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"In this corner, the biosphere. We’ve spent a solid year higher than 1.5 degrees Celsius; we’re wiping out species at a rate of somewhere between 10,000 and 100,000 annually; insect populations are crashing ... and we’re expecting the exhaustion of all arable land around 2050 ... studies from institutions as variable as MIT and the University of Melbourne suggest that global civilizational collapse is going to happen starting around 2040 or 2050."

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/the-collapse-is-coming-will-humanity-adapt/

The Collapse Is Coming. Will Humanity Adapt?

An evolutionary biologist and a science fiction writer walk into a bar... and mull over survival.

The MIT Press Reader
On the subject of ecosystem and civilization's collapse:

If you're not armed you should be.

But you have to be dumb as a rock, evil, or too traumatized to think clearly, to not vote while it's still an option.

Via Kyle Griffin:

White House Principal Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates on #Trump's gestapo remark:

"Instead of echoing the appalling rhetoric of fascists, lunching with Neo Nazis, and fanning debunked conspiracy theories that have cost brave police officer their lives, President #Biden is bringing the American people together around our shared democratic values and the rule of law — an approach that has delivered the biggest violent crime reduction in 50 years."

This is a bit of a long read, but if you have participated (or do participate) in discussions about the impact of AI on the world of art, this is for you. It’s the most balanced, nuanced, and complete review of the situation I’ve seen to date. Once again, Daria’s insight hits a home run.

https://interactions.acm.org/archive/view/may-june-2024/the-inflammable-space-between-ai-and-art

The Inflammable Space Between AI and Art | ACM Interactions

  Human intention is the issue, not the AI.     — Refik Anadol [1] Last year, on one of the social media accounts of the art gallery I run, I reposted an...

I am not pro-Palestine or anti-Israel. This isn’t a football game between two equally-matched teams where you support your favourite. I am anti-genocide and Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.

#Israel #Palestine #Gaza #apartheid #ethnicCleansing #genocide

Do you wonder why things cost so much? Feel the need to point fingers at a cause? Watch this even-handed presentation.

I’m not in favor of tariffs for protectionism. A friend made a good argument in favor: if another country allows dumping of toxins or other environmental damage that we block our manufacturers from, which increases the costs for domestic manufacture, tariffs make sense. But it’s a slippery slope, as Zakaria points out here.

https://youtu.be/PVqO1TLOWvQ?si=m7XgC0oDeZywz2Eq

Fareed: How Trump and Biden hiked up inflation

YouTube

Humans have, for centuries, told themselves that there were great differentiators between them and the rest of the animal kingdom. When I was young, teachers (who lacked up-to-date knowledge) told us that the key difference was that humans used tools and animals didn’t. Then there were a bunch of observations of other species using tools. Language? That one’s been shot down too. Now medicine. What’s next?

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-68942123

Wounded orangutan seen using plant as medicine

It is the first time a creature in the wild has been seen using a medicinal plant to treat a wound.