Category: Climate

Keeping warm during power cuts in storms

Devon has been battered by the elements this week. My mum lives in a new house in a village in Devon. With new build properties, there has been a move to make sure that the buildings are energy efficient and heating supplies are sustainable, homes well insulated, which are all a good things and help the planet and also should help bring mums energy costs down in the long run.

Devon also got hit by snow this week on Thursday and although there was enough snow to stop the buses running for a few hours where I live in Exeter, where mum lives the storm took out the electricity supply too.

She has an air pump at the garden which is run  by electricity where air pumps heats up hot water, that then go to under floor heating pipes under the floors downstairs and takes hot water upstairs to radiators and a water storage unit. Well the village that she lives in had this power cut and on Thursday her electric was off from 09:30am to 4pm and during this time the temperature dropped too and snow fell.

I was worried about her and unfortunately the mobile phone network also went down in the area at about the same time, for all I know also due to having no electricity supply too. When I managed to get hold of her just after 4pm she was ok but cold and the heating was able to come on as soon as the electricity came back on, but she was so cold that she had to spend much of the day in bed just to keep warm and comfortable.

So over the weekend I have been trying to research possible ways of providing electricity or other support for her during a power cut. On the weekend we also had our second name storm of the season, I was staying with my mum and at around 6 am this morning the wind was blowing and the rain was pouring down there was another brief power cut although this time the power came straight back on fortunately. It is likely there will be more storms and power cuts on the way this season too.

So I started to do some research into possibly energy or devises that could assist mum during a power cut and the first thing I started looking into was the possibly of what they call a power station its a kind of rechargeable large battery, that people take on holiday when they go camping. I though wouldn’t it be great if maybe it could power a kettle and a heater, while the electric is off in the house that would be an awesome comfort to my mum and the only worry then would be where to plug it in and how many cups of tea she could make and how long it could heat a room for.

But from what little research I have done so far it take a huge amount of electricity to heat up a kettle let alone an electric heater, which would use a huge amount of electricity that a simply battery powered station simply could not provide. If lucky you might be able to heat up a small camping kettle a few times a battery charge, whilst spending something like £500 or more on a battery power station powerful enough to be able to heat the kettle and not much else. I don’t think the technology of kettles heating up water has changed much in over 50 or more as there has not been seen to be a need for that kind of invention we just switch them on at the mains and they work.

My Dad also sensible suggested a thermos flask for her to keep hot water in, for what every hot drink she might want to make use of it for. You can get ones that are 500ml or 1000ml in size made by thermos that will keep water heated for potentially up to 24 hours. There are minor problems with doing this though. To provide hot water during a power cut firstly, you don’t know when the power cut is going to happen so you would need to fill it with hot water before any big storm is forecast, just in case. Secondly if you accidently forget to fill it up or don’t fill it up before the electric goes off its no use to you whatsoever.

Price wise though it’s much more realistic to by a thermos flask for £25 and make good use of it rather than spend £500 or more on a battery power station that is not powerful enough to heat up your home kettle. So it looks like Santa will be getting mum a thermos flask for Christmas and as for the electric battery power station although it sounds like a great idea sadly it’s just not practical or powerful enough for the budget that we have.

It feels like better minds than mine will need to tackle these issues head on as if we are planning to have properties more dependant on just electric for there power needs no more gas central heating systems or wood burners or oil heating systems in home then homes in communities which are vulnerable to the elements and power cuts when storms take place will also have to have some sort of back up system that can continue to supply electricity while the main power is off during winter months.

Were nowhere near investing in a solar panel roof for to be covered in snow or for the sky to be covered in clouds and she doesn’t have the land to place a working wind powered generator onto. If the batteries for home power stations could improve or if home electrical products became less power hungry then that is certainly an investment for the future. But for now I think we will stick to a thermos flask.

Sting – Soul Cake

Discovering Ai Image generators

A work colleague of mine was talking last week about the creative power of using ai writing programs he used it to generate a template for a questionnaire for work and was really impressed with its ability to write out a template for him.

So with that in mind I have started to look at Ai art generating software and I am absolutely amazed by the results just from some basic prompts that I included to generate those images.

