Podcast #140
John Steppling, Dennis Riches, Max Parry, Shaenah Batterson, and Hiroyuki Hamada
https://john-steppling.com/2024/12/we-are-of-all-men-most-miserable/
https://www.voltairenet.org/article221562.html
https://indi.ca/americas-hard-and-soft-power/
https://youtu.be/bfyra2xzoyA?si=T5vQqBddePo9jZT9
https://x.com/truth_wire/status/1866050021126180960
https://x.com/infrahaz/status/1865813322190262515?s=52&t=n1epw94wtgG43blabc4VzQ
On the “green agenda” topic, I recall that back in the 80s there was a big stooshie about the ozone layer collapsing. Julian Lennon even wrote a song about it! (“Salt water wells in my eyes”, he mewled and even at the time I thought that was maudlin pap.) And the big villain of the piece was the aerosol can... and then, in a short period of time, all those aerosol cans started to appear with “ozone friendly” stickers which prompted me to think, “Well that was amazingly quick of them to get that problem sorted out!”
Furthermore, I recall having a go at this health food lark and buying up products from e.g. Paul Newman’s line of fabulous beans or whatever .... and I had to spend the next 24 hours on the toilet – at which point I realised that, if you were to get the “benefit” of this health kick, then you would have to adapt to these kind of foodstuffs. But I just bailed out.
And then in more recent times I took my son to one of those health and environment garden centre places at which point I made the interesting discovery that all this produce – which was spun in terms of saving resources and being economical – cost a fortune! I also noted that the clientele were all affluent hippy types.
Re: Syria, it now seems that the assault on Gaza was the first step in a much bigger project. Ominous indeed. That Russia may have made some deal to “throw Assad under the bus” also has sinister reverberations. These tweets from Vanessa Beeley give a frightening insight as to the actual situation in Syria:
https://x.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1865730838773600586
https://x.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1865983897353289796
Didn’t Louis Proyect have some kind of pathological resentment towards Assad with all that talk about the “Baathist Amen Corner”?
The Western “Left” that cannot bring itself to support movements against imperialism confirms a feeling I have long had – that in a nominal democracy it is the “dissident” side that actually legitimises the imperialist order. It is this “oppositional” presence that ironically embodies the system it supposedly opposes – just as it was the “Leftist” support given to the draconian covid regulations which “justified” these regulations in the eyes of the general public.
Just a quick note to add to the Light Emitting Diode (LED) discussion. There are so many light fixtures sold now with built-in LEDs--when the bulb(s) wear out, you have to throw the entire fixture or lamp away! How stupid and irresponsible are disposable fixtures and lamps?
But regarding what you said about how harsh the LED white light is and how people don't like the LEDs, the qualities of light emitted by an LED bulb, in terms of what is pleasing to the eye, are a function of what is called the color temperature of the LED. Most LEDs sold, especially most of those found built into fixtures, start at color temperature 3000 kelvin, which they call "warm white," -- but it is not warm enough! It's unpleasant and I wouldn't want it in my home or to have to work under those lights all day. Some LEDs are made super bright and are very harsh, like 6000k. These are used industrially, where fluorescent bulbs have been formerly employed. However, for yourselves, if you search for and utilize 2700k LED bulbs, you will get a truly softer, warmer, pleasing color; it's not bad at all.
Some puck-style ceiling lights and other fixtures with build-in LEDs have a switch for selecting the color temperature you prefer. They usually start at 2700k, but check for that. As for screw-in bulbs, the 2700 GE Relax bulbs have the best color I've found. I use 2700k LEDs throughout my space, mostly in the form of changeable bulbs, not built ins. I am happy with them so far and I support technological developments in energy efficiency and in preservation of resources. Something like 1.6 billion people in the world don't have electricity and use candles, kerosene, and other fuel lamps.
There is a wide range of concerns that prompts research and development, investment in (capitalizing) advancements in methods and delivery of light production, communications, access to information, food, etc. Some people are thinking globally, in terms of costs of production, packaging, transportation, and in spans of decades or a century +, and in terms of many billions of people and hundreds of billions of dollars. Human social problems and concerns about well being are fraught with conundrums, dilemmas, and contradictions, damned if we do, damned if we don't. It is good for us to consider and to discuss, but no one has all the answers. I'd rather listen to crickets than eat them, but if I were starving, I might flip that script.