain and deepen. Dub ready to say the least; a system truly able to properly articulate what a Frankie Teardrop scream on a Red Star OG issue uncovers in a listener. The shop is the one I go to in SD, especially after a snap bowl at the bus station and a short walk from the line. Anything there will sound like solid gold. The clerk’s secured something primo in the past week: a VG+ (perhaps even NM-!) copy of Dinosaur’s Kiss Me Again, a definitive Arthur Russell disco document. I overhear the conversation from halfway beside the tape wall and dollar CDs and have to request it. We won’t hear the full things, petering somewhere after the David Byrne guitar break, but the few day customers are bopping and grooving in a way that opens the store up. Arthur soars. A week later, a tape from Audika Records, 24->24 Music will emerge in my mailbox. At my pizza job of the time, I’ll take it and play it on my lil’ bastard of a Sony Boombox, trying to capture even a ¼ of what I felt there. Arthur soars, pervading the space and moving in such a way that a body instinctively hips itself to. Bodies move towards each other. An intentional slackness unfolds. ~ It’s December of 2023 and Steve Knutson looks mighty in spite of recovering from an illness. He’s been up for hours already, having read the new digital edition of the Wire and their 2023 End of the Year lists. Picture of Bunny Rabbit is there at no. 7 in archival releases, but he’s not one to think it should be accounted as such, because Arthur’s material remained unheard for so long and it still feels like right now. I agree with him, because I cannot recall a more transient artist in all my time writing and considering music like Arthur. I don’t think he understands how much he means to me that morning. It’s not that Knutson is Arthur Russell or had proximity to him, but that Steve was there in Summer too. In that time and place that I seemed to have spent half a year trying to mentally find myself within; pages of dance music history books, liner notes of Street Sounds cassettes, tags from Style Wars’ DVD. But that era of early NYC is not something that we will talk about that morning. Our conversation will be 45 tip top minutes of talk about Audika Records, mostly covering and reinforcing the grounds that Phillip Sherburne had with his interview. Yes, Steve contends that his time at Tommy Boy did prepare him for what was to follow at Audika. He knew the logistics of running a small label, one that has quietly and meticulously worked to handle Arthur Russell’s recordings. Picture of a Bunny Rabbit’s beauty comes down to a simple fact: it's an earnest, gently giving invitation into Arthur Russell’s undeniable heart and sonic direction. Another portal and entry to find yourself subsumed by. Maybe that was what Love is Overtaking me or Iowa Dream had felt like if you had found him in the past decade, or Calling Out of Context for rollicking avant-electro-disco. Perhaps Soul Jazz’s plundering of downtown disco or Tower of Meaning’s reverence pre-consciously articulated that impact already. Russell has been heard and sneakily embraced by a new generation of ears, not to be regulated and stuck to the 80s. Still, to return to the World of Echo era’s sound, there is a sublime character that drips and oozes around the edges of the cuts. Russell rarely sounded as unstuck, slack in time and unafraid as he did with this sound and these recordings articulating the true fringe of it. There’s a sense from previous releases that over the years, Knutson has nailed the aspect of curation. He’s humble, coolly telling me that it was just about placing cuts that sounded nice next to each other. But it’s a patience that this era of Arthur Russell releases has been leading to and working with. Another entity could have done something with splitting this release between 2 discs and bringing in live archival work that the 2020s have unveiled. Instead, this is a lean 38 minutes. The world of love and water, unstuck out of time. Knutson had been invited into that world by Tom Lee, Russell’s life partner, because he did not have baggage or connection to Russell. Just passion for the sounds and the task at hand. He spent years waiting to find all of this and sequence it into the right place; that is something that comes from the space in between those years of other projects & life endeavors that impart a gracious spirit in coming to these releases. He sincerely believes it is the strongest work he’s done with Audika Records. It feels like the accomplishment of a caretaker, nurturing and delicately balancing this facet of Russell’s sound. Itself an accomplishment that cannot be understated. Work for Picture of Bunny Rabbit was initiated back in 2019. Knutson became re-familiarized with a collection of the Fuzzbuster material via a test pressing Arthur had made that his sister and mother had located. He’d heard them years prior at the start of the project, but different material and