A New Day

Submitted by janis b on Mon, 01/06/2020 - 11:40pm

As this past Sunday unfolded, so did a dystopian vision of an ominous future. Early in the afternoon, the mostly blue sky started to turn what I would describe as a pale peach colour. By 3pm the whole sky was glowing eerily with a light and colour that was sulphurous-looking and continued to gain in intensity over the next 6 hours; almost as if a strange storm was approaching, or the sun was setting in an altered universe. Only it was 2pm, the sun wouldn’t be setting for another 6 hours, and the weather was calm. As you’ve probably guessed, it was due to a heavy concentration of smoke from Australia. The smoke has been apparent to me for a few weeks now, but never as obviously or threateningly as on this day.

After a heavy rain in the night, the morning sky was mostly clear and blue, and the air felt fresh. The other-worldly, unsettling feeling of the day before was still somewhat present. I have since, given more thought to the reality of it — the incredible and enduring suffering of so many people and animals in Australia — the ongoing suffering of other natures and cultures — the obscurity of the human spirit.

At the same time I am reading a very interesting book, Elderhood. There is much valuable insight from the author into what a sense of humanity really is, and its application to wellbeing. It is written by a 55-year-old Geriatrician in San Francisco.

I don’t understand these lyrics, but the beautiful discordance of the sound seems to fit the mood …

[video:https://youtu.be/KrHljAB-7bs]

There must be a counter-vision, no?

[video:https://youtu.be/cpMr5r_4Igs]

All the best, to all of you.

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A New Day

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Comments

Submitted by mimi on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 1:22am

If all the musicians of the world would play for change

may be would get peace?
Good morning, dear friend, I try hard to believe in a new day every day and I think my dreams come through every day. Isn't that wonderful?

Wishing you a clear sky.

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 1:27am

Let's play, mimi ...

@mimi

[video:https://youtu.be/xzGV9Bl6CGg]

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 8:31am

Where do you live, janis ?

That you can see the haze from Australia? Hawaii? New Zea;and?

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 8:47am

She's a kiwi

@The Voice In the Wilderness
AKA NZlander

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 11:25am

Ah! That makes sense.

@QMS

Totally off topic: Love your apple varieties. Don't know who is breeding them, but they are topnotch for flavor.

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:33pm

of American descent n/t

@The Voice In the Wilderness

Submitted by mhagle on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 9:16am

Thanks for sharing those photos . . . OMG

Definitely an alternate universe.

—

Marilyn

"Make dirt, not war." eyo

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:36pm

Hi Marilyn

@mhagle

Nice to see you, and to be able to imagine you at home from the photos I've seen of your gardens. I'm sure it offers great serenity in these times.

Submitted by Lookout on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 9:21am

Where there's smoke...

Like Greta, I too wonder where is the panic? Our house is on fire.

On many levels beyond just climate chaos, our house is on fire. And the Aussie PM is a climate denier like Trump. Bolsonaro of Brazil is another good example.

Enjoy what beauty we have, friends and family, and be connected to things that have meaning for you. Peace for us all!

—

“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Submitted by QMS on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 9:28am

Ahh

@Lookout
Natural Mystic
Bob Marley and the Wailers

[video:https://youtu.be/Z0lufcRgZlA]

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:38pm

Peace,

@Lookout

such a worthy goal. Cheers, Lookout!

Submitted by edg on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 11:09am

Humans. SMH

Humans take a bad situation and, as usual, make it worse.

More than 180 alleged arsonists have been arrested since the start of the bushfire season, with 29 blazes deliberately lit in the Shoalhaven region of southeast NSW in just three months.

Police arrested 183 people for lighting bushfires across Queensland, NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania in the past few months. NSW police data shows 183 people have been charged or cautioned for bushfire-related offences since November 8, and 24 arrested for deliberately starting bushfires.

Queensland police say 101 people have been picked up for setting fires in the bush, 32 adults and 69 juveniles.

Source: Bushfires: Firebugs fuelling crisis as arson arrest toll hits 183

Submitted by WaterLily on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 11:14am

What the actual fuck?

@edg What is WRONG with people?

More and more it feels like end times.

Submitted by The Voice In th... on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 12:15pm

On the nightly news every night

@WaterLily
There is a story about 3, 4,5, 6 year old kids killed by stray bullets or deliberately targeted. Then there was the woman who wanted a baby so she and her boyfriend kidnapped a pregnant woman and they cut the baby out of her while she was still alive. A similar story in Addison IL a few years ago. That baby lived. The recent one died.

EDIT:
here's a switch. no gun! https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2020/1/7/21055006/josue-juarez-beatin...

—

I've seen lots of changes. What doesn't change is people. Same old hairless apes.

Submitted by TheOtherMaven on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 12:27pm

Crazy Eddie

@WaterLily

See "The Mote in God's Eye" for details, but in short, in a crisis "Crazy Eddie" does the one thing guaranteed to make everything worse.

—

There is no justice. There can be no peace.

Submitted by ggersh on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 11:38am

Interesting that that article comes out now

@edg from a paper owned by Rupert Murdoch

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by entrepreneur on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 11:58am

Yep. Right when proof of climate change and proof of how it

@ggersh
causes great harm to life and property slaps us in the face, a right wing source tries to whitewash the situation by blaming firebugs.

