by gmoke
Sun Nov 15th, 2020 at 10:15:00 PM EST
"Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, which is the only fact we have."
from The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin
"Chapter & Verse: The Gospel of James Baldwin is a 21st century ritual tool kit for justice. A call for revolution. A gift during turbulent times" created by Meshell Ndegeocello and Charlotte Brathwaite
https:/meshell.com/see
My notes to Baldwin's Collected Essays
https:/hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2019/01/james-baldwin-collected-essays.html
Notes to The Fire Next Time and Nothing Personal, Balwin's collaboration with his DeWitt Clinton HS schoolmate, the photographer Richard Avedon
http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2018/07/james-baldwin-fire-next-time-and.html
Perhaps Baldwin's "human trouble" can become John Lewis' "Make good trouble."
I like to think I make my way through life getting into good human trouble.
But I could always be wrong.
by gmoke
Thu Oct 15th, 2020 at 05:04:00 PM EST
Map of the public access fruit trees of Toronto
http://www.mapto.ca/maps/the-fruit-trees-of-toronto
Green transformation for a railway yard in St Petersburg, Russia
https:/www.orangearchitects.nl/projects/ligovsky-city
https:/inhabitat.com/former-railway-yard-to-receive-a-green-transformation-in-st-petersburg
Self-sufficient skyscraper proposed for NYC
https:/www.lissoniandpartners.com/en/architecture/competitions/americas/completed/skylines-new-york
/1289
https:inhabitat.com/self-sufficient-garden-city-skyscraper-proposed-for-nyc
Harrisburg, PA from abandoned school to urban eco-village, including indoor food production
https:/www.fastcompany.com/90535345/a-former-nfl-player-is-turning-this-abandoned-building-into-an-
ecovillage
hat tip Media Diet: http://tinyurl.com/joinmediadiet
SUPERVERDE - urban greening modules
https:inhabitat.com/stefano-boeri-proposes-superverde-urban-greening-modules
The Kitchen Farming Project - unemployed line cooks (and the public) invited to garden and build a new food future
https:/resourcedny.com/the-kitchen-farming-project
Everybody Eats - a food relief program in Brattleboro, VT leverages CARES Act funds to engage local restaurants in making to-go meals for anyone in Brattleboro, Guilford, Vernon, Dummerston, or Putney who has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis due to unemployment, underemployment, homelessness, or other challenges. Over 10,000 meals will be distributed in the month of August, with nine Brattleboro restaurants providing a total of 650 meals per day for at least four weeks.
https:www.brattleboro.com/everyoneeats
Paris encourages all citizens to become urban gardeners
https:/popupcity.net/observations/paris-encourages-all-citizens-to-become-urban-gardeners
World's biggest rooftop greenhouse opens in Montreal
https:/phys.org/news/2020-08-world-biggest-rooftop-greenhouse-montreal.html
Asia's largest organic rooftop farm spans 236,806 square feet, can provide up to 80,000 meals (20 tons of organic food), and grows more than 40 edible species of crops, including rice, indigenous vegetables, fruit trees and herbs
https:inhabitat.com/asias-largest-organic-rooftop-farm-can-grow-20-tons-of-food-annually
Vertical forest goes wild in Chengdu, China
https:/www.curbed.com/2020/9/18/21445069/qiyi-city-forest-garden-mosquitoes-chengdu
Resourcing an Agroecological Urbanism: Political, Transformational and Territorial Dimensions by Chiara Tornaghi, Michiel Dehaene
https:/www.routledge.com/Resourcing-an-Agroecological-Urbanism-Political-Transformational-and-Terri
torial/Tornaghi-Dehaene/p/book/9781138359680
PS: All previous editions of City Agriculture are available at http://cityag.blogspot.com
PPS: I would have a lot more respect for Extinction Rebellion, 350.org, Mothers Out Front, Fridays for the Future, Sunrise Movement... if they spent more time publicly on these kinds of activities which have immediate practical applications in reducing the effects of climate chaos, build community, and are a necessary step in speeding the transition to an ecologically logical future.
by gmoke
Thu Aug 27th, 2020 at 04:02:50 AM EST
The Laney College Carpentry Department in Oakland, California built a net zero tiny house, the Wedge, in 2016 for the SMUD Net Zero Tiny House Competition
https:/youtu.be/PyxJQynaC_c
That tiny house is for sale for
$55,000
https:tinyhouselistings.com/listings/oakland-ca-12-matthew-wolpe
Laney College carpenters are currently building two other prototypes tiny houses, the Pocket House, for the unhoused and homeless in Oakland
https:laney.edu/carpentry/tiny-houses/pocket-house
The Northern Nomad is another net zero tiny home designed and built by a group of students from Carleton University in Canada as this video from 2019 shows:
Northern Nomad Tiny House
https:/youtu.be/gbz35FLg9L4
http://www.thenorthernnomad.ca/
Reading Design Guidelines for a Net Zero Tiny House (https:tinyhousedesign.com/design-guidelines-for-a-net-zero-tiny-house) and Guide to Off-Grid Tiny Houses (https://gosun.co/blogs/news/guide-to-an-off-grid-tiny-house), the core idea seems to be energy efficiency first, last, and always: the less energy you use the easier it becomes to supply it with renewables onsite.
