Oh… those are curling and flat Irons… yeah… totally what I thought at first glance.
Today I was at the book convention in Leipzig, Germany and attended a talk about climate change and misinformation around it, by the following people:
- Ma Thida, a surgeon, human rights activist and writer from Myanmar. Sentenced to 20 years in prison for criticizing the government, released in 1999 after almost six years in mostly solitary confinement, duo to international pressure. Has been in exile ever since.
- Behnaz Amani, a college professor and poet from Iran. Arrested in October 2022 and indicted with “conspiracy against national security” in November for demanding the release of her students who were detained during the protests. Was denied cancer treatment in prison, released in December on bail and a reduced sentence, but she was prevented from returning to teaching. In February 2024, she left Iran and has been living in exile ever since.
- Collen Kajokoto, a Zimbabwean protest poet. Arrested in 2002 and tortured for protesting artistic censorship and political dictatorship. Unsuccessfully sought asylum in South Africa before being imprisoned for 7 years. The treatment Kajokoto endured in prison left him physically and mentally disabled by the time he was released in 2019. Has been living in exile at an undisclosed location ever since.
Aaaaand “Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein” (that’s his name, literally translates to Prince of Löwenstein) who is… some wealthy, German eco farmer? His act of self sacrifice and protest was… criticizing industrial farming… in Germany… where it’s completely save to do so.
So picture this, you got these three pretty amazing people, each of whom endured unimaginable hardships.
Each of whom has been arrested, imprisoned, abused and forced to leave their homes and loved ones, talking about how corrupt governments, backed by the 1%, wreak havoc on their people and each of their countries.
How entire ecosystems are destroyed and every resource they can get their hands on is stolen. How this is done with complete disregard of the consequences of their actions.
Talking about countries in the global north still refuse to admit their roles in colonialism, still refuse to pay any kind of reparations for chaos they caused and the resources they stole (and continue to steal).
Talking about how blood diamonds and slave mined gold is still sold all over Europe. How the likes of China and Russia are now attempting modern colonialism. Talking about how misinformation is used to hide a lot of this from the rest of the world.
And then… Felix, textbook example of a wealthy white guy McGee, chimes in and basically says: “But you know how we can solve all of these problems? We just need all the billionaires to see that destroying the planet will eventually have a negative impact on their bottom line too. Once they understand that, they will fix all of these problems and injustices."
The other three speakers were… not impressed by this amazing "solution” or the “benevolent white man” trying to teach them, the noble savages, how to fix all their problems.
Talk about being a fucking walking and talking cliché.
This guy’s entire contribution to the talk could be summed up with “Current farming techniques aren’t sustainable, but there are better options.” and his amazing one size fits all solution… and yet, he somehow talked the most of all of them.
If trench warfare were made-up, it would be the most on-the-nose anti-war satire ever created. Bunch of young men shooting at each other from inside open graves, slowly rotting even as they fight to stay alive. Every so often, they get to move a few hundred metres to dig a new grave for themselves somewhere else and this is called a victory.
The land they “conquer” by doing this, has become a barren wasteland of death, mud, barbed wire, craters, unexploded munitions and harmful chemicals. It will take decades for it to become even remotely suitable for human habitation again.
Jeff Bezos did to the Washington post what the elongated muskrat did to Twitter…
Hmm. After an initial test run with the zip-off jorts, I have come to the conclusion that no-stopper load bearing zippers were a remarkably stupid idea. Now proceeding to looking into alternative options for structural reinforcements.
These are undeniably the pants of a man about to pass a psych evaluation with flying colours.
did you pass??
I am the piña colada of mental health.
“So basically my couch has electricity and I use it to charge my battery powered doorbell”
“Okay that makes sense”
Now explain it to a Japanese samurai from the year 1218
"do you know how waterwheels grind up grain in a water mill using the force of running water? We found a way to create a huge source of force that runs all the time and can transfer its force over long distance. I can tell you in more detail, but that's the basics. Now that is a chime that has a mechanism that one can press instead of having to open the door to let you know that you are waiting to be let in. It requires the transferred force to make the mechanism work and that wire is how we transfer the force to the chime."
I mean, we can look at science fiction stuff that’s basically magic and still understand that it’s technology. It might not always known how it works, and sometimes how it works doesn’t make any sense, but you still wouldn’t scream: “WITCHCRAFT!!!!” when seeing a teleporter in a movie.
So why would you freak out when you somehow end up in the future and see an actual functional teleporter?
tw disturbing shit
despidan a la koreaboo libertaria que lo maquilla
He looks like a latex mask… a really cheap one.