Climate activists party around burning ‘your future’ sign as Shell announces 28 billion in profits

GREENPEACE activists dressed as Shell board members partied around a burning sign reading “Your Future” at a mock party outside the Shell headquarters today

https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/climate-activists-party-around-burning-your-future-sign-shell-announces-28-billion

#UK
#MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate #ClimateStrike

Spain Needs 2 Billion Euros Against Climate Change

Spain has managed to reduce its CO2 emissions by 4.1% per year since the Paris Agreement entered into force in 2016. The closure of coal plants and the development of renewable energy facilities – a practice in which Spain continues between main countries of the European Union since 2019 – determines the reasons for this definition

https://worldnationnews.com/spain-needs-2-billion-euros-against-climate-change-2/

#MassExtinction #pollution #ecology #environment #climate #Spain

While the Left endlessly dithers and wrings hands about almost everything, evil just goes right on organizing so it can keep seeking more power for oligarchs, using the passions of easily manipulated people to validate their fascism with votes. They are building a huge infrastructure for evil, while the rest of us are just trying to have a life. It’s what they do.

https://47project.org/

The NHS is utterly failing my nephew, who is very unwell with Neuroblastoma. I’m looking to chat to anyone, from anywhere in the world, who has knowledge and experience in fighting this rare cancer.

I rarely ask for promotion but I’m rather at a loss, so please, consider giving this a boost if you feel able.

Well, it finally happened. I watched a YouTube video where some guy states emphatically that 6th generation consoles (Dreamcast, PS2, Xbox, Gamecube) were the pinnacle of gaming, and we’ve all been on a downward spiral since.

This is hilarious to me because, right in the midst of the 6th generation, I was hearing about how that era was terrible, and how 2nd, 3rd, and 4th generation consoles were empirically better.

But all right, let’s get into why this guy is convinced the 6th generation is “the best”.

Generational Leaps. The YouTuber maintains there was no generational leap like the one between PS1 to PS2. Don’t make me laugh. I’ve been gaming since the Atari 2600.

You want a generational leap? Try going from the Atari 2600 to the C64/NES/SMS. Comparatively, the leap from the C64/NES/SMS to Amiga/SNES/Genesis was smaller. And thereafter, the leap from the Amiga/SNES/Genesis to Win95/N94/PS2 was smaller.

See a pattern? It’s called the law of diminished returns. As technology improves, improvements themselves become less noticeable. That is, until you look back and notice how super futuristic games now seem primitive.

Ownership & Finished Products. The YouTuber said that in the 6th generation, you could buy a physical disc and truly own it.

This is true, and sounds good until you realize that the 6th generation had awful backwards compatibility. You couldn’t play an N64 game on a GameCube. You couldn’t play Saturn games on the Dreamcast. The PS2 at first had backwards compatibility with the PS1 until Sony removed it in later revisions of the PS2 hardware! Ownership of games only went so far as ensuring your old hardware didn’t break down. That didn’t seem like a problem back then, but as time goes on, that issue becomes more and more problematic – especially with disc rot and lasers simply breaking down.

The PC side was even worse when it came to ownership. Okay, you had physical discs, but you also had incredibly annoying and obtuse DRM. At times, the only way to have a good gaming experience was to pirate.

I look at this problem and I go, “Thank God for better backwards compatibility and services like GOG.com.”

Speaking of which, services like GOG.com ensure that I really do own my games, and I can do so without owning discs.

No DLC or Microtransactions. This one makes me laugh because expansion packs already were a thing back then, and that was a type of DLC. And then there was the practice of reselling the same game again and again with minimal improvements. Street Fighter was infamous for this. Micro-transactions are indeed annoying, but I personally play few games that have that problem.

Cheat codes. I never used them, but I also remember them being a bigger deal in the 3rd generation than in the 6th generation.

No handholding. Yeah, I hate handholding but I also remember this actually becoming a problem specifically in the 6th generation when every game seemed to give you a radio buddy who would put you through a tutorial at the beginning of the game. These tutorials were often unskippable. At least with games I play right now, I have the option to skip.

No Empty Open Worlds. This one is also funny to me because it is in the 6th generation that the open world concept really took off. As in, GTA changed everything.

You know what’s funny, though? I often hear gamers complain about the 6th generation for being too linear and not giving players enough of a choice. It looks like you’re in an open world, but you’re really not.

But what I think is more funny about this is that, you know that new linear games are still being made now, right? Why don’t you play them?

Demise of B (or AA) games. The YouTuber insists that modern gaming is all about AAA titles or indie games, and that no B or AA games exist anymore.

Meanwhile, I’m scratching my head. Does this guy not realize there are entire publishers devoted to making B/AA titles? For example, Devolver Digital, Obsidian, Warhorse, Kalypso, etc.

Furthermore, even major publishers are putting out B/AA titles still. Bethesda released Hi-Fi Rush this year. EA didn’t just make Unravel, they gave it a sequel.

In fact, I’d say we’re in a golden age of B/AA games – where games with small teams and small budgets look almost as good as AAA but have more imagination.

I don’t get excited for the next Assassin’s Creed or Call of Duty. But I sure as hell sit up and take notice when the Talos Principle 2 got released this year.

That YouTuber also accuses today’s indie games of being “dull” and “uninteresting”. I’m sorry, excuse me? You’re really telling me that games like Cuphead, Hotline Miami, and Iconoclasts are dull and uninteresting? Do you even have a soul?

I swear to God, each new generation of retro gamers sees the past in deeper and deeper shades of rosiness.

Three things we knew before Tuesday's elections, but are even more obvious now:

1. President Biden is more popular than conveyed in the press.

2. Standing proudly behind your ideals can equate to wins in any state.

3. If we do the work, we will win.

Read: https://www.dworkinsubstack.com/p/what-tuesdays-elections-tell-us

"Hamas and Putin both seek to 'completely annihilate a neighboring democracy"
- President Biden

At 61, I've lived through a fair share of Presidents.

I must say, I've never been as proud of my President as I have been of President Biden these past few weeks.

With half of Congress doing everything possible to see him fail, Biden has shown leadership and statesmanship this country has been lacking for years.

I wish he were 20 years younger, but he is who America needs now
#AureFreePress

Finally left Twitter for good. "Conversations" about the Middle East pushed me over the edge. The space just doesn't engender productive discussion.

I'm interested to try to codify what makes one platform work, and another not. I do think the federated model with individual community standards does help.