Submitted by edg on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 12:56pm

Even more interesting...

@ggersh

That the rightwing Voice of America published the same conservative tripe. They even beat Murdoch by publishing this fake news back in November of last year.

A volunteer firefighter in Australia has been accused of arson following an unprecedented bushfire crisis.

Fire chiefs say the alleged arson south of Sydney was the “ultimate betrayal” of emergency crews risking their lives on the front line. They said the accusations could tarnish the reputation of the entire service. Investigators believe the teenage suspect lit the blazes and then later returned as part of his duties as a volunteer firefighter.

Dozens of fires continue to burn in the states of Queensland and New South Wales, where more than 50 people have been charged with arson since August. Another 150 suspects are being interviewed by investigators.

The Australian Institute of Criminology has estimated that around half of the nation’s bushfires are either arson or suspected arson.

Source: Australia Confronts Arson as Bushfires Burn -- Voice of America

Submitted by ggersh on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 4:40pm

ROFL....sounds alot like the good ol voter fraud arguement

@edg Yep, VOA, good second choice of reference

"Usually they are marginalized, they are confused. It is thought that they have very low intelligence, but I suspect that that is only because we are catching the ones that have low intelligence," said Paul Reid, a criminologist at Monash University. "They tend to have deep depression, and (are) very socially awkward. They usually have a history of drug use and violence."

Arsonists are responsible for thousands of bushfires in Australia every year and they can face long jail terms if found guilty. Convictions are rare, though, because evidence is often destroyed by the fire and there are few, if any, witnesses.

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by edg on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 5:45pm

You're sick. n/t

@ggersh

Submitted by ggersh on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 9:06am

ROFL...you're so blissfully naive

@edg @edg @edg https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/jan/08/australia-where-l...

Today, both Donald Trump Jr and Rupert Murdoch’s local News Corp brands have been pushing the “arson emergency” theme to our fires, blaming them on nefarious firebugs. News Corp are citing figures for “arson” arrests that are, politely, inconsistent with those released by the police. Again, the Victorian premier has confirmed police information that not a single fire currently raging in this state has been deliberately lit. Yet the arson myth has already been dogging social media commentary for weeks – and a QUT study reported on Tuesday its appearance is no hapless whisper but conforms to the patterns of a coordinated disinformation campaign.

—

I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

Submitted by RantingRooster on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 12:05pm

Chile is now

seeing the smoke from Australia, from RT

[video:https://youtu.be/ZNZYl3yzhCI ]

This is going to get worse, before it gets even more worse...

—

C99, my refuge from an insane world. #ForceTheVote

Submitted by laurel on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 2:30pm

For some of us, that which is unbearable

brings numbness. A few days ago I read that half a billion animals had died in Australia's fires and the numbness hit like a thud. Don't know when I'll be able to read anything more about it.

But your photos are always beautiful, Janis. Thanks for them.

—

Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:41pm

Hi laurel

@laurel

If it weren’t for the beauty of nature and the warmth of family and friends, I don’t know how I would overcome the heartbreak. It makes me happy to know you enjoy the photos. Thank you.

Submitted by Anja Geitz on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:50pm

I wish it were only numbness

@laurel

I suffer from anxiety and depression and must be diligent in managing how I filter information that can trigger either. Usually that includes finding something positive, but I can find nothing positive in this nightmarish and gut wrenching event. I can't even read about it for fear it would torment me.

My dear Janis, apologies I've had no words of comfort for you. I could find none.

—

There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 8:47pm

Thanks Anja

@Anja Geitz

Keep mastering the robustness of your filter ; ).

Submitted by dystopian on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 5:30pm

be well Janis!

Breathe easy when smokey... especially if particulates in it. Try to stay inside during the events maybe? I saw vids of glaciers in NZ covered in ash, which heats them since it takes away reflective properties, which then of course melts more faster... just great. Saw satellite animation of the smoke plume hitting Chile. A couple huge dense clouds went over NZ. Looked mostly over North Is. with much of S. Is. spared? Thinking of you...

The poor Aussies. I cannot imagine the loss of wildlife and habitat. Unfathomable.

—

We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.
both - Albert Einstein

Submitted by janis b on Tue, 01/07/2020 - 7:54pm

Hi dystopian

@dystopian

Thanks for thinking of me, and us. I watched the awfulness from inside, except to photograph or have a cig. Okay, please don’t judge me harshly now. I have all kinds of justifications for having my 2 daily cigs. One, is that if I lived in more central or suburban Auckland, I would daily be breathing in a lot more exhaust of one kind or another. Another, is it always feels like a treat, and I think treats are good for you ; ).

From what I was aware of, the South Island got the biggest concentration, first, of the smoke. I assumed Auckland got it third-hand from the S. Island because that was the direction of the wind that day, and most other days for awhile. The glaciers are on the S. Island.

Poor Australia, is right! It’s a shame their government latched themselves onto the american bandwagon. NZ too, to some extent. I hope the tide can be held back as much as possible.

Be well.

Submitted by QMS on Thu, 01/09/2020 - 9:19am

Midnight Oil

A similar theme

[video:https://youtu.be/ejorQVy3m8E]