avenues preceded him. The Fuzzbusters (#10, #6, and #9, respectively) are brilliant cello (and keys amongst one other stringed instrument) compositions. Fogged out beach desolation, a kind evoking Marine Girls or Raincoats own precocious movements, but in Russell’s own trance. A surprising, rooted grounding to this environment of World of Echo, that further a path not taken with what was handed to Rough Trade. The songs that happen to play off the Fuzzbusters are themselves, amongst Russell’s greatest love compositions. Deceptively simple soundscapes: cello, voice, and a few effects require the space to breathe and a flow to connect the sound beyond Brakhage synesthesia pop and into the sublime. Russell flickers across them, always in a motion; an unencumbered daily dance as studious as it is tranced, each lyric an invitation to intimacy or extension of empathy. To have sat in chrysalis for all these decades, it is a miracle how well these compositions swell to fill a room. Fluid fusions that are so singular, precocious, and ripe in a 2020s sensibility. Russell can sound like a lot of things: the steam of a tea kettle one room over; a red wheelbarrow filled with water, “everything depending on it”; pebbles splashing in a pond by the marsh. There’s a kinetic sense of his presence and ability to emote a desire, a heartache, a freedom. It’s all of that throughout those cuts, especially in the Boy With a Smile. It had emerged 3 years prior live on the Sketches for World of Echo cassette, and here Russell finds that sweet spot where the cello sounds of sun rays & his voice draws an unassuming sketch of that boy; that titular joy. Awe-inspiring, enough to pull one out of time towards this plane. The cuts are not all love, per se or always joy. Very Reason is knotty, wounded by ache and calamity. A place and names drip out of it, but barely reveal themselves proper, even within close listens. You don’t need them to. There is a strength and sorrow here, Arthur’s lone unnerved chord progression that he centers around presented with a level of trust and dexterity. To the point that when his voice spills out there is a feeling of pain, abstracted yet familiar enough to situate yourself in. Other Audika compilations constitute these spots as well, the power of Russell’s songwriting to express intangible spaces you know but can’t put the words to it. Both Boy With a Smile & Very Reason only reinforces how the World of Echo material boiled it to its most singular. That of course, does bring us to the titular track. The one not for a friends’ dinosaur or deer, but a bunny rabbit–another animal that frolics in this dimension. Nothing in World of Echo or the Russell catalog has ever sounded like this: digital delay pedals manipulating Russell’s cello into a cybernetic mood. And not from a fourth world Hassell context or electro-trance. This wails. This broods. This sulks. This ponders. A musing, all at once, collapsing in on itself. It travels to the end of time. A piece of forerunner architecture in a great archive. You find yourself curled up in a ball, next to the speaker trying to breathe in all. Few pieces can articulate the sublime: the feeling of watching a distant galaxy falters at the pace of an omnibus deep breathing exercise. A lifetime could be spent searching for this. It was an honest delight to hear that Geoff Travis, Mr. Rough Trade himself, did call to congratulate Knutson on the release. On that call, permitted by spotty cross-atlantic quality, but within the message, one of Arthur’s most gracious patrons (who gave him tens of thousands of dollars) stated that listening to the 8 minute composition Picture of Bunny Rabbit itself was like hearing Jimmy Hendrix. A novel amalgamation of a sound in the 80s that could have been. An entire new language of shredding that no Kitchen show or electro-disco cut could have suggested a fraction of. Now, unspooled and untangled to ponder with here, it only is another gem to think of in silence. Knutson closes with In the Light of a Miracle, a treat that closes a circle of sorts from nearly twenty years prior. The World of Arthur Russell had a 13-minute odyssey; not quite disco, not quite trance, just a pure realization of that “bliss out” Russell could deploy. Here “unplugged”, it flickers akin to dubby waterlilies and squiggles to the patter of a railroad track; part-rural psychedelia, part-bubblegum buddhism. — Knutson, the caretaker, had been working for over 20 years to fulfill a wish of Tom Lee’s: to share Arthur’s song with the world and reveal just how much of a songstress he was. In many ways, this is that quiet triumph as well. A small musical justice having been fostered in a way that twenty years prior seemed unthinkable. Audika is not a completed project, there are still dailies to attend to. Although this latest compilation is something of a considered capstone to this recent spurt of activity from the cassettes to the impending book, Travels