I do hope to continue to use such software to express myself in future too. One old image I have that I find really cool and inspirational is that of a polar bear swimming through ice cold waters it’s a fairly old image so I assume it is real as I have had the image since 2010.

I love the image and have in the past dreamed about polar bears too and love the fact of where they live, how dangerous and majestic they are as well as able to survive and thrive in such a hostile environment. I tried seeing could generate similar images with Ai photo generator and got the following results just in word press, its such a cool tool.

I also had a go on a Microsoft image generator and got the following results.

I also tried to generate an image of a polar bear being stared at by a wolf. The image below is using WordPress image generator.

I am just amazed by how cleaver these image generators are. Though they don’t always know what they are doing!

But mostly its impressive to view. The below image was using the Microsoft image generator this time.

Smoke City – Underwater Love

For what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful!

When your the chosen one put on this planet by your American Christian God and then voted into office on his second time round by about 51% of the voting US electorate. Is this a huge vote against the global consensus on what is needed for the environment?

The US now has Trump in charge of deciding what happens in the court of humanity on the future of the climate of this world, a supreme court judge for an issue he has no time for and frankly does not understand and who’s interest it serves, to not care or understand anything about protecting or preserving anything to do with it either.

In reality the policy is one of seeing the environment as a mere stock or commodity to be treated like everything else as something to be bought and sold on an alter of American capitalism and exploitation. Not engaging with the attempt to protect or preserve but to be bought or sold merely for profit.

What he does will be no accident or miscalculation. He can now act as judge and jury on the future fate of this planet, by making a conscious choice to destroy past international treaties with the environment being relegated to a mere commercial product and play thing for a few dollars more a capitalist’s wet dream on the alter of Christian capitalism, but at what cost to us all?

It’s just like playing a game and rolling dice with the globe, a game that can be lost as well as won. Trump will now pick up a set of dice and roll them to see what happens next at the expense of the planet and its populations. One roll could result in no serious irreversible climate damage over the next four years while pumping out black gold from the seas and ground just to reduce the price of gasoline for consumers and make him and his buddies a lot of money.

Whereas on an alternative landing of the roll of the dice it could result in destroying recognised globally established environmental treaties, designed to save this planet and stave of irreversible global climate catastrophise. It could lead to us reaching one of many global tipping points that would result in global climate collapse in ecological systems on the planet and then to the death of us all or a serious reduction in humans ability to survive in spaces on this planet or degrade considerable this planets ability to sustain life as we know it.

While Trump might be banking on the unlikely outcome and too busy counting his profits in his bank accounts to think that the American nation is to big and powerful to be lost to a global issue and might not be affected. If he is wrong, we will all end up counting the cost and paying the price. Just when many US citizens shout out that their prayers have been answered and that their god is good capitalist Christian god and the heir to the thrown of power is Trump, who is now their president elect. I fear the god of this earth to whom I pray to on this planet has yet to give their answer back and will most likely have the last word on this matter of the climate.

We are all now left with no alternative at this moment in time, but to hope that climate scientists are wrong and have miscalculated with all the evidence presented to them that the climate is in peril and so to our ability to maintain life on this earth unless we change course and the fact that we are seeing 100 year likely storms on a yearly basis and are just about to brake another climate record for hottest global temperature on record this year is inconsequential.

We all have to hope, whether we like it or not that exploiting the climate, degrading the environment and the dismantling of globally agreed climate treaties has no irreversible consequences or a bare minimum negative effect to this world or just merely consequences that can be witnessed and then circumnavigated or reversed in some as yet unforeseen way to prevent climate collapse and irreversible habitat and species extinction. I would rather not leave the future of my home, species and plant to Trump and hope, but I was not at the ballot box when his name was put on the card.

Mr President-elect for what we are about to receive may the Lord make us truly thankful.

The Devil Went Down to Georgia by Charlie Daniels

They go on strike and you say ‘that’s ok you’re all done’!

It’s rare for me to hear two rich and powerful people massage their egos, so much as when I had the  misfortune to listen to part of the Trump and Musk lowlights of Monday nights X interview. At one time it almost sounded like to the two men were tickling each other’s bellies in happiness and joy, while discussing the dismantling of workers rights in order to make more money from it for each other. Trump on musk over firing workers ‘You’re the Greatest!’.