That core idea of energy efficiency applies to all houses, not just tiny houses.
by gmoke
Tue Aug 11th, 2020 at 08:30:28 PM EST
Santa Monica civic building will produce net positive energy and going for full Living Building challenge certification
https:/fisherpartners.net/projects/city-of-santa-monica-city-services-building
https:/inhabitat.com/new-santa-monica-city-services-building-will-produce-more-energy-than-it-uses
An affordable Passive House development that's "aggressively green"
https:/www.technologyreview.com/2020/04/15/999376/the-passive-house-thats-aggressively-green
A ski chalet in Utah which will be a net-positive energy building, generating 364% more power than it needs
https:/tomwiscombe.com/THE-DARK-CHALET
https:archpaper.com/2020/04/tom-wiscombe-architecture-dark-chalet-utah#gallery-0-slide-0
https:/inhabitat.com/dark-chalet-in-utah-will-generate-over-350-more-energy-than-it-needs
Link City - proposed self-sustainable city-forest, using an urban operating system with an AI (Artificial Intelligence)
https:/www.lucacurci.com/portfolio/the-link-city.html
https:inhabitat.com/luca-curci-architects-designs-a-zero-energy-smart-city-of-the-future
Park Avenue Green - affordable passive house apartment building in the South Bronx, the largest passive house development in North America
http://www.cplusga.com/works/park-avenue-green-2/
https:/inhabitat.com/passive-house-certified-development-offers-affordable-housing-in-south-bronx
Wellesley College Global Flora greenhouse "exceeds the Net Zero Water & Energy requirements of the Living Building Challenge, the world's most rigorous certification of sustainable construction."
http://www.kvarch.net/projects/133
https:/inhabitat.com/wellesleys-global-flora-greenhouse-can-generate-all-of-its-own-energy
Energy neutral school in Utrecht
https:/inhabitat.com/energy-neutral-school-in-utrecht-enhances-biodiversity
http://e-v-a.net/?fluxus_portfolio=so-fier
AI to identify energy wasting homes
https:/venturebeat.com/2020/07/07/wattscale-is-an-open-source-ai-tool-that-identifies-energy-wastin
g-homes
WattScale https:/arxiv.org/pdf/2007.01382.pdf
Watthome, an earlier version: http://www.ecs.umass.edu/~irwin/watthome.pdf
Arctic Nordic Alpine - Exhibation on Snøhetta's work including Hotel Svart in Svartisen, the Arctic World Archive Visitor Center in Svalbard Island, and the Museum Quarter in Bolzano
https:www.aedes-arc.de/cms/aedes/de/programm?id=19520291
https:www.fastcompany.com/90524716/how-the-worlds-most-remote-buildings-can-help-us-adapt-to-clima
te-change
hat tip to Heath Row's Media Diet: http://tinyurl.com/joinmediadiet
Orford Mews - energy-positive, carbon positive, zero construction waste nine-unit development planned for London
https:studioanyo.com/work/orford-mews
https:/inhabitat.com/zero-waste-orford-mews-to-bring-energy-positive-homes-to-east-london
Moonstone House - test bed for energy efficiency started in 2002 is still evolving
https:/themoonstoneproject.co.uk
https:cleantechnica.com/2020/07/30/fully-charged-tours-the-net-zero-energy-moonstone-house
Self-sufficient skyscraper proposed for NYC
https:/www.lissoniandpartners.com/en/architecture/competitions/americas/completed/skylines-new-york
/1289
https:inhabitat.com/self-sufficient-garden-city-skyscraper-proposed-for-nyc
by gmoke
Wed Aug 5th, 2020 at 03:20:14 AM EST
After the 2000 election of hanging chads and Bush v Gore and a totally non-precedential Presidential decision by the Supremes, I discovered that the Caltech/MIT Electronic Voting Project (https:/www.vote.caltech.edu) met sometime at MIT in Cambridge, MA where I live. So I went to a few of the open meetings.
It was an interesting process. Here were all these technical people not only computer people but also sociologists and user-interface psychologists and such looking at the very complicated way the USA registers people to vote, votes, and counts the votes. What I gathered then was that optical scanners with paper ballots are probably the most nearly accurate way to make sure that the votes are counted accurately and accountably. From what I gather now, it still is.
Millions of tax dollars have been spent on voting since 2000 but I tend to think it's at least as bad and probably worse all these 20 years later.