Over Feeling. A folder on the computer desktop remains open though, for the time being. It’s interesting to note that as reissues seem to have taken off, becoming something of a stable fixture in the indie landscape, Knutson is choosing a fantastic time to let back and have these works speak for themselves. Today though, we concur that there’s music both in the past and future to continually look forward to. Picture of Bunny Rabbit has that feeling without hiding. It probably will be passed around and cherished by those who make their way to it, because Arthur’s music just conveys a tenderness to contemplate in. It stretches and expands in a way that will find the listeners as much as they find it, until the lines blur and it never mattered. This was body music, the internal slack, the tempo we collectively submerged and only now, are reeling back towards. — It’s Summer 2023 and I find myself thinking clearer, but also now lost in new ways. The bout of sciatica that seemed to spurt in February 2022 is far from a solved issue, now a chronic happening. There are restless nights, tactical seat positioning in cars, an uncomfortable penchant to have to stand more often than desired, amongst an unhelpful number of creams/pills/stretches that merely numb this recalcitrant lower back. At times, I think it’s all a curse, the result of what happens when a level of middle class privilege lets you take minimal spending cash and build libraries of CDs and cassettes others will never have; information that will be instantaneous to your fingertips but also degrade just as we do in the material world (its true, the night before I started writing this my Second Edition tape bit the dust and I'm quite bitter about it still). You learn too much and your body slinks and shrieks at it all! That desire for a resonant body, that fight to keep it up has come into focus more clearly for me now. The best music in 2023 was body music. Kinds that actively seemed to ponder the way time weighs itself into subjective, personalized measurements over a period of time; how time manipulates a space and either brings us back to the past, back to you. If not stuck in a terminal present, or towards the tickling of a glistening future. I could have told you a lot about that, but that wasn’t meant to be the story. Tonight, I can hear it echo through my headphones on the empty patio of this empty home. I'm sitting outside and reading Tim Lawrence’s Life and Death on the NYC Dancefloor (Lawrence himself years prior had released his own book on Russell’s life & Steve Knutson will briefly show up here). I’m nestled up, pillow squeezed between my legs. A vaguely comfortable position. Arthur is here, this time humming and chopping away at thoughts in another dimension on “Not Checking Up” that seemed quite tantalizing and familiar. He soars in that world out of time and space from our own, still calling out of context to those moments from the half moons flickering out of my eyes. There are no real objectives or signposts for this space. Savoring the moment, holding in the light. Favorite LyricsTelling No One / I Wish For You / Until I Saw the Water Come In…
You'll find in me the boy with a smile on his face / You'll find in me, yeah / The platform on the ocean
I still wanna talk to you
Talking Points
Thank you so much again to u/WaneLietoc for all the work put into this piece, everything from the research to interviewing Knutson and everything else in-between. Check back in with us tomorrow when u/batmanisafurry covers Sugar Cherry's Isn't It Wonderful. Completed Writings
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2023.11.25 03:06 Dramatic_Reputation7 Having a rough time trying to land an IT internship, any feedback would help
submitted by Dramatic_Reputation7 to resumes [link] [comments]
2023.11.08 05:44 albert1165 Forbes: Vietnam’s Richest Person Bets Over $10 Billion To Break Into The Global EV Marke
 | Vietnam’s richest person, billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong, didn’t become worth over $4 billion without taking some risks. His current venture is to create Vietnam’s first global automaker, VinFast Auto, and he’s betting over $10 billion to make the company into a viable brand in the global electric vehicle market. But its journey so far has been bumpy, and there’s skepticism about whether it can compete outside its home country. Still, VinFast’s CEO, a former banker, is full of confidence. “Our mission is to make EVs accessible to everyone,” says Le Thi Thu Thuy, 49. submitted by albert1165 to VinFastComm [link] [comments] VinFast has aggressive targets, including selling 1 million EVs worldwide within six years. (It took Tesla 17 years.) After investing almost $10 billion to roll out several EV models, develop a charging infrastructure and build a fully automated factory in Vietnam, the company plans to invest a further $1.8 billion in the next three years to get factories running in the U.S. by 