Brutal truth.

Listen to this conversation with Saul Williams about the historical and ongoing colonialism by the Global North of the Global South. It’s white supremacy in service of resource extraction, plain and simple.

Legendary artist Saul Williams joins Empire Files to discuss the overlap of high technology with medieval barbarism in Israel’s genocide.


“I think people just really have no idea what is coming, because we have no way of visualizing that through our own personal experiences, or that of the last 250 years,” said Randall Parkinson, a coastal geologist at Florida International University. “It’s not something where you go, ‘I know what that might look like because I’ve seen that.’ Because we haven’t."

insideclimatenews.org/news/110


In the South, Sea Level Rise Accelerates at Some of the Most Extreme Rates on Earth - Inside Climate News

“I think people just really have no idea what is coming, because we have no way of visualizing that through our own personal experiences, or that of the last 250 years,” said Randall Parkinson, a coastal geologist at Florida International University. “It’s not something where you go, ‘I know what that might look like because I’ve seen that.’ Because we haven’t.


Living and surviving in the climate emergency will become increasingly difficult and, frankly, miserable.

" Extreme heat, intensified by climate change, has blanketed much of the United States this summer, killing more than a dozen people in Oregon in recent days. Large parts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah have been under excessive heat warnings, which local officials believe contributed to more than 90 deaths in the West this month."


archive.ph/fsCWc#selection-643


Living and surviving in the climate emergency will become increasingly difficult and, frankly, miserable.

Have you tried to imagine what it will be like in 20 years?

The New York Times reports on soaring heat related emergencies and deaths in the US:

Extreme heat, intensified by climate change, has blanketed much of the United States this summer, killing more than a dozen people in Oregon in recent days. Large parts of California, Nevada, Arizona and Utah have been under excessive heat warnings, which local officials believe contributed to more than 90 deaths in the West this month.


Possibly 186,000 dead.

Factoring in a possible ratio of four indirect deaths to each direct death "it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.” That is nearly five times the 38,000 dead reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, the only organization conducting regular counts of the dead on the ground. That number is equivalent to 8 percent of Gaza’s population.


motherjones.com/politics/2024/


Mother Jones reports on the July 5th Lancet report on the counting of the dead in Gaza:

Factoring in a possible ratio of four indirect deaths to each direct death, researchers Dr. Rasha Khatib, Dr. Martin McKee, and Dr. Salim Yusuf wrote that “it is not implausible to estimate that up to 186,000 or even more deaths could be attributable to the current conflict in Gaza.” That is nearly five times the 38,000 dead reported by the Gaza Health Ministry, the only organization conducting regular counts of the dead on the ground. That number is equivalent to 8 percent of Gaza’s population.


Tiny Life Journal - My mornings start with a dog walk followed by a bike ride and, finally outdoor chores. Lately those chores start with picking blackberries.

Photos: View of the nearby Missouri countryside from my bike ride then, while picking blackberries, a female widow skimmer dragonfly that was sunning itself.


More about the widow skimmer: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Widow_sk

beardystarstuff.net/2024/07/11


Tiny Life Journal - My mornings start with a dog walk followed by a 30 minute bike ride and, finally outdoor chores. Lately those chores start with picking blackberries. A beautiful view of the nearby Missouri countryside then, while picking blackberries I met a female widow skimmer dragonfly that was sunning itself.

The widow skimmer is one of the group of dragonflies known as king skimmers. The nymphs live in the water, molting and growing until they are ready to emerge from the water and then molting a final time to reveal their wings.

A landscape photo with a foreground of a field of tall grasses. The field turns into a line of trees and shrubs and fades to a background of wooded distant hills set against a mostly cloudy sky illuminated by the morning sun. A black and yellow dragonfly perched on a plant branch and photographed from above. The four wings are translucent but half of each wing is black at the point they attach to the body. A black and yellow dragonfly perched on a plant branch and photographed from behind showing the side. The four wings are translucent but half of each wing is black at the point they attach to the body. A black and yellow dragonfly perched on a plant branch and photographed from the front at an angle that nightlights the eyes and shows the side of the body. The four wings are less visible at the edge on angle of the photo.


How Science Fiction Can Inspire Environmentalism and Climate Action - ZNetwork

As the rhyme suggests, cli-fi is a sub-genre of sci-fi. It tends to be speculative, to focus on anthropogenic global warming, and to examine the effects of climate change on human communities. Frequently, as with Atwood’s trilogy, there is a dystopian slant.