The Brennan Center Defend Our Elections Program (https:www.brennancenter.org/issues/defend-our-elections) is working on election defense and you can find out much more about the issues around election protection at the Fair Elections Center (https:www.fairelectionscenter.org)
In these days of COVID19, poll workers will be needed. Power the Polls (http://powerthepolls.org) and Work Elections (https:www.workelections.com) will point you in the right direction if you want to help out with the nuts and bolts of democracy.
In my neighborhood, Swing Left Boston is organizing voter protection in swing states (https:swingleftboston.org/sign-up-for-voter-protection-2) if you want to become a partisan poll watcher instead of a poll worker.
Vote, yes vote but make sure your vote is counted accurately, honestly, and verifiably. As the saying goes, "It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes."
by gmoke
Sun Jul 26th, 2020 at 12:19:45 AM EST
I've thought from the beginning that Trmp et alia are performing a Mafia bust-out on a national scale. Nothing is beneath them. It's all "Fck you, pay me," as this clip from "Goodfellas" points out.
https://youtu.be/WeK9e07Y65o
What's a bust out?
Definition: A forced bankruptcy of a person or an organization, usually through theft, fraud or extortion.
Source: http://mafiatrickster.tripod.com/kikai/mafiaslang.html
Once you get into business with a mobster, they take over. They exploit the business, run it into the ground, and then torch it for the insurance.
This is exactly what Trmp et alia are doing. Everything is a profit center, an opportunity to grift some graft, and wet the beak. It is why I would not be at all surprised to find out, someday down the road, that Trmp et alia were getting kickbacks on PPE and anything else that can put a buck in their pockets.
by gmoke
Mon Jul 20th, 2020 at 07:56:11 PM EST
I've been publishing a free weekly listing of Energy (and Other) Events around Cambridge, MA for more than a decade as a listserv and a webpage (http://hubevents.blogspot.com). It covers public events in the community and in the local universities. I generally look at Harvard, MIT, BU, Northeastern, and Tufts, all of which have events to which the public is invited although they rarely know it. Since, in these days of quarantine, everything has migrated online, I've been finding online events from far beyond the Boston/Cambridge area.
These following events in the next week should give anyone a good idea of what the response to climate is among those Republicans and conservatiives who admit that climate change is happening. There might be some opportunities for agreement. Or not.
Still, it's good to know what the opposition (loyal or not) is thinking.
------------------
Technology, Markets and Bipartisanship: The Future of Climate Action
Tuesday, July 21
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM EDT
Online
RSVP at https:/www.eventbrite.com/e/technology-markets-and-bipartisanship-the-future-of-climate-action-tick
ets-113039279528
Benji Backer, president of the American Conservation Coalition.
We're living in a partisan times, but climate change won't wait for the next election cycle. More and more young people are looking beyond traditional political boundaries for solutions to the environmental challenges facing us all. These solutions must reach across industries, parties and ideological divides to achieve meaningful change.
Join us Tuesday, July 21, at noon CDT for a special lunchtime conversation with Benji Backer, president of the American Conservation Coalition. Benji will talk about his politically conservative approach to environmental activism and introduce the American Climate Contract, a nonpartisan, holistic set of commitments to solve the climate crisis.
Title: "American Climate Contract: Environmental Action Beyond Partisan Politics"
Location: Zoom link to be provided to registrants
----------------------
CRES Forum Event: How do conservatives plan to tackle climate change?
Thursday, July 23
Noon - 1.00 PM (EDT)
Online
RSVP at https:www.eventbrite.com/e/cres-forum-event-how-do-conservatives-plan-to-tackle-climate-change-tic
kets-113112173556
Join CRES Forum for a discussion of immediate opportunities and actionable policies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
It has been a busy year for climate policy. At the start of 2020 the first batch of Republican climate bills were introduced in the House. We have seen growing support for energy innovation, energy infrastructure and clean energy jobs as critical to America's economic recovery. Last month, we saw the introduction of the bipartisan bicameral Growing Climate Solutions Act. But, most recently, the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis released the Democratic Majority's staff report, which drew criticism for a lack of bipartisanship.
Join CRES Forum for a discussion of immediate opportunities and actionable policies that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Opening Remarks:
Dave Banks | Chief Strategist for the Minority, House Select Committee on Climate Change
Panel:
Christopher Guith | Senior Vice President, US Chamber of Commerce Global Energy Institute
Devin Hartman | Director of Energy and Environmental Policy, R Street Institute
Mary Beth Tung | Director, Maryland Energy Administration
MODERATOR: Charles Hernick | Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, CRES Forum
------------------------
Putting Principles First: Climate Change & Environmental Policy
Thursday, July 23
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM EDT
Online
RSVP at https:www.eventbrite.com/e/putting-principles-first-climate-change-environmental-policy-tickets-11
3589152212
Join us for a discussion with former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) of republicEn about a principled approach to climate change.