2025, and Indonesia and India in 2026. Of that total, $1.4 billion is going into the first phase of a North Carolina plant under construction. The goal is to take advantage of government subsidies and tax benefits in these locations and increase the group’s annual production capacity to about 550,000 units by 2026 from 300,000, the current capacity of its sole factory in Vietnam. VinFast currently is a tiny player in the massive U.S. market. According to automotive industry site Mark Lines, in 2023’s first nine months, the company sold merely 2,000 EVs in America. In total, the Vietnamese manufacturer says it delivered about 21,000 EVs in the first three quarters, but roughly 13,000, or more than 60%, stayed home for use by Green and Smart Mobility (GSM), an electric taxi company owned by Pham and his flagship company Vingroup. It says GSM ordered 30,000 EVs for the rollout of an electric taxi service across Vietnam, which is being expanded to Laos, then to Cambodia. GSM says it is mulling an entry into the U.S. taxi market. Sales to the group affiliate are indicative of sluggish demand, Fathima Shifara Samsudeen, Colombo-based analyst at LightStream Research, said in a note published in September on research platform SmartKarma. Separately, in an email, she says the company “will struggle to sell its EV models in the global markets.” In the U.S., sales of the midsize SUV dubbed VF 8, the first and only model available, were hurt by an embarrassing recall in May—two months after sales began. VinFast says it voluntarily recalled vehicles to fix a software glitch after the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration warned the flaw blocked safety information and “may increase the risk of a crash.” Thuy says the company used the market feedback to help it fix the vehicles. “We have released software updates that provide important enhancements,” says Thuy by email. Aside from the recall, the VF 8 around the time of its launch received many negative reviews, including from mainstream auto media outlets such as Motor Trend, Road & Track, Edmunds and Kelley Blue Book. The car was said at the time to have poor ride quality and issues with its airconditioning, blind-spot monitor, GPS, turn signals and brakes. Addressing such criticisms, Thuy says: “The car may not have been designed to be tested under special conditions and behavior, which did not satisfy some drivers, but we quickly added the requested enhancements.” In a press release from late October, the company said: “In the past few months, this pioneering company has introduced a host of improvements to its VF 8 electric SUV designed to enhance the driving experience for customers.” Thuy remains undaunted, affirming that VinFast can achieve its target of delivering as many as 50,000 EVs this year with sales expected to accelerate in the fourth quarter, which she considers the peak period. “We have several models ready to be launched globally in a couple of months,” she says. And VinFast plans to start selling the VF 8 in France, Germany and the Netherlands by the end of this year. It will also start shipping its seven-seater SUVs, dubbed VF 9, as well as a compact SUV, VF 6, to North America. David Byrne, a Hong Kong-based analyst at research firm Third Bridge, says it will take time for VinFast to gain traction in North America and Europe due to the reputational issues following the U.S. launch of VF 8 this year. “They need to get things right off the block if they’re going to be selling a decent number of vehicles,” Byrne says. “It takes a long time to gain traction even if they do everything well.” VinFast cars do get praise for their looks, thanks to Italian designer Pininfarina, which helped create iconic sports cars such as the Ferrari 458 Spider. But VinFast’s EVs are not competitively priced, Byrne says. The starting price for the VF 8 is $46,000, which is similar in price to a Tesla model Y, a Ford Mustang Mach E or a Hyundai Ioniq 6. With a range of 425 kilometers on a full charge, the VF 8 falls below the claimed range of the three comparable models, all boasting full ranges of at least 482 kilometers or more. “Our vehicle pricing is not higher than competitors,” Thuy says. “The prices already include cutting-edge technology features.” For instance, VinFast cars are equipped with an advanced driver assistance system, which guides drivers when changing lanes and helps autonomously park the car. In Byrne’s view, VinFast could have gained more traction in the U.S. if the company tapped more local industry knowledge. “They have hired foreign experts but they don’t necessarily listen to these experts,” he says. Thuy says VinFast is not dependent on any single individual. “VinFast is a startup company,” she says. “This requires deployment capability and speed that not everyone can adapt to. We regularly refine our organizational structure to ensure operational efficiency.” While VinFast recruited industry veterans when the company