Climate Change as Crime
What is the scale of the Climate Emergency as an event, compared to other events in human history?
Consider number of deaths as a metric.
The carbon economics of sawing timber
I'm currently sawing all the trees that blew down in my wood into timber, most of which will be used in buildings here on the farm. The sawmill I'm using is petrol driven. I'm trying to work out what the relative carbon cost of sawing it is, as opposed to leaving it to rot.
So, firstly, these are not trees I am felling. Only two standing trees have been felled, out of about 2,000 down; those two were actively endangering my house. Other than those two, all the trees were brought down in storms, mostly Storm Arwen. If left on the ground, they will rot and release most or all of their carbon over a relatively short period.
On the protection of minorities
Dear friends
Out, brief candle?
I've been unwell for exactly a month; over the course of the winter, I've been unwell for quite a lot more than that. By unwell, I mean relatively minor viral infections, the most recent one almost certainly Covid. But of course, with me, viral infections always trigger my ever-lurking psychiatric demons, so I've been experiencing nightmares, psychotic hallucinations, and very persistent 'suicidal ideation', to give it it's polite name. All this means my brain is so full of noise and chaos that it's hard to concentrate on even simple tasks.
It's... very trying.
Unblocking the chain
I've just been listening to a podcast by someone I very much respect, in which she's being sold snake oil by a crypto bro. It's in the nature of good people that they are trusting, and there's enough appearance of complexity around blockchain to bedazzle the credulous.
But essentially blockchain is a very simple idea, and once you understand it, you understand why it's a very bad idea.