We are delighted to welcome former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-SC) of republicEn for a Principles First discussion about new approaches to combating climate change and protecting our environment. We will hear from Mr. Inglis, engage in an open dialogue, and then reserve 30 minutes at the end of the meeting for other Principles First updates and topics.
The gathering will be hosted over Zoom and video conference details will be sent to all registrants prior to the event.
As always, all are welcome to join us.
About Bob Inglis
Bob Inglis launched the Energy and Enterprise Initiative ("E&EI") at George Mason University in July 2012 and serves as executive director, where he promotes free enterprise action on climate change.
For his work on climate change Inglis was given the 2015 John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award. He appears in the film Merchants of Doubt and in the Showtime series YEARS of Living Dangerously, and he's spoken at TEDxBeacon Street and at TEDxJacksonville.
Inglis was a Resident Fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics in 2011, a Visiting Energy Fellow at Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment in 2012, and a Resident Fellow at the University of Chicago's Institute of Politics in 2014.
Bob was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1992, having never run for office before. He represented Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, from 1993-1998. In 2004, he was re-elected to Congress and served until losing re-election in the South Carolina Republican primary of 2010.
Editorial Comment: I enjoy the fact that the Right tends to believe they are the only ones with principles, however defined.
------------------------
Tom Friedman: The "Trump Effect" on Foreign and Climate Policy
Wednesday, July 29
8:00 PM - 9:00 PM EDT
Online
RSVP at https:/www.eventbrite.com/e/tom-friedman-the-trump-effect-on-foreign-and-climate-policy-tickets-109
832377598
Tom Friedman will share his thoughts and engage in dialogue on Trump and how they have impacted the world politic and climate change.
Tom Friedman is an American political commentator and best-selling author. He is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner who is a weekly columnist for The New York Times. He has written extensively on foreign affairs, global trade, the Middle East, globalization, and environmental issues.
Editorial Comment: I include Tom Friedman because he may not be of the Right but he certainly has been someone who has supported Rightwing positions.
by gmoke
Wed Jul 8th, 2020 at 08:51:53 PM EST
Montreal plans a biodiversity corridor through the city
http://www.civiliti.com/projects/biodiversity-corridor-113
https:/inhabitat.com/montreal-unveils-plans-for-award-winning-biodiversity-corridor
Singapore's EDEN apartments finished - 20 storeys built around gardens
http://www.heatherwick.com/projects/buildings/eden/
https:/inhabitat.com/heatherwick-studio-completes-nature-filled-eden-apartments-in-singapore
Babylon Bridge - a proposed multi-storey garden and pedestrian bridge for Paris
https:/inhabitat.com/babylon-bridge-features-hanging-gardens-over-the-seine
http://rescubika.com
Citizen scientist finds 573 species in his Cambridge, UK "ordinary-sized" city garden
https:/www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-52840241
hat tip: boingboing.net
Guerrilla Grafters - "grafting fruit-producing limbs onto sterile urban trees, specifically bred not to bear fruit"
https:returntonow.net/2020/05/30/guerilla-grafters-secretly-graft-fruit-bearing-branches-onto-ster
ile-city-trees
Victoria, BC distributes vegetable seedlings for free
https:/www.treehugger.com/green-food/victoria-bc-you-can-get-vegetable-seedlings-free.html
Paris' Saint Gobains tower has gardens on all floors
https:inhabitat.com/gardens-grow-on-all-floors-of-saint-gobains-crystalline-hq
http://www.v-p.com/en
Wellesley College Global Flora greenhouse "exceeds the Net Zero Water & Energy requirements of the Living Building Challenge, the world's most rigorous certification of sustainable construction."
http://www.kvarch.net/projects/133
https:/inhabitat.com/wellesleys-global-flora-greenhouse-can-generate-all-of-its-own-energy
Amsterdam's worm hotels
https:/youtu.be/1I2ECk6R5Kw
https:wormenhotel.nl - in Dutch but pictures!
Urban Agriculture and Climate Change: "The New Normal"
Thursday, July 9 (through August 20)
Online
RSVP at https:/www.eventbrite.com/e/urban-agriculture-and-climate-change-the-new-normal-tickets-11020606530
8
Join Instructor Mason Trappio to gain an understanding of how climate change affects the urban farmer and the growth of new crops.
This course informs the urban and peri-urban farmer about how climate change affects them and provides strategies for how to successfully adapt.
Length of Course: 1 hour
Dates:
July 9, 2020
July 23, 2020
August 6, 2020
August 20, 2020
Course Fees: Free
Course Description:
Our growing environments are affected, to varing degrees, by climate change. Increased temperatures, greenhouse emissions, and insect populations all challenge our farming operations. In this course, you will gain an understanding of how climate change affects the urban farmer, and new crops to grow in this New Normal.