started, some didn’t stay for long, according to their LinkedIn profiles. For instance, Michael Lohscheller, former CEO of Opel who had over two decades of industry experience, joined VinFast in September 2021 as global CEO and left six months later. He was succeeded by Thuy. Lohscheller didn’t reply to emails requesting comment. VinFast has aggressive targets, including selling 1 million EVs worldwide within six years. Another executive, Jeremy Snyder (who held several key positions at Tesla over 10 years) was hired as chief growth officer in May 2020 to lead VinFast’s push in the U.S. but left in December 2021 before its first EVs reached there. In Snyder’s view, “VinFast has done some things very well. Their manufacturing facility is state of the art. They learn very quickly and adapt very quickly. There’s really an opportunity for the company to surprise people in a positive way.” While he believes VinFast can be a global brand, Snyder says he decided to leave after fewer than two years once the strategy and leadership structure had been put in place. He sums up the challenge for VinFast this way: “If you’re building an SUV and it’s not better than a Tesla in every single way or significantly cheaper, the consumer is going to buy a Tesla.” Despite the challenges, Pham is pushing forward with funding VinFast’s growth, and has been bankrolling much of its expansion. In April, he and Vingroup committed to invest a further $2.5 billion into VinFast and in October, VinFast merged with VinES Energy Solutions to become self-sufficient in batteries, now imported primarily from China. Another fund-raising exercise that raised eyebrows was the early trading days of VinFast after its listing on Nasdaq on Aug. 15. Done through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) backed by Hong Kong-based casino mogul Lawrence Ho, VinFast was valued at $23 billion. Then on no fresh news about the company, which has a tiny free float of less than 1%, the stock inexplicably skyrocketed to a peak market cap of $190 billion on Aug. 28. Then the stock fell off a cliff, plunging over 90% from its peak to a market cap of $13 billion in late October—and for now the stock appears to have stabilized. Thuy appears nonplussed about the stock’s wild gyrations. She calls the listing “a significant milestone in our global expansion and a powerful vote of confidence in our vision.” And she adds: “The listing gives us access to international capital markets.” Last month VinFast announced plans to sell about 76 million shares. It also signed a standby equity subscription agreement to sell as much as $1 billion of the company’s shares over the next three years to Yorkville Advisors, a hedge fund based in New Jersey. To be sure, VinFast has yet to turn a profit since its founding in 2017. (It took Tesla 17 years to become profitable). Even as revenue in the third quarter rose more than 2.5 times to 8.25 trillion dong ($337 million), losses widened 34% to 15 trillion dong, thanks to high costs for global expansion. Pham, 55, has said he expects VinFast to break even next year and be profitable by 2025—and doesn’t seem fazed by how costly it is becoming to make VinFast a global brand. Pham declined to comment for this article. VinFast remains in the red as it accelerates global expansion. It plans to have operating factories in India, Indonesia and the U.S. by 2026. https://preview.redd.it/r92kk3h102zb1.png?width=1302&format=png&auto=webp&s=390dcd46bb1b96857960087905f1089e34a961e3 *2023 figures are as the nine months ended Sep. 30. His background is in entrepreneurship rather than automaking. After winning a scholarship and earning a degree in the economics of raw material extraction from the Moscow Geological Prospecting Institute, Pham started a Vietnamese restaurant in Ukraine, which failed. But then a gamble taken in 1993 on selling instant noodles there paid off handsomely. He sold that business to Nestle in 2010 for an estimated $150 million, and put the proceeds to his first foray back home: the luxury Vinpearl resort on Nha Trang island. In 2017, he established VinFast to make internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and a year later, ventured into smartphones, launching VinSmart. That was abandoned in 2021 to concentrate on EVs, though the technology developed for smartphones became VinFast EV screens, which control many of the car’s functions. In 2022, the company stopped making ICE vehicles to focus 100% on EVs. “Electrification is an irreversible trend worldwide,” Thuy says. “VinFast cannot be left out of this global movement.” Along the way, Pham also built a commercial tower in Hanoi and a three-kilometer cable car connecting Nha Trang island with the mainland. Today, Pham has turned Vingroup into one of Vietnam’s largest business groups with interests in education, healthcare, real estate and technology. Thuy joined Vingroup in 2008, initially as chief financial officer, after eight years