Tag: Politics

Welcome to the second ever The Dystopia Is Already Here, which doesn’t even touch on Flooding In Pakistan, The Racist GOP, or The insane increase of University costs over the last 40 years and still shapes up to be pretty infuriating and depressing.

And promise kept: no transportation related links 🙂

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[Article] Let’s check in with The Colorado River Situation and see how she’s runnin’

“California is on pace for its driest year in recorded history as a decades-long megadrought continues to escalate. Lake Mead, the largest reservoir on the Colorado River and a safety valve for 37 million people across the Southwest, is at its lowest levels since its creation after the Hoover Dam was constructed in 1936. A tree-ring analysis published earlier this year showed that the current drought is the worst in at least 1200 years.”

She’s really not runnin’.

Time’s up for the Colorado River, and a scary new phase begins, Currently, https://currentlyhq.com/global/times-up-for-the-colorado-river-and-a-scary-new-phase-begins/

Currently is a new weather service that you should follow.

[Article] The Continuing Decline of Streaming ‘n’ Creaming(???)

“That’s because, given the continued volatility, HBO Max and Discovery+ can’t afford to just combine everything and be done with it. The “efficiencies” gained by the team-up are a net loss for subscribers, and workers: HBO Max laid off 14 percent of its staff last week, part of the $3 billion in “synergies” promised by the Discovery+ deal.

Already, HBO Max has pulled 36 shows from its service, most of it reality or children’s programming, to make way for Discovery’s similarly situated content. That reduces royalties the app would have to pay to content creators, and is an immediate boost to corporate pocketbooks.“

Collateral Damage in the Streaming Wars, The American Prospect, https://prospect.org/power/rollups-collateral-damage-in-the-streaming-wars/

[Articles] Heat hurt. Heat make me no feel good. Heat bad for brain.

“Studies have found links between rising temperatures and a range of mental health issues including mental fatigue, aggression and even higher rates of suicide. This connection is not just limited to surges in temperature, Dr. Obradovich said, it’s also present for people living in climates where it is consistently hot.

Scientists have yet to uncover why this may be, and whether heat itself can cause brain changes that may lead to these effects. But regardless, experts say, it’s clear that oppressive heat is linked with worse mental health.”

How Heat Waves Take a Toll on Mental Health, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/19/well/mind/heat-mental-health.html

Well thankfully it’s not getting hotter. Now, to take a big sip of coffee and read this article on Grist.

“According to the model, roughly 8 million Americans currently live in parts of the country that experience heat index temperatures above 125 degrees F at least one day a year, a threshold the National Weather Service considers “Extreme Danger.” The group’s peer-reviewed model projects that that figure will increase 13-fold to about 107 million [Americans] in 30 years. The increases in temperature are expected to be concentrated in the middle of the country, in a region the nonprofit has named the “Extreme Heat Belt” — an area running from Texas and Louisiana up to Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa.”

“The results will be dire”: Extreme heat to impact a quarter of US by midcentury, Grist, https://grist.org/extreme-weather/the-results-will-be-dire-extreme-heat-to-impact-a-quarter-of-us-by-midcentury/

[Article] The Third Way? More like Turd Way. A great debunking of Andrew Yang and his new “party”

“There is a genuine and widespread frustration also being exploited here. It’s objectively true that America’s two-party system is broken and stifles democracy. It’s also objectively true that both parties are captured by wealthy elites that largely agree on many key issues, namely “foreign policy” with, I would argue, significant differences on issues of social welfare, tax policy, bodily autonomy, and a host of important life-and-death matters. The two parties are not “the same” in every way, but on many key issues a large cohort of voters correctly assess that they are. Polls show that Americans are increasingly cynical about “the system,” increasingly dislike the media, and distrust many U.S. institutions. There is no doubt a skepticism about the “elite” and our political systems. Where Yang’s schtick breaks down is that his “party” is being funded by these very same corrupting forces.”

Andrew Yang and the Superficial Appeal of the “I’m Not Left or Right” Guy, The Column by Adam Johnson, https://thecolumn.substack.com/p/andrew-yang-and-the-superficial-appeal

You should be listening to Citations Needed, a podcast co-hosted by Adam Johnson, author of the above. 5 episodes to start with if you’ve never listened here:
https://www.bblloobb.com/2020/5-citations-needed-podcast-episodes-to-start-with-if-you-have-never-listened-before/

Who/what we’re following

Extreme Temperatures Around The World:
https://twitter.com/extremetemps

[Video] Do not listen to this Youtube Beta Dweeb. And go clean your room!!

Yes it’s 3 hours long. Yes, it’s arguably too cheeky, especially at 3 hours. But here are a couple of choice clips to better understand who Jordan Peterson is and how little he knows about climate and why he should shut the fuck about it (and everything else).

Jordan Peterson Is Not A Climate Expert

Jordan Peterson Demands That You Respect His Bigotry