If you believe that Trumps policies will be for your benefit as opposed to, the benefit of the rich and powerful that work hard to elect him then more fool you. The Ecological damage to your environment will be fierce as he deregulates environmental protections of habitats in order to guess what merely make a quick buck at the expense of the environment, and as for your rights as a citizen if they get in the way of him and his supports making money don’t think that you will have protection either.

A part of me wants Trump to be elected just to see what a shit show he makes of being in government the second time around, but that’s my dark and selfish side the other part hopes for the best and hopes that he loses in the election and a more progressive form of government is allowed to prevail. Its all up to US voters anyway so they will only be able to blame or congratulate each other on the outcome of their election and his next potential four years in government.  

Frank Turner – Be More Kind 

Open Letter for Whole Truth Five

Dear Attorney General, Richard Hermer KC,

This week has seen one of the greatest injustices in a British court in modern history. On Thursday 18th July, five people were given the highest sentences for nonviolent protest this country has ever seen. They were on trial for holding a zoom call, calling on others to take action to raise the alarm about the greatest threat humanity has ever faced: the climate and nature crises.

These sentences were handed down just days after the new government’s policy of no new licensing for oil and gas infrastructure was announced. In a world of sound, evidence-based governance, none of this needed to happen. With prisons at breaking point and the new government acting urgently to address this, how can these sentences be seen as anything other than insanity? The sentences, ranging from 4 to 5 years, are higher than those given to many who commit serious sexual assault. 

The defendants were denied the right to explain to a jury why they took the action they did, making a mockery of the right to a fair trial, with the judge saying that the Crown Prosecution’s agreed facts on climate collapse – including that the world has gone beyond 1.5 degrees for 12 consecutive months – were “neither here nor there”. These five brave, defiant people, like all nonviolent protestors, are fulfilling a necessary service by alerting the nation to the grave risk we all face, as scientists in their droves express their fear that many of the Earth’s systems are already at breaking point.

Immediately after the verdict, the UN’s special rapporteur on environmental defenders issued an extraordinary statement: “Today marks a dark day for peaceful environmental protest, the protection of environmental defenders and indeed anyone concerned with the exercise of their fundamental freedoms in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” 

According to the Office for National Statistics, 74% of people in the UK want urgent action on the climate crisis. Until a couple of weeks ago that majority was blocked by a Prime Minister who used climate – an existential threat – as a wedge issue in an election he lost. This new government has inherited a suite of recent legislation that conflicts with International Human Rights Law, and has put everyone’s right to peaceful protest at risk. The new government can address this now, as they have with fossil fuel licensing.

The world stands at a crossroads and so does our democracy. We write in support of Chris Packham and Dale Vince’s request for an urgent meeting with you, to be recorded so it is transparent to the public, to discuss the jailing of truth tellers and their silencing in court.

Sincerely, and with love for all humanity,

https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-prison-for-protest?source=direct_link&


Democracy the worst form of government, except for all other forms that have been tried!

I really enjoy trying to understand and paying attention to politics – even though it is perhaps normal or fashionable to express no interest or have no view. But for me politics does matters, democracy matters and having a view and interpretation matters.

When you have a political discussion with someone or listen to the views of others in the news it’s exceptionally rare to agree or not find disagreements or points to have further discussion upon and maybe the increased amount of disagreements and diversity of opinion is what some people love about politics and on the other hand the disagreements and diversity of opinions is what puts some people of politics!

I have so far in my life voted in 7 general elections have supported 2 political parties so far and might end up supporting a third party in the next general election. Considering how interested I am in politics and democracy I feel my actual input into the political and democratic system is very small.  

When I was 18 I was a member of the Liberal Democrats a smaller party in the UK that you could have summed up being a left leaning party that believes in personal liberty for individual and advocates a change to the voting system of the UK so as to see proportional representation and more people have their views represented in the house of commons and also believes in the funding of political institutions for the benefit of all. One of the things that put me off them is when they went into power with the Conservative party which resulted in from my perspective a considerable amount of damage to the UK, where as others can argue through majority rule the British people got what they asked and voted for with Brexit when we left the European Union and introduced Conservative policies to cuts in taxes and damage public services due to lack of vision, investment and resourcing.