Credentials Earned: This a noncredit stand-alone course.
What You Will Learn:
How climate change can impact farming operations
How to use cover crops to mitigate climate change
How to use climate-smart crops in the face of climate change
Who should participate? Anyone can participate
Registration Information: TBA
Course Instructor: Mason Trappio
For further information about the course, please contact course instructor Mason Trappio directly at mason.trappio@gmail.com, or Director of the Center for Urban Agriculture and Gardening Education, Che Axum, directly at mchezaji.axum@udc.edu.
by gmoke
Mon Jun 29th, 2020 at 08:35:19 PM EST
I've been publishing a free weekly listing of Energy (and Other) Events around Cambridge, MA for more than a decade as a listserv and a webpage (http://hubevents.blogspot.com). It covers public events in the community and in the local universities. I generally look at Harvard, MIT, BU, Northeastern, and Tufts, all of which have events to which the public is invited although they rarely know it.
Since, in these days of quarantine, everything has migrated online, I've been finding online events from far beyond the Boston/Cambridge area. Over the next weeks, you can attend a discussion of a new book on the future of energy in Africa, hear from the executive director of the International Energy Agency, Dr. Fatih Birol, economists Joseph Stiglitz and Nicholas Stern together, climate scientist Dr Michael Mann, and energy expert Mark Z Jacobson. The events from London Climate Action Week (https://www.londonclimateactionweek.org/events) on July 1 - 3 alone could provide a wealth of information.
How much of this online and thus global networking will continue and change the nature of international conversations after the quarantine ceases? We'll find out. Right now, I'm just collecting and distributing as much of these international possibilities as this one person can. I thought, when I began my weekly listings service, that it would evolve into a public listing of all the public events at all the local colleges and universities, which in the Boston area is significant.
Unfortunately, I've not found anyone interested in that possibility. Now I think about a global online event listing for climate and energy and environmental issues. Judging from the past, I doubt anyone else is interested in that possibility either but I'll put it out there anyway and continue to do what I do anyway.
Stay safe, be well.
by gmoke
Sun Jun 28th, 2020 at 03:39:28 AM EST
The most important jigsaw puzzle right now is how the CoV-2 spike, a 3 part structure, attaches to the human ACE2 protein through which it enters the cells of our bodies. That is the microscopic gap in our defenses.
When we understand that, we can figure out how to stop this pandemic. Right at the source.
Here are some explanations of the infection process:
https:/youtu.be/5DGwOJXSxqg
https:youtu.be/j4Xiow30bGo
A more detailed animation of the spike/receptor interaction
https:elarasystems.com/covid-19-spike-protein
FoldIt (https:/fold.it), the citizen science crowdsourcing protein folding site which has been around for over a decade, is currently hosting a series of CoV-2 protein folding puzzles.
Here's their latest report
https:/youtu.be/WfzsN0tMsak
by gmoke
Tue May 5th, 2020 at 02:39:01 AM EST
On Tuesday, April 28, I attended an online seminar on (USA) Energy and COVID19 organized by the Harvard Undergraduate Clean Energy Group (https:/www.huceg.org) with Scott S. Nyquist and Luciano Di Fiori both of the consulting firm McKinsey and Company. I've heard Scott Nyquist speak on energy a few times over the years, usually at MIT, and have found him to be informative even though our perspectives are very different.
The COVID19 scenaria McKinsey is examining now include
Virus contained -- based upon China's 6-8 week shutdown
Vaccine -- 12 - 18 months away plus the time it takes to innoculate the world population (at least another 12 - 18 months), similar to the expectation author Laurie Garrett reported to Frank Bruni in the NYTimes over the last few days
Waves -- there will almost certainly be a second wave of COVID19 and possibly multiple waves until we have a vaccine.
In terms of energy, liquid fuels demand will take 2 -- 4 years to recover; gasoline use is estimated to decrease 60% under lockdown; natural gas is down 5-10%. There will be excess supply and dropping prices which means that fracking will become even less economic (a conclusion I draw which Nyquist and Di Fiori did not offer). Global oil products demand will be down 6.7 -13.0 million barrels per day pushing refinery levels and margins to historically low levels and LNG [liquid natural gas] may take 5-7 years to come back to stable prices, lower with occasional flare ups of higher prices as things equalize. McKinsey expects no long-term consequences to demand, but is monitoring for changes. I don't agree with McKinsey about no long-term changes in demand.
Electric power demand is down 3-5% and peak load down by 18-24%. Electricity peak times and amounts have changed due to more people staying at home, primarily from increased air conditioning.
The airline business is down to 20% of its former business and will take a long time to come back. Cruise lines are in an even worse position with worse projections for the future.
