Desert Solarpunk

I'd really like to have a small solar set up to help in the case that the power goes out. I don't want to run my whole house, I mean I would, but I think that is out of my budget and skill range.

I was thinking enough to run a electric burner and charge phones for when the power goes out in the winter, or enough to run a fan for a corsi-rosenthal box and a mini-fridge if the power goes out during a combined heat wave & wild fire smoke event. I've heard that ac units have a power usage spike when they first start running that makes them hard to power off smaller than whole house set ups, so I was thinking that I could use the fridge to cool water to then use to cool our bodies.

LOTS of electronics will have an initial large spike. It may depend on whether or not they have a compressor. Our deep freezer also caused a large spike when first plugged in. Electric stoves tear through electricity, you might consider an emergency camp stove or even a solar oven, at least for back up.

Things marketed to Americans such as Jackery or Powerwalls are designed to be easy to use and they are! But they're also very expensive for what one gets. Our small Jackery set up served us great though for many weeks when we had zero power due to Helene.

Things not marketed as strongly to Americans can be much cheaper but can also require either being willing to take a chance on quality (it varies, we've definitely picked up some off brand solar panels that did not generate nearly as much energy as they claimed) or being stronger in the DIY category.

Talk is that China overproduced solar panels this spring in particular because they were counting on Biden's amazing environmental bill to fund a huge amount of green infrastructure in the US. Trump tore that up and the Chinese companies have been left with excess product - prices are crazy cheap. There's also rumors that the Trump admin is going to start adding tariffs to Chinese inverters. So basically this is a great time to get something, even if it's small.

This is the company V went with for our set up after we decided to upgrade after Helene, for most of our batteries and the inverter. The lady who owns it is very nice and their prices are extremely reasonable. Also, their products aren't a "walled garden" so you can use whatever solar panels you like, add on additional things to the system that are a different brand, etc.

With everything going on in the world right now, if I could, I'd expand our system, add on an EV charger, and get a used EV. But I don't actually have a head for electricity - that's all V. But there's 2 different skill sets involved, one is just setting up a system, and other is actually designing the system.

Oh! Just so you know, whatever a solar panel claims to produce? That's only under the most ideal and perfect conditions and probably never. Expect to get a lot less, and just how much less depends on many factors, where you're located on the planet, clouds, trees, how the copper wires are feeling that day, etc. But 25% less than what is claimed is pretty common. So if it's a 200W panel plan on it only producing ~150-180 at best, don't count on that 200W, at least that's been my experience.

I'm also in the process of gathering items needed for making an Insulated Solar Electric Cooker. This has an added bonus for me, as I live in a desert and would be able to avoid heating up the house by cooking outside.

https://conev.org/ISECmanual14.pdf

A victim literally escaped Jeffrey Dahmer’s apartment naked with a hole drilled in his head and unable to speak but police let Dahmer take him back to his apartment like everything was ok!

And I guess he doesn’t count as a serial killer but Eric Harris had already been making threats and harrassing students to an extreme degree before Columbine- police literally had a search warrant but they just never acted on it. If they had, they would have found the guns and pipe bombs and the shooting could have been easily prevented. They even tried to cover this up afterwards.

Have you ever paid money to live in a mouldy home?

⚠️Mould is a health hazard and we don’t have to take it anymore!

Have you ever paid money to live in a mouldy home?

⚠️Mould is a health hazard and we don’t have to take it anymore!

Now that the Flotilla members have been released and with those photos of brutal physical abuse and sexual assault, can we admit that there is no line they wouldn't cross. Let's be serious the israelis know that even attacking the "untouchable" ie people with european and american passports won't cut off the aid they get from the very countries the members come from. Its a message to peaceful advocates everywhere that they are not hesitant to treat you like palestinian prisoners. And i think the lib zionist reaction that this is "ben gvirs doing" is so fucking laughable. If the israeli government really disapproved they would arrest him. This faux condemnation of ben gvir is a distraction from the fact that hes been given greenlight to do whatever he wants bc israel is a settler colony. Their purpose is eradication of the indigenous people. There are no red lines.

A cousin of mine stationed at RAF Coltishall in the '80's said that the USAF gave RAF pilots and crews tours of the B-52s that had landed for an NATO exercise. The aircraft had an impressive, expensive, countermeasure system for missiles. He told me that one of the pilots asked "if they have all of this electronic counter measure equipment, why were the Vietnamese able to shoot so many of them down?" The American pilot said that there aren't any electronics in an artillery shell.