I have never been a member of the Labour party but I have voted for them in a general election and been served by a local Labour MP called Ben Bradshaw he was culture minister in the last labour government well over 14 years ago and is now stepping down and making way for a new local MP at the next general election. So most elections in which I have voted for have been for the Labour candidates and this election I will likely give my vote to the green party candidate in Exeter. I have regularly voted for local city councillors that are members of the green party and fortuntly they were elected to stand in my local city council. I have been a paid up member of the green party now and respect and believe in the principles and points of view of the green party. So on the election I will be choosing to vote with my principles and vote green or vote to beat the conservative and vote Labour.

I am more of an anti-Conservative party voter than I am a pro one particular party voter, I am a member of the green party because I believe they are a progressive party with practical solutions on how to  invest in and protect our environment and have policies on the local, national and international level that reflect this. But mostly I am an anti-conservative voter, if the greens seek to protect the environment then the conservative party seek to damage the environment, society and people within my own community so as to benefit from that damage financially themselves and such policies and actions I find repulsive.

A conservative will often boast about what freedoms they give to you while they profit considerably at your expense when governing you. It is argued that we live in a capitalist society and it is the only way to live. But I do not think it is that simple I would argue we are consumers not capitalists. We produce goods and services to be consumed and that way of existence can be managed and governed to ensure that the system is safe for the environment and the citizens that live within in e.g. safe water to drink and safe places to work and live. A capitalist mere profit is king society does not care whether the water is safe it only cares whether it is profitable or whether your work or live is safe only whether it is profitable to the economy.  We should aspire to work towards a consumer led society not capitalistic profit at the price of everything else society it is damaging road to destruction of this planet and must be voted against and spoken out against at every opportunity.

Deacon Blue – Peace Jobs And Freedom

It’s complicated              

Life has been busy and tiring for me since my Ireland holiday and also with the world in a continuous chaotic crisis, I sometimes just don’t want to type something in case the situation I’m typing about gets even more unstable than that it was when first put into words.

I just tried to shape a thought in my head which is why do people hate and fear refugees or asylum seekers so much, what exactly should we hate and fear them for? Why do they bother coming to a country like the USA or Britain to be hated and feared. why bother?

Well if the country that they lived in was at war or in some form of crisis resulting in no food or shelter, then some would run to the nearest refugee camp. But others not merely wanting to survive but thrive would seek a new life, not just for themselves but for their future generations and if the free world philosophy is to be believed then you would run to those countries that have freedoms for their citizens and a chance to thrive such as the USA or Britain. The USA did not become a great nation by turning people away and just looking after its own. It became a great nation by welcoming those from abroad not turning its back on them.

Admittedly there is not enough room or decent infrastructure within any country to welcome all of the immigrants that would choose to live within their new country of choice. But that does not in any way mean we must demonise people seeking a better life due to the hell of war, climate change and famine within the country they wish to escape from. We should be doing more to protect care for and humanise the living conditions of all people from all over the world. If the countries of the world do not collectively see other countries wars, climate change crisis and famines as there problems then sooner or later those starving and desperate people will turn up on your boarders trying to seek refuge and shelter.

It might be convenient then to blame them for the circumstances that led to the crisis that they finds them in, in your county but by trying to criminalise them or cart them off to an unsafe future is in no way solving the problems for them or clearing countries of their responsibility to other fellow  human beings.

There are many elections coming up in the UK and USA over the next 12 months which will have consequences upon not just you and your life but the lives of those whose very life or death might be in the hands of the politicians that you vote for as to whether they are given help or are hindered shown mercy or demonised so when you do vote, which of course you should really do, think about what and who you vote for and what and who the consequences are for from that vote.   

Read All About It, Pt. III by Emeli Sandé

A world in flux

The world is forever changing, for some this presents opportunities and for some it presents threats. It is not just about what is happening but it is about how you perceive it to be happening or how you are informed or misinformed on what is going on.