GDP growth is going to be negative for about 2 years and then come back but to 2019 levels, at best.
There may be a very cautious consumer culture, as after the Depression, coming out of the pandemic. The frugality imposed by the Great Depression affected all the generations that lived through it for decades afterwards.
Economic growth may be much slower after this. Companies will be less likely to hold debt and become very cash conscious.
Nyquist believes that governments will be much better prepared for the next pandemic but "we have to pay for this" and government debt will be much higher. I do not have as much confidence as Nyquist does in the future preparations of any government in the USA but will be happy to be proved wrong.
by gmoke
Wed Apr 8th, 2020 at 03:42:38 AM EST
Iceland has been testing its population for COVID19 probably more than any other country:
"The latest [April 6, 2020] figures on covid.is (https:/www.covid.is) show that a total of 1,486 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in Iceland, while 428 people have recovered [5 deaths, 38 patients in hospital]. A total of 25,394 samples have been analyzed [6.97% in a population of 364,134]."
Source: https:icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/news/2020/04/06/fifth_covid_19_related_death_in_iceland
deCODE Genetics, a subsidiary of Amgen, is doing the testing of those in the general population who volunteer while the Icelandic health system is testing those who present symptoms.
In the general population, deCODE has found about 0.9% tested positive for COVID19. They have also sequenced every single positive case of the virus in Iceland. "What is interesting is that there is a string of mutations that is fairly specific for Austria, another for Italy, a third for England, a fourth for the west coast of the United States. Because we are sequencing the virus from everyone who tests positive in Iceland, we can basically determine the geographic origin of the virus in everyone who gets infected. And that is of help when it comes to tracking the infection, when you want to figure out how it moves through society, because you can determine whether people have gotten infected from the same individual by just sequencing the virus, and in that way place it in the context of how the mutation moves," said deCODE CEO Dr. Kári Stefánsson (https:/www.icelandreview.com/sci-tech/icelands-coronavirus-testing-global-pandemic-response).
Stefánsson continued, "If you think about it, this epidemic is probably the biggest threat mankind has faced in a very long time. You have a virus that is spreading very rapidly all over the world, and because it has spread so widely, there is an enormous accumulation of mutations, in spite of having a lower mutation rate than many other viruses. And these mutations can potentially end up creating a virus that is even more lethal than the one we have now. So it is incredibly important to contain the epidemic as soon as possible to diminish the probability that this will happen."
"There is also another thing: every year there is a new flu vaccine developed because the influenza virus is mutating and is getting around the immunity of the year before. The same thing could happen with this virus. There are so many ways in which this story could end, and it's very important for us as a species to try to have an influence on the way in which it ends. So I think we should do everything in our power to contain it, to understand it, and try to prevent it from coming again,"
More than two-thirds of the adult population of Iceland was already participating in the deCODE's research efforts as of 2019 so the company will be able to screen people's reaction to COVID19 coronavirus based upon their genetics. "Those data could prove crucial to the very survival of our species, says Kári."
That's testing. Iceland is also working hard on contact tracing, to identify the transmission chain from person to person. They have just released a new app, Rakning C-19, and as of midnight Saturday, April 4, 2020, 108,000 people had already downloaded it.
Iceland, I suspect, will be very important in the coming months.
by gmoke
Mon Apr 6th, 2020 at 02:31:40 AM EST
Regional
Northeast Regional Agriculture and COVID19
Wednesday, April 8
1:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Online
RSVP at https:/zoom.us/meeting/register/uJ0tcuihrT8ouZJuXnaDemygSBJUTBFyFQ
Maine Farmland Trust and NESAWG will be hosting a zoom conversation next Wednesday, April 8th, at 1 PM to discuss state-level best practices from around the northeast region and to share strategies for policy responses to COVID-19.
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Indicate in the 'questions and comments' field if you have a particular area of state policy you'd like to dive into for this conversation. We will be breaking out into topical breakout groups during the call.
Northeast COVID&Ag State Policy resources
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1v13JAgDUI-UOYvCMDYBD_MWd_WT2mu61h2k5UIBZIko/edit?usp=drive_web
----------------------
Municipal
COVID-19 Municipal food access policies
...the Healthy Food Policy Project's COVID-19 municipal food access policy index (https:healthyfoodpolicyproject.org/resources/index-of-local-government-policies-for-to-support-foo
d-access-during-the-covid-19-pandemic)... provides examples of policy solutions that keep communities fed and nourished during the pandemic. I hope you find it useful, and encourage you to share it widely.
We will continue to build out the index over the next few weeks. If you have examples of other municipal emergency food access policies (ordinances, resolutions, codified laws, and administrative policies passed by city and county governments) that the Healthy Food Policy Project team should consider including, please submit them through the "suggest a policy" button on the page linked above.
