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06/05 - World Environment Day [1]
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Date: 2023-06-05
Hey, it's World Environment Day and I lead with a photo of a city, what's with that? Well, I noticed a lot of material all over the interwebs treat "environment", especially in this or similar contexts as being essentially identical to "The Environment" which is, in turn, generally used as equivalent to "the NATURAL environment". 'Tain't so. Yes, we need to be concerned with the global natural environment and maintaining and improving its health and well-being, BUT, that's not most of our environments. Lots at least spent their working day and a great many their entire day in the above environment. Soil, air, rivers, fish, birds, otters, trees and meadows and sheep and bears are all way groovy and all that but our environment is "everything around us" and most of us don't live out with the bears, coyotes, eagles or sheep and pigs or any of that. Most of us line in some variant of the above cityscape or the suburban wonderland below, and that one, in fact, includes a lot of water relative to the average suburban scene.
suburban sprawl
My point is a wee bit convoluted. Gary Snyder once said:
Nature is not a place to visit, it is home.
and that is well and good and, for the majority of us, through emotionally or spiritually true, actually totally freaking false, at least on a day to day basis. It's nice to think that "my true home is over there somewhere or out there somewhere", but the real down and dirty is that our home is where we is physically, not spiritually, metaphorically, or any of that. The odds are that the only way you're gonna see a giraffe is if you go to the zoo and you'll be very lucky if the local botannical garden even has a boojum.
It is well established that the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, the local background radiation or radon in your basement, and the multitudes of toxins in all of those plus the soil and the seatcovers in your car have a big effect on your physical wellbeing. That is turn has an ample effect on your mental wellbeing, your attitudes, outlook, and even intelligence. (see, for example the studies showing sufficient non-fatal ingestion lead to decrease intelligence and increase aggressiveness and anger) These toxins abound in our cities, suburbs and towns, but also in the "natural" environment, though often to a lesser degree.
Beyond that, our cities, 'burbs, and such have a different form of pollution which I call aesthetic pollution, the uglification of our surroundings, and not just visually, but the smells and sounds as well. This might seem to be something of a "so-what" but constant exposure to cacaphony punctuated by harsh louder sounds, harsh, brutally ugly surroundings, day and night with the addition of the bright glare of often ugly artificial illumination at night time has its effect on the psyche. Some get depressed, some get aggravated or hostile and more, it is unpleasant and we tend to react to being bathed in unpleasantness by becoming a bit unpleasant ourselves.
Accordingly, it behooves us to take steps to remedy said uglification by introducing calm and pleasing sight and soundscapes to the extent possible by muting noise creastion where possible and shielding ourselves from it where it is unavoidable. Introducing greenery, statuary, murals and such, including indoor paintings, posters and such can reduce the impact of endless corridors of ugly buildings. Chimneys and smokestacks can help deal with some bad odors. Finally, cleaning up litter and debris can help
Beyond all that, these places we live, our environments are ecosystems of a type that also function not unlike organisms in the greater ecosystem and environment around them. They have inputs and outputs, consume energy and produce waste. They consume natural resources, sometimes in processed form and generate both "natural" and "Unnatural" wastes. The wastes, by and large, even where recyclable or compostable, are generally eventually dumped back into the greater outside environment. (Some of thee inflows and outflows can be reduced by simply internalizing them,combining urban gardening with on site composting, for example, or rooftop solar, backyard heat pumps and the like)
In short, OUR environment consumes, degrades and pollutes THE environment and, in the process, degrades and deranges our spirit, psyche and soul. This must be understood and ameliorated in all respects and aspects. For starts we each need to Grok what is going down in OUR environment and how it impacts THE environment and begin to figure out ways to enhance and improve it. As ever, the more we can do ourselves, individually and collectively, the better. Waiting on government too often amounts to exactly that, waiting, and private enterprise, under capitalism, ensures that you pay a lot for a little because mobs of idle speculators have to make a living off of doing nothing while some poor peon, possibly your neighbor, works mightily to get stuff donw in spite of middlesome middlemanagers
It is also National Attitude Day. I was tempted to go with that, but it turns out that it is about having a positive attitude. Screw that!
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On this day in history:
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1817 -- The Frontenac, the first Great Lakes steamer, was launched
1832 -- The Paris Uprising of 1832 (inspiration for Les Miserables)
1851 -- The first installment of a serialized Uncle Tom's Cabin was published
1862 -- The Treaty of Saigon ceded parts of southern Vietnam to France
1862 -- Guerilla leader Truong Dinh chose to continue fighting the imperialist bastids French
1883 -- The Orient Express' first regularly scheduled run
1915 -- Denmark's constitution was amended allowing women to vote
1916 -- The Arab Revolt broke out (think Allenby, T.E. Lawrence and Faisal)
1917 -- The draft for WWI began in the US
1933 -- Congress welched on US debts by abrogating the gold standard
1944 -- The Normandy coast was heavily bombed in preparation for D-Day
1945 -- The Allied Control Council took control in Germany
1947 -- U S Secretary of State George Marshall called for economic aid to Europe
1956 -- Elvis Presley introduced "Hound Dog" on The Milton Berle Show
1963 – Protests against the arrest of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini by the Shah of Iran
1963 -- John Profumo resigned as British Secretary of State for War
1967 -- Israel launched a sneak attack on Egypt, starting the 6 Day War.