The Viet Cong & Viet Minh transported massive amounts of materiel by lashing it to bikes and pushing them through the jungle on the Ho Chi Minh trail. The bikes didn't trigger the sensors that US was dropping all along the trail. Bikes under the tree canopy couldn't be seen using IR on the attack aircraft.

I don't remember where I saw it, maybe a Ken Burns documentary? But, the documentary stated that reason LB Johnson started to work with Martin Luther King was that American politicians were very worried about the Black Panthers gaining even more influence. I wouldn't be surprised if this also occurred in India and other British colonies during their independence efforts. I remember seeing Gerry Adams of the Sinn Fein on the news talking about the "Ballot and the Bullet" telegraphing that the Sinn Fein and IRA worked together and were two sides of the same coin. That was most likely derived from Malcolm X's "Ballot Or the Bullet" speech delivered in 1964.

¤ Be involved in local community and charity!

¤ Barter where you can, and buy local & thrift where you can’t! Make! Make! MAKE!

¤ Get some solar panels! Small ones, big ones, whatever you can afford.

¤ If you can get away, go forest bathing! Appreciate nature, and teach your children to do the same. Remember–leave only footprints.

¤ If you got a patch of land, garden it! Can’t grow it yourself? Volunteer it to someone who will!

¤ Collect your rainwater!

¤ Got kids or going to have them? Have two. Then stop. The third kid is SO much more expensive in terms of… Well literally everything. Bigger house. Bigger car. More resources.

¤ Cloth diapers, reusable wipes. Homemade laundry soap. Clothesline. (I realize this is house spouse territory, but do what you can.)

¤ Encourage your local school district to open an outdoor classroom, or a class garden! Or volunteer to help with one of those “circle of life” lessons that involve baby chicks or silk worms. (Tada! Now you have chickens!)

¤ Collect local deadwood (my area has loads), and either turn it into works of Art–or of it’s not good for anything else–Biochar. By removing dead wood from urban areas you reduce the ever increasing risk of fire.

¤ Time to end the rent rat race? Buy a tiny piece of land and build your dream house YOUR way. Natural building. Tiny. Reclaimed materials. Solar. High tech. All good.

-try composting. If your city has a compost program, opt in. If not, make your own!

-track your water usage. Then try to limit it in small ways. Do the same with your electricity!

-plant a tree. Or five. Seriously - they’re such a great investment.

- go to a co-op and buy…well…anything. Often they have eco friendly soap, shampoo and cleaning products!

Articles on container gardening

Free cloth diaper patterns

Recipe for laundry soap

How to make biochar

The homesteading movement

24 meatless recipes

Make a: - Bee box - Bird house - Bee-friendly garden - Bat box

Track your daily water usage

1) Familiarize yourself with your state and where you live.

o   What types of ecosystems are near you (Chaparral, Tropical Hardwood Hammock, Longleaf Pine Forest, etc)? What is so special about them?

o   What rare species live in your state? What state-threatened and state endangered species live near you? What federally threatened and endangered species live near you? Pay EXTRA close attention to non-charismatic species, such as reptiles, amphibians, insects (hello NATIVE BEES AND POLLINATORS) and arthropods, PLANTS, crustaceans (there are TONS of threatened crawfish), mollusks (Florida has at least one threatened snail and a few rare clams!), fungi, etc. What threats do these organisms face, and what can you do to help them?

o   What environmental issues are prevalent in your state, and why? What is one local environmental issue that is very close to you?

There’s also sharing zines around, be it at little libraries or just random spots. Here’s a great website from an art collective named Gliese! They aim to help teach people a bit of art history outside of the white centric ones often taught in schools. (They even have a zine about Solarpunk!) You can put up some informational posters. Graffiti is also something you can do if you feel you’re up to it.

If you think you’re particularly knowledgeable about something, see if you can host a class at your local library. (Psst, also go and recommend some Solarpunk books for your library to get. Then remember to go check them out so they know that people want it. Also go ask them if they can get large print and braille versions of said books.) Even if you don’t, want to host a class, go see what events they’re doing and join in on the fun! Bring your friends and family! These events are made for the people so enjoy if and when you can!

Get a tenants/renters union if you’re not already in one!

Go and meet your neighbors. Interact with them. You might not like all of them but it’s important to know who you live by.