The Healthy Food Policy Project (https:/healthyfoodpolicyproject.org) is a collaborative effort by the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law School, UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, and the Public Health Law Center at Mitchell Hamline School of Law. The Project is funded by the National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Best,
Molly McDonough (mollyhmcd@gmail.com)
Environmental Communications Specialist
Center for Agriculture and Food Systems
Vermont Law School, 164 Chelsea Street, South Royalton, VT
T: 802-831-1304 | Office: Debevoise 209
------------------------
by gmoke
Fri Apr 3rd, 2020 at 12:32:30 AM EST
"You could say that civil society is what unimpaired mutual aid creates; or that civil society is the condition and mutual aid the activity that produces it." - Rebecca Solnit, from A Paradise Built in Hell
[my notes at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html
------------------
Mutual Aid Networks
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/03/16/1927820-Mutual-Aid-Networks
Mutual Aid & Social Capital: The Power of Communities, Networks from Howard Rheingold, based upon the syllabus of a course he used to teach at Stanford on social media and including recent links to mutual aid networks forming to deal with Covid19 (which he will update)
https:/www.patreon.com/posts/34918526
More national links
https:crooksandliars.com/2020/03/now-time-all-good-folks-come-aid-their
Intellihelp group from Facebook - only ask and give posts
https:www.facebook.com/groups/1061901284171597/about
Autonomous Groups Mobilizing Mutual Aid Initiatives
https:/itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coron
avirus
https:/www.mutualaidhub.org
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1j8ADhLEuKNDZ1a_opmzudywJPKMXcNKu01V1xY2MiIA/edit - how to neighborhood pod
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1-QfMn1DE6ymhKZMpXN1LQvD6Sy_HSnnCK6gTO7ZLFrE/mobilebasic - pod mapping for mutual aid
While at Home - Stay up to date on tools, resources, and supports made necessary during this time. #WhileAtHome is a clearinghouse for credible information and action steps. Bobak Emamian, DeRay Mckesson, William Donahoe, Chris Meyers, Nicky Chulo, Pawel Piekarski, Frank Chi, Nicholas Fulstra & Maestra.
https:/whileathome.org
----------------------
"Foldit is a revolutionary crowdsourcing computer game enabling you to contribute to important scientific research" through playing through the possibilities of protein folding.
Here are some of the current Coronavirus puzzles interested citizens can help scientists solve:
by gmoke
Sat Mar 28th, 2020 at 06:13:46 PM EST
My friends and former co-workers, Marc and Sally, love to travel the world and this year spent some of February and March in Taiwan.
This is their account of the response of Taiwan to COVID19, the letter they sent to friends after they arrived back home on March 19, 2020:
As the Deads so eloquently sang, "What a long, strange trip it's been!"
Frontpaged with minor edit - Frank Schnittger
by gmoke
Fri Mar 27th, 2020 at 02:41:32 AM EST
MIT COVID19 Challenge - Beat the Pandemic
Friday, April 3 at 6:00pm - Sunday, April 5
Online
RSVP at https:/covid19challenge.mit.edu
We invite you to attend the MIT COVID-19 Challenge event, Beat the Pandemic, a series of virtual hackathons. The next event is April 3-5, 2020. In this 48-hour virtual event, we will help tackle the most critical unmet needs caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.
Participants will form teams on Friday, April 3rd to hone down on the problems, generate solutions, including proof of concepts, prototypes, and preliminary vision for execution. On Sunday, April 5th, teams will reconvene to present their work. After the weekend, the best ideas and teams will have the opportunity to co-develop and implement their solution with the support of our partners.
For more information and to apply as a participant, please check out our website: https:covid19challenge.mit.edu
The MIT COVID-19 Challenge is proud to be supported by organizations including the MIT Martin Trust Center for Entrepreneurship, MIT Hacking Medicine, MIT Innovation Initiative, MIT Sloan Healthcare Club, Digital Medicine Society, US Department of Veterans Affairs, Netherlands Innovation Network, MassBio, and many more.
We hope to see you (virtually) at the event!
--------------
Conserving Supply of Personal Protective Equipment--A Call for Ideas
https:jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763590
The editors of JAMA recognize the challenges, concerns, and frustration about the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is affecting the care of patients and safety of health care workers in the US and around the world. We seek creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE. We are interested in suggestions, recommendations, and potential actions from individuals who have relevant experience, especially from physicians, other health care professionals, and administrators in hospitals and other clinical settings. JAMA is inviting immediate suggestions, which can be added as online comments to this article.
Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD (howard.bauchner@jamanetwork.org).