1968 -- Sirhan Sirhan shot Robert F. Kennedy
1975 -- The Suez Canal reopened
1975 -- The UK considered and rejected Brexit
1981 -- The CDC reported that 5 people in L.A. had what is now known to have been AIDS
1984 -- Indira Gandhi ordered an attack on the Golden Temple
1989 -- The Tiananmen Square Tank Man faced down a column of Tanks
1995 -- The first successful production of a Bose - Einstein condensate
2006 -- Serbia declared independence
2009 -- The "Battle at Devils Curve" near Bagua, Peru, part of 2009 Peru political crises. See below
Peru signed a so-called "Free Trade Agreement" with the US that required that private companies be allowed to access the Amazon for purposes of resource exploitation. The Indigenous population, knowing that this meant the destruction of the Amazon, its natural resources, their villages, livelihood, and way of life, began a long series of protests and blockades. The police attacked blockading tribesmen resulting in the deaths of 23 indigineous people and 9 cops. The next day the cops massacred even more protesters, but in the end the government rescinded the laws that enabled the rape of the Amazon.
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Some people who were born on this day:
Yes, friends, governments in capitalist society are but committees of the rich to manage the affairs of the capitalist class.
AND
The great only appear great because we are on our knees. Let us rise!
~~ James Connolly
1646 -- Elena Cornaro Piscopia, mathematician and philosopher, first female phd
1723 -- Adam Smith, philosopher best known for ridiculous psuedo-science & invisible hands
1760 -- Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist, and mineralogist, discovered yttrium
1819 -- John Couch Adams, mathematician and astronomer who correctly predicted Neptune using math
1850 -- Pat Garrett, buffalo hunter, gunman, lawman, cowboy, killer and more
1868 – James Connolly, union leader, a leader of the Easter Rising
1878 -- Francisco "Pancho" Villa, revolutionary, general, & politician.
1883 -- John Maynard Keynes, improved upon Smith's pseudo-science
1883 – Mary Helen Young, nurse and WWII resistance fighter
1884 -- Ivy Compton-Burnett, author & "fierce Victorian atheist"
1898 -- Federico Garcia Lorca, poet, playwright & director
1899 – Otis Barton, diver, engineer, and actor, designed the bathysphere
1905 -- Wayne Boring, cartoonist
1900 – Dennis Gabor, physicist and engineer,
1912 – Dean Amadon, ornithologist and author, raptor expert
1913 – Conrad Marca-Relli, painter and academic
1914 -- Beatrice de Cardi, Archaeologist
1920 -- Cornelius Ryan, journalist & author
1934 -- Bill Moyers, journalist
1937 -- Helene Cixous, author, poet, critic & feminist
1941 -- Martha Argerich, classical pianist
1941 -- Erasmo Carlos, singer & songwriter, part of the Jovem Guarda
1944 – Whitfield Diffie, cryptographer and academic
1946 -- Wanderlea, singer, TV host, another Jovem Guarda
1946 -- John Du Cann, guitarist
1947 -- Laurie Anderson, singer, musician, songwriter and performance artist
1947 -- Tom Evans, singer, songwriter & guitarist - badfinger
1947 -- Freddie Stone, singer, pianist, pastor and co-founder of Sly & the Family Stone
1949 -- Ken Follett, author
1952 -- Carole Fredericks, singer
1956 -- Richard Butler, singer and songwriter
1956 -- Kenny G, audible sedative, in Los Angeles it illegal to listen to him while driving lest you fall asleep at the wheel
1965 -- Michael E. Brown, astronomer who helped kill Pluto
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Some people who died on this day:
It has been said that politics is the second oldest profession. I have learned that it bears a striking resemblance to the first.
AND
Peace is not absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.
~~ Saint Ronald of Reagan
1900 -- Stephen Crane, poet and author
1910 -- O. Henry, author
1993 -- Conway Twitty, singer, songwriter and guitarist
1999 -- Mel Torme, singer, songwriter and actor
2002 -- Dee Dee Ramone, singer, songwriter and bassist
2004 -- Ronald Reagan, mediocre actor & worse politician, creator of the DLC's agenda.
2012 -- Ray Bradbury, author
In the Desert BY STEPHEN CRANE
In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter--bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
"Because it is bitter,
"And because it is my heart."
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Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:
National Attitude Day
World Environment Day
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Today's Tunes
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1956? Elvis? "Introduced"? wtf?
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x YouTube Video
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James Connolly
x YouTube Video
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Francisco Villa
x YouTube Video
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Otis Barton
x YouTube Video
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Martha Argerich
x YouTube Video
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Erasmo Carlos
x YouTube Video
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Wanderlea
x YouTube Video
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John Du Cann
x YouTube Video
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Laurie Anderson (OK, so why wasn't I told about this??)
x YouTube Video
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Tom Evans
x YouTube Video
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Freddie Stone
x YouTube Video
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Carole Fredericks
x YouTube Video
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Richard Butler
x YouTube Video
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Kenny G
x YouTube Video
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Conway Twitty
x YouTube Video
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Mel Torme
x YouTube Video
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Dee Dee Ramone
x YouTube Video
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Bonus:
x YouTube Video
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x YouTube Video
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Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?
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Cross posted from
http://caucus99percent.com
I won't be here when this posts.
[END]
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