working at Lehman Brothers in various roles and getting an M.B.A. from the International University of Japan. She later became CEO of Vingroup and then its vice chairwoman. In 2017, Pham asked her to become chairwoman of VinFast and then its CEO in 2021. Brian Dobson, an analyst at New York-based Chardan Research, believes VinFast can carve a niche in the global market. “The mass transition to EV represents a land rush in mature auto markets not seen since the 1970s oil crisis,” he wrote in October. “During this period of shifting consumer tastes, established markets are open to new entrants.” According to Chardan, EV shipments to the U.S., Canada, Europe and Vietnam will likely surge to 10.8 million by 2028 from just 2.1 million in 2022. Notwithstanding the bumps in its global expansion drive, VinFast remains focused on becoming a significant player in the nascent EV industry. “There’s a huge potential in front of us,” Thuy says. “If we can materialize that enormous opportunity, then we can be really big.” Vietnam’s Richest Person Bets Over $10 Billion To Break Into The Global EV Market (forbes.com) |
2023.10.28 01:46 ar_david_hh October 27 news-shmews
Russia switches to using Azerbaijani terminology in their peacekeeping reports from occupied Nagorno-Karabakh
Before: "Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone"Now: "Karabakh economic region of the Republic of Azerbaijan"
source,
Armenia to Russia (subtly): you are not the only one who has the Soviet-era map of state borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan
LAVROV (FM of Russia): Armenia and Azerbaijan can try their luck in the European platform, but Russia holds the key, we have the maps necessary for the demarcation of AM-AZ borders.KOSTANYAN (Deputy FM of Armenia): The maps in question were published in 1974-1978 and were provided to Armenia and Azerbaijan by different mediators. Both sides are familiar with these maps.
source, source, source,
who would control the commercial roads passing through Armenia if the regional blockade was lifted?
ALEN SIMONYAN (parliament chief): Armenia's National Security Services (NSS) would be engaged in ensuring the security of the passage of international goods, vehicles, and passengers traveling through Armenia once the links between Armenia and Azerbaijan are unblocked.source,
prime ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia spoke for several hours during the Silk Road trade meeting in Georgia
Pashinyan, Asadov, and Gharibashvili met in a town near Tbilisi during the international summit. No details are available as of writing this. Georgia also wants to act as a mediator for Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve their conflict.source, video, video,
Armenia-Azerbaijan relations
Armenia is ready to resume the import of gas from Azerbaijan and to act as a transit hub for Azeri gas when the AM-AZ political issues are resolved. During the USSR, Armenia used to import Azeri gas with three pipelines. Armenia currently buys most of its gas from Russia through the territory of Georgia, and smaller quantities from Iran.source,
there are efforts to normalize relations between Armenia and Hungary
Context: The relationship ended in 2012 after the Hungarian government took a bribe from Azerbaijan in exchange for transferring the Azerbaijani ax murderer Ramil Safarov to Azerbaijan where he was greeted like a hero instead of continuing his prison term. Safarov had murdered a sleeping Armenian soldier with an ax during NATO training. The murderer received a free apartment and a promotion upon his return to Azerbaijan.... efforts began in 2021 to restore Armenia-Hungary relations
Armenia's foreign ministry in 2022: After the 2020 war, Hungary negotiated the return of 5 Armenian POWs from Azerbaijan, provided support to the school named after Gurgen Margaryan [ax murderer Ramil Safarov's victim], and donated COVID vaccines to Armenia.A newly renovated Armenian church was recently opened in Budapest. The Patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church also attended the ceremony and met with the President of Hungary. //
... the normalization efforts continue in 2023
The foreign minister of Hungary visited Armenia on Friday. Hungary will provide $110,000 to families that "returned" from Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.FM of Hungary: We will do everything from now on to develop ties with Armenia. A consulate of Hungary will open in Armenia soon. We will also provide medical treatment to Nagorno-Karabakh residents if necessary. Our universities will provide 30 scholarships to Armenian students. //
մինչև 2025 թվականը յուրաքանչյուր տարի կրթաթոշակային 30 տեղ կհատկացնի ՀՀ քաղաքացիներին՝ Հունգարիայի բարձրագույն ուսումնական հաստատություններում հունգարերեն կամ այլ օտար լեզուներ ուսանելու նպատակով:The government of Hungary will ask Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air to increase the number of flights to/from Armenia.