With increased technological developments taking place as well as a communications network like none ever developed on our planet prior to the last 20 years with the internet, TV and telecommunications.  We can now see, hear and be informed within seconds or minutes of developments on earth that we might never have been informed about or might have possibly only learned about after the event years later in history books or documentaries.

So our means of communicating changes has changed as well. Our climate is also changing, as again to our ability to be informed of those changes. We were not always aware of big earthquakes, volcanoes, storms and hurricanes affecting places around the globe. But now with 24 hour news it’s very much a news filler item to watch the suffering of others around the globe in these horrific condition and not only that but due to global climate chaos they are actually happening more frequently too.

Industrialisation of work force and artificial intelligence developments making AI better than humans at doing jobs we once thought we could do for life? So not only do we have to worry about will we earn enough to be attractive and provide for another partner or family, we now could end up finding that our career passion the job we love doing is ultimately not able to be done by us any more and has been outsourced to a PC or machine of some other type.

So these issues are happening and one main inevitability is that change is constant and continuous, you cannot stop change from happening but you can engage to what is changing and reflect on it, accommodate it, do your best to manage it in your life or try to understand it and how it effects you.

One way I get my head around understanding changes going on in the political world is by supporting and advocating for changes I want to see by joining a political party such as the Green Party, or becoming a member of a charity such as Moor Trees. Though my contributions may be small in the scheme of things, they still matter and contributing to a bigger picture for potential positive change in a way I would like the world around me to be shaped. Change is not always negative and great and beautiful things do come into this world when changes are able to be made and realised.

Another way to perhaps be aware of change and understand how it affects you is to read, listen and watch news articles and stories. Though not always a pleasant thing to do and best not to put your interpretations all into one basket of news sources but to take from a variety of sources. The newspaper review on BBC news or UK Sky (Not Murdock owned or dictated to news) can be informative when they discuss the next days headlines with some interpretations of what those headlines are. I tend to find the more you just listen to one persons perspective though the more chance you have of being misinformed, manipulated or indoctrinated into another’s view when its far more important to try and think for yourself.

One final little point is regarding if the world is changing for better or worse are we at the end of time? Or the end of days or is an apocalypse around our corner. Well I hope not but again that’s just a matter of opinion. People have feared, expected or written about living in the end of days, a war that will end all war or Armageddon being around the corner for thousands of years in religious circles and I can only assume if you believe in a certain deity then you have also had to be prepared that it’s only a matter of time before they call last orders at the global bar and closing time on all earth, man and existence as we know it. If you don’t believe in said god then you will alternatively think that’s an impossibility of a God that does not exist to call time on something that they have no power over because they are not here to do it! Finally on this point about whether we could be entering a time of growth, goodness, fear or darkness.

Well I don’t believe in a god that could destroy its own creation as a promise it made to its people. I don’t believe in a god that puts some people on the side of being good people due to where or who they were born from or came from and others on the side of evil due to where they were born or who they were born from or came from. I really just don’t accept that the god I pray to, believe in or work for and live by could be so narrow minded! The god I believe in is not fighting for Armageddon against an inherent enemy but fighting for justice for all of life and creation.

White Shadow by Coldplay

Twas the 12th night before Christmas

So it is 12 nights before Christmas day, lots going on in Exeter with the build up to Christmas we are having a ‘Christmas breakfast’ tomorrow for work colleagues, rather than an organised Christmas night out, I think the boss is afraid to meet up with too many staff that have had too many drinks in case they have a go at him, so he’s chickened out of allowing us to have a Christmas staff night out this year.

The world has some potential good news for a change and a little unexpected too with nations at COP28 the UN climate summit agreeing for the first time to take explicit aim at the use of fossil fuels. The talks in Dubai came close to collapse but in a dramatic turn-around, nations agreed to “transition away” from coal, oil and gas.

But my mood for the night is one of contemplation for the past, present and future. Sorry to be brief but sometimes a much needed mulching over of my minds view, thoughts and feelings are much needed and this just so happens to be one of those times.

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence

What makes a government not work in the interest of the people?

