Seven Figures on Climate Change

from Huff Post - and a happy new year to you!

Darn Climate keeps at it

Another banker warns of - this time not climate change induced financial disaster but finance induced climate disaster. - BBC

Every day news like this

Scottish temperature record high - Guardian

Old Zen buddy's blog

Shamsul Bahari's
RAMBLINGS OF THE CHEESEBURGER BUDDHA

The top left photo came up when I did an image search with Shamsul's name so maybe that's him now or not. The one below with the parrot was taken at the Blanco Renaissance Musem in Ubud, Bali - about forty minutes from here if there were no traffic. - dc

Christmas Tree

We've got our iron tree in the house with six orchids in clay pots in the iron rings and flickering lights. Xmas is a national holiday here. Unlike my experience in Japan, people, here think of Chritmas as an important religous holiday and know what it's about as it covers two of the recognized  religions, Catholicism and Protestantism, and Jesus is referred to 187 times in the Quran and considered a prophet second only to Mohammed in Islam. And Hindus always have room for another holy being.

Ear Trouble

A while back I did what ear doctors always say not to do - I put something smaller than my elbow in my ear, my left ear. I was scratching in there with a temple of my glasses (the part that goes over the ear), and maybe my beloved wife banged me or maybe I just jerked - it happened so fast I didn't know what had happened. There was a little painful pop and an ouch. Then there was clear liquid dripping out of my ear. THT doc here (ear nose and through) do here put my perforated ear drum on a screen and said to keep it dry till it heals over. I got some silicone ear plugs which fit in there fine for when I take a shower, running very little water past that ear. After six weeks went back to the doc. The hole had shrunk but still had to keep dry. She said I could use my ear plugs with a swimming cap. Went to a diving store. Got a diving hood for about thirty bucks.

James Lovelock

Podcast with the great scientist at 100 who brought us the Gaia theory. He's wondering if AI might be the best hope for dealing with climate change. I've been thinking that too. Maybe a global military coup that forced the world to impliment science based AI supported solutions to salvage what we can and move into the future without the forces of world suicide being in control. 

Meanwhile on the actual climate change front

Nature dot com Climate Change - They mainly ignore what the politicians are doing and just report on what we're learning. Most politicians are ignoring them too.

Christmas in Indonesia

Xmas is a national holiday in Indonesia. Protestantism and Catholicism are two of the six recognized religions here. We meet lots of native Christians, almost entirely from other islands, largely those to the east of here like Flores. And of course the tourist expat world that we live on the edge of is full of Xmas trees and songs - not as much as in Japan though where it's entirely a commercial event associated with eating cake. Our gardener came today and I told him to come next Wednesday. He's a very simple guy, a local Hindu, but he immediately pointed out that next Wednesday is Christmas.

Bandi's Indra

Got this photo off the web someone took while at Oomba.

We've been going to a place called Mostly Jazz Brew sometimes on Friday evenings to hear Indonesian jazz great Indra Lesmana jam with other musicians. So good. Indra is Sanskrit for senses. Our dogette Bandi has some super senses. The other evening I walked her down the Beach a ways to a place called Oomba to have a few snacks and hear some music by some local musicians we know. It was sort of a jam too but more in the folk, blues, reggae, edgy stuff. We were waiting for Katrinka to join us. Bandi was walking around having fun watching, smelling, hearing, but I had to go out back and find her because she'd found some other dogs to play with and dogs can get stolen here so I brought her back and tied her up. She doesn't mind that.

Saint Stupid

I used to love going to the Saint Stupid's Day parades in San Francisco on April 1st. [their website] Now I enjoy the Saint Stupid Facebook page where I find nonsense like this

to balance tragic human folly like this

Scientists feared unstoppable emissions from melting permafrost. They may have already started.

Indonesian Cave Art goes way back

Indonesian cave art oldest so far found - 44,000 years ago. Discovered in South Sulawesi. 

They

They is the Word of the Year a la Webster - Time - Cuke policy has long been to use they for the third person singular when the gender is not known. I always found it to work well and to feel natural whereas alternating he and she or using some other recently contrived word seemed awkward. Using they, their, themselves for the thrd person gender neutral singular is also not new at all. According to Webster, that usage dates back at least 600 years. And now it is becoming common. Congratulations they! - DC

UN Climate Talks

Failing to recognize emergency which 500,000 march outside. - Guardian

The 11 Nations of North America

from Singapore's Business Insider - thanks Linnw

Ocean Oxygen

Getting lower due to warming water - BBC

People try so desperately to silence us

Greta - BBC

Hot

It's been awfully hot here in Sanur this November and now December. Right now the temperature is 91.4 and feels more like 100. We've been here six years and I've always said it almost never seems that hot to me here - where we live anyway. We live near the ocean so I assume it must get hotter elsewhere but I see the Sanur temperature is the same as that further inland. This year I must say that it's hot, and hot in a way that affects me in ways it hasn't before. I can still get by in it. I do pretty well in hot weather. But I notice it making me tired. I just noticed an article from a month ago in Coconuts that said that temperatures this year are hotter than anytime in thirty years - in Bali and all over Indonesia. I've asked some locals too if it seems hotter than usual and they've all said yes, definitely. I wonder what it will be like next year. I suspect it will be even hotter. 

Worst Case Climate Change Essay

Extinction Foretold - Guy McPherson on Nature Bats Last