PM Pashinyan hosted the FM of Hungary to discuss AM-EU relations. Hungary is a member of the European Union.
source, source, source, source,
India is considering supply of fresh batch of weapons to Armenia
The recent delivery of the first batch was successful, writes The Economist Times. It included Pinaka MBRL, anti-tank missiles, rockets, and ammo. An Armenian official recently visited India to discuss the delivery of the second batch.Armenia bought the low-cost Pinaka MBRL because of its ability to shoot and scoot (խփող-թռնող) to escape counter-battery fire. Pinaka is easy to learn because it shares many features with Russian weapons that Armenia owns/owned.
Armenia and India are also discussing the establishment of a trade corridor connecting India to Europe via Armenia and Iran. The Armenian minister visited India a few weeks ago to discuss the project.
source, source,
analyst Karen Sargsyan about the import of air defense weapons from France
REPORTER (Noyan Tapan): What do we know about the Mistral missile systems?KAREN: They are being used in Ukraine. They have earned a great reputation. Norway and Denmark, despite having their own missile systems, are also using Mistral. Norway sent ~100 units to Ukraine last year.
It's 2.6x faster than the speed of sound. It can shoot small targets 6 km away flying at 3 km altitude. It can target jets and helicopters. I don't know which model Armenia will receive, but the later generations come with "smart" warheads with built-in "AI" that can monitor things. It's a compact high-quality air defense system. It will help cover the gap we have on the immediate frontlines. More importantly, French experts will visit Armenia to analyze the army needs in general.
REPORTER: Why isn't this being done silently?
KAREN: France and India leaked the details, not Armenia. They are democracies and need to explain to their publics what they are up to. What is the point in Armenia attempting to keep it "secret" at this point?
I will soon share a report based on the information gathered from open sources about the purchases made by Azerbaijan and the true condition of their army. Azerbaijan is not as powerful as people believe. Money can't buy everything. They won't be able to defeat Armenia if we complete these acquisitions, weapons training, and reforms.
source,
Georgia bans obscenities and hate speech on TV, Europe praises the ban, opposition calls it an attack on free speech
The amendments would give the [TV regulator] the power to fine media outlets for inciting violence or intolerance based on disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, sex, ethnicity, race, faith, or financial statusԺեխերի ցավը տանեմ:
source,
apartment prices continue to rise in Yerevan despite a drop in demand
Yerevan H1, YoY: -35% (transactions)Yerevan Q3 YoY: -16% (transactions)
Armenia Q3, YoY: -3% (transactions)
Number of transactions in Yerevan involving mortgage from banks: -26%
... apartment price change in each district
Kentron (center): +13%Arabkir: +12%
Zeytun: +5%
Nor-Nork: +10%
Erebuni: +10%
Shengavit: +9%
Davtashen: +11%
Ajapnyak: +5%
Malatia: +9%
Avan: +9%
Noobarashen: +5%
... number of new rental agreements has sharply dropped in Armenia (at least on paper)
Apt rentals in Yerevan: -44%House rentals in Yerevan: -32%
Apt rentals in provinces: -66%
House rentals in provinces: -53%
... people are instead buying land plots in Syunik and near Yerevan
Number of land transactions by province:Lori: -50%
Voyots Dzor: -19%
Armavir: -11%
Yerevan: +16%
Kotayk: +18%
Syunik: +18%
source,