In keeping with the complexity of climate change itself, cli-fi is multiform, encompassing science fiction, fantasy, mystery, thriller, magical realism, fable, satire, and everything in between.


"It would seem like a heavy-handed metaphor if it weren’t our actual reality. A doddering patriarch, representing the collapsing centrist political project, refuses to step aside even as it becomes certain that he faces defeat at the hands of an even more authoritarian autocrat. This encapsulates the global prospects for democracy today.

It’s not a particular politician that has grown senile, but an entire political system."

crimethinc.com/2024/07/11/why-


CrimethInc. : Why Stop at Removing Biden? : The Center Cannot Hold

It would seem like a heavy-handed metaphor if it weren’t our actual reality. A doddering patriarch, representing the collapsing centrist political project, refuses to step aside even as it becomes certain that he faces defeat at the hands of an even more authoritarian autocrat. This encapsulates the global prospects for democracy today.

It’s not a particular politician that has grown senile, but an entire political system.


The war crimes and genocide continue with another school bombing by Israel. 4 schools in 4 days. When you're bombing kids playing football you are on the wrong side.

“Bodies flew in the wind, body parts flew, I don’t know how to describe it.”

Videos from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the casualties were taken, showed dozens of dead and seriously injured people, including children, strewn across the floor of a room.


theguardian.com/world/article/


The war crimes and genocide continue with another school bombing by Israel. 4 schools in 4 days. One school each day. When you’re bombing kids playing football you are on the wrong side.

Video shows moment of Israeli strike on Gaza school | The Guardian

Asmaa Qudeih, a witness who lost some relatives in the attack, told Reuters: “Bodies flew in the wind, body parts flew, I don’t know how to describe it.”

Videos from Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, where the casualties were taken, showed dozens of dead and seriously injured people, including children, strewn across the floor of a room.


"Because Trump is widely loathed, beating him should have been easy — in the debate, and in the 2024 election. All Biden had to do was remain marginally coherent and not do something unforgivably sadistic, like abet a genocide of children, but no.

It is telling that bombing the debate instead of bombing the children of Gaza was the dealbreaker for Biden’s backers."

sarahkendzior.substack.com/p/l


Sarah Kendzior: Last Chance, USA

Because Trump is widely loathed, beating him should have been easy — in the debate, and in the 2024 election. All Biden had to do was remain marginally coherent and not do something unforgivably sadistic, like abet a genocide of children, but no.

It is telling that bombing the debate instead of bombing the children of Gaza was the dealbreaker for Biden’s backers.


"It’s about survival" - Mayor of Athens, Greece

Our new reality is now constant adaption to extreme heat and other effects of the ongoing climate emergency. The Mayor of Athens' plan includes more cooling centers, water stations and planting (and re-planting to replace trees which have burned in wildfires) trees for shade.

"After a June that was the hottest on record, the city has already witnessed record-breaking temperatures and wildfires."

theguardian.com/world/article/


Our new reality is constant adaption to extreme heat and other effects of the ongoing climate emergency: The mayor of Athens, Greece on extreme heat in the capital city: “It’s about survival”. The plan includes more cooling centers, water stations and planting a lot more trees for shade.

The Guardian reports on the mayor of Athens’s top priority:

Ensuring that the people of Greece’s capital – mainland Europe’s hottest metropolis – survive the summer. After a June that was the hottest on record, the city has already witnessed record-breaking temperatures and wildfires.


What a fucking joke. Shameful.

"Pier, which has delivered the equivalent of a single day’s pre-war land aid deliveries in two months, will reportedly be removed in a few days’ time"

theguardian.com/world/article/

Meanwhile, as the war crimes and genocide continue: Researchers Estimate True Gaza Death Toll at 186,000 or More | Truthout
truthout.org/articles/research


What a fucking joke. Shameful.

US Gaza aid pier to be permanently dismantled after operating for just 20 days – reports | The Guardian

Pier, which has delivered the equivalent of a single day’s pre-war land aid deliveries in two months, will reportedly be removed in a few days’ time

Meanwhile, as the war crimes and genocide continue: Researchers Estimate True Gaza Death Toll at 186,000 or More | Truthout