See if you can get some sort of potluck event together. Ideally a Foods Not Bombs chapter should be near you. You if not you could probably start one! But anyways, try to get different types of food there. Maybe have fun with it and have people share the recipe they used to make the meal. (Also let people eat only what they bring. If someone’s highly allergic or have some other strict dietary restrictions then they don’t want to risk any cross contamination. In that note if someone can’t be in the same space as like roasted peanuts due to the air maybe add some restrictions to what could be made or have a specific warning that this event includes such and such meals, and that the next event won’t.)

Donate to your food bank/pantry! Ideally they want money, but see if you can give them a call and see what they’re low on and you can go find those items and donate them. If there’s some little free pantries or free fridges, what you can do is make a bag full of pantry foods and put in a recipe of what these foods can make together. This YouTube channel Dollar Tree Dinners has some good ideas if you want a look.

Therapist: So what does (4 yr old autistic daughter) do when you put her in uncomfortable clothes/take away her comfort objects/spend a long time in loud and crowded places/tell her to do something new without preparation?

Me: … I don’t do those things.

Therapist: ???? But she’s so relaxed and well-behaved for an autistic child, why not?

Me: …. and I’m pretty sure the two are connected.

This happened multiple times, with two therapists and one pedatrician, all of whom I moved on from as quickly as possible. It freaks me out how many supposed experts on autism think it’s acceptable to deliberately cause my child distress because it would be ‘normal’. As an agoraphobe with panic disorder, social anxiety and a fun boatload of other issues myself, I am far more concerned with avoiding triggering situations and helping her to cope when they happen than whether her behaviour seems ‘normal’. *I* don’t wear uncomfortable clothes, part with my comfort objects or cope well with crowded spaces, why would I inflict them on a child who finds them even more difficult than I do?

March 23 - On this day in 1931, Indian revolutionaries Bhagat Singh, Shivaram Rajguru, and Sukhdev Thapar were executed by British colonial authorities for having assassinated a British colonial officer.

Trying to get to Middle East Eye from the US without VPN:

Middle East Eye with VPN from Switzerland:

#hello again martin and bosco!! sending you boys round for another go :)

A combat-unit commander told non-commissioned officers at a briefing Monday that the Iran war is part of God’s plan and that Pres. Donald Trump was “anointed by Jesus to light the signal fire in Iran to cause Armageddon and mark his return to Earth,” according to a complaint by a non-commissioned officer. From Saturday morning through Monday night, more than 110 similar complaints about commanders in every branch of the military had been logged by the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF). The complaints came from more than 40 different units spread across at least 30 military installations, the MRFF told me Monday night. The MRFF is keeping the complainants anonymous to prevent retribution by the Defense Department. The Pentagon did not immediately respond to my request for comment. One complainant identified themselves as a non-commissioned officer (NCO) in a unit currently outside the Iran combat zone but in Ready-Support status, deployable at any time. The NCO said they were Christian and emailed the MRFF on behalf of 15 troops, including at least 11 Christians, one Muslim, and one Jew. (Full email printed below.) The NCO wrote to the MRFF that their commander “urged us to tell our troops that this was ‘all part of God’s divine plan’ and he specifically referenced numerous citations out of the Book of Revelation referring to Armageddon and the imminent return of Jesus Christ.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has enshrined evangelical Christianity at the uppermost levels of the U.S. military, airing monthly prayer meetings throughout the Pentagon. Last year, the Pentagon confirmed to me that Hegseth attends a weekly White House Bible study. It’s led by a preacher who says God commands America to support Israel.

On this day, 28 February 1969, Black Panthers held an armed demonstration at the capitol building in Olympia, Washington, in protest at state attempts to disarm them.

Following large numbers of police murders of unarmed Black people, the revolutionary socialist Black Panther Party started armed self-defence patrols.

The Republican mayor of Seattle had already passed one such law in the city. So state legislators proposed a law which would make exhibiting "firearms or other weapons in a manner manifesting intent to intimidate others" a gross misdemeanour. Lawmakers rushed through the legislation, and upon hearing of Panther plans to demonstrate police panicked, drafting in dozens of armed state troopers and mounting a machine gun on the roof.

The Panthers arrived in four cars, and unloaded their weapons at the request of the police. Meanwhile, one activist, Aaron Dixon entered the building and made a five-minute statement to the legislature, while others held the doors shut, forcing the officials to listen.

Despite the protest, governor Dan Evans signed the bill into law that day. The National Rifle Association, supposedly a gun rights advocacy group, did not support the Panthers, and elsewhere supported Republican legal moves to take their guns away.