You must first define who does a government consider to be the people or more precisely ‘it’s people’. It’s citizens that live within it’s boarders? it’s voters that elected it into power? It’s own politicians that vote through its laws and or its own financial backers that fund campaigns and promote voting habits or those that profit from the decisions that it makes and advocate the policies it enacts? Sadly in the UK for many years now there has been an overwhelming consensus of opinion from those in power or promoted by those who influence and determine the policies of those in power to simply make choices that are cost saving to them, whilst at the expense of the people and results in profiteering at the expense of people, whilst decreasing quality of the goods and assets and services for people of the UK, whilst continuing to charge more for those ever decreasing quality of goods, services and assets.

A considerable proportion of people in the UK can no longer look forward to getting educated, to have a job, to buy a home and a roof over our head and then one day retire. There are no longer the quantity or quality of homes, and we no longer have the backup of a strong government to support us in providing decent water, homes, roads or medical services to us. What we receive now in all aspects of goods and services is of a poorer quality that it was prior to when the conservatives came to power in the UK and yes this is a political and policy lead problem very much caused as a result of the government decision making processes no longer working in the interest of the people but for the profiteering of the few.

This country and its people is experiencing the perfect storm of greed and incompetence, where it is perceived to not only be necessary and good in corporate and capitalist orthodoxy and that there is no alternative to exploitive capitalist ventures being only way of doing things.

This is a political view and economic choice done in order to grease the wheels of the economy and the system so as to get what can be done, done. To say this is the only way is a lie and a profitable one at that, which politicians that profit from this system tell themselves, tell us and tell those that do their bidding or profit themselves from what is being done.

A simple example of how exploiting others works well in the UK for people in power at the expense of the people and is designed to succeed over delivering a good service to the many and profit to the few. I moved into my housing association over 15 years ago and in that time it and many other housing associations have been bought up and by bigger more profitable housing associations.

What makes them bigger and more profitable is to do less work to their tenants housing stock, the less you do the more money you have to spend and can be seen to be a more profitable housing association. The more money you have means you can buy up smaller housing associations. Therefore do less and buy more puts your competitors out of business and makes you too big to be bought yourself. The quality of service to the housing tenants decreases as the profits to the associations increases. My first housing association had a community housing officer that helped me get a job assisted with me getting shoes and clothing to attend an interview which I got and was a win, win for all concerned.   

A second example of a failing normal everyday inadequate, under delivering incompetent public good is that of the UK water utilities and their failure to clean up water pollution and profiteering at the expense of the people. Water utilities have been providing money to share holders whilst failing to cleanup our waterways or future proofing water sector. It’s more profitable and economical to pay money out to share holders and pay out fines for pollution that it is to spend the money on cleaning up on said waterways in the first place and then being able to sell shares in a clean and working water industry. Government bodies designed to monitor and fine waterways are too weak in order to force water companies to change to do what they should have been doing all along which is providing clean water to customers and through clean waterways. The failing current model of delivery and service is a politically sanctioned choice that fails the people but works for water companies and government bodies and decision makers and profiteers.

Purely focusing on profit at the top as a business model only, fails society and fails to join the dots of the whole economy or social structure that it operates within. For example legislating to have housing association that can enable its tenants to take the next step after having a roof put over their heads to make steps towards going into employment so as to be able to fund that roof over their heads themselves is priceless and as a service to tenants should not be priced out of the housing model.  With regard to our waterways having clean and usable rivers and beaches is so health for the people and wildlife that use those waterways (and sadly as this is not reflected on the profit sheets of a water utility they see no gain to themselves to provide this service effectively) But the costs of not cleaning up the environment for our wildlife and for people that cannot use their polluted areas are not on anyone’s costs and balances spreadsheets.  

I always want to express the view that it pays to be kind, it is cost effective to care and that it is short sighted not to care and ultimately we all pay the price when no one cares both politically and personally.

If the UK is designed to be run down or at breaking point in the eyes of its own citizens or getting worse by the day then it is easier for politicians here to pedal their lies that we should not help those from abroad if we live in such a crap country that cannot help itself. If we were well governed we would no longer have our own countries government acting incompetently as an excuse to not help others.

Frank Turner – Be More Kind