----------------
I read through the more than 50 entries to the JAMA Call for Ideas on Saturday, March 21. As I write now on Thursday, March 26, there are over 250. You can read what I found at Crowd Sourcing Solutions to COVID19 (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/22/1930022-Crowd-Sourcing-Solutions-to-COVID19)
----------------
Open Source COVID19 Medical Supplies
https:/www.facebook.com/groups/670932227050506
Mask Force: DIY mask production
https:/maskforce.org
------------------
There are many, many DIY mask and PPE initiatives now with many, many different designs. Probably one or more in your area and, if not, start one yourself.
------------------
Mutual Aid Networks are springing up all over the place (https:www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/15/1927820-Mutual-Aid-Networks)
Mutual Aid & Social Capital: The Power of Communities, Networks from Howard Rheingold, based upon the syllabus of a course he used to teach at Stanford on social media and including recent links to mutual aid networks forming to deal with Covid19 (which he will update)
https:/www.patreon.com/posts/34918526
Mutual Aid Networks article from NYTimes
https:www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/opinion/coronavirus-aid-group.html
Spreadsheet of mutual aid networks
https:
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/1/d/1HEdNpLB5p-sieHVK-CtS8_N7SIUhlMpY6q1e8Je0ToY/htmlview
Mutual Aid Initiatives to Combat the Coronavirus
https:
itsgoingdown.org/autonomous-groups-are-mobilizing-mutual-aid-initiatives-to-combat-the-coron
avirus
Intellihelp Facebook group - only ask and give posts
https:/www.facebook.com/groups/1061901284171597/about
------------------
"You could say that civil society is what unimpaired mutual aid creates; or that civil society is the condition and mutual aid the activity that produces it." - Rebecca Solnit, from A Paradise Built in Hell (http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html)
The sooner we organize to help each other the better off we all will be.
Once we start exercising our freedom to build mutual aid networks that support and empower each of us individually and collectively we will have reclaimed some of our own liberty and power (swaraj - self-rule). Mutual aid networks are part of what Gandhi called swadeshi, local production, the heart of satyagraha, nonviolence, and a lifelong daily practice of community (sarvodaya) (http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2014/04/sarvodaya-swaraj-and-swadeshi.html), all who are for the benefit of all, as the ethicist Milt Raymond, author of Social Reason (https://www.amazon.com/Social-Reason-Milton-Raymond/dp/0557086043) would say.
"Make the world work, for 100% of humanity, in the shortest possible time, through spontaneous cooperation, without ecological offense or the disadvantage of anyone." R Buckminster Fuller
by gmoke
Mon Mar 23rd, 2020 at 07:04:17 PM EST
https:/jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2763590
The editors of JAMA recognize the challenges, concerns, and frustration about the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE) that is affecting the care of patients and safety of health care workers in the US and around the world. We seek creative immediate solutions for how to maximize the use of PPE, to conserve the supply of PPE, and to identify new sources of PPE. We are interested in suggestions, recommendations, and potential actions from individuals who have relevant experience, especially from physicians, other health care professionals, and administrators in hospitals and other clinical settings. JAMA is inviting immediate suggestions, which can be added as online comments to this article.
Corresponding Author: Howard Bauchner, MD (howard.bauchner@jamanetwork.org).
I read through the more than 50 submissions at the JAMA site on March 20, 2020 and will attempt to summarize them along with some other resources I've come across:
A Belgium nonprofit worked with their government to design a DIY face mask:
https:maakjemondmasker.be
Korean DIY mask
https:/m.blog.naver.com/hohuk212/221838542113
An emergency mask from a T shirt:
https:www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3373043
Home-Made Face Masks
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/17/1928552-Home-Made-Face-Masks [three different versions of improvised face masks, including directions for 1918 Spanish flu design]
Use mask covers (surgical mask sleeves)
How to Make n95 Mask Covers
https:/www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/20/1929626-How-to-Make-n95-Mask-Cover
Mask Sewing Crowd Source on FB: https:/www.facebook.com/groups/1596375590537476
The Million Mask Challenge
https:/millionmaskschallenge.com
Swedish/St. Joseph's Providence is making homemade PPE [face shields]
https:/komonews.com/news/coronavirus/volunteers-making-homemade-equipment-to-combat-shortages-cause
d-by-covid-19
3-d printed face shield
https:boingboing.net/2020/03/20/prusa-research-develops-3d-pri.html
DIY substitute for N95 respirators, "create your own reusable respirator using only a face mask, an in-line ventilator filter, and two elastic straps. All for less than 3 dollars! Find instructions, details, and video at
https:www.childrenshospital.org/research/departments-divisions-programs/departments/surgery/surgic
al-innovation-fellowship"
We need quantities of Personal Protection Equipment [PPE] within the next week or two until the factories ramp up, Could a significant proportion of that need be supplied by a crowd-sourced production method? Can people in quarantine do whatever they can do from home in order to help the effort to "bend the curve" (make sure fewer people die) now and in the near future? Can they be paid in $$$, kind, or services to tide things over? (It would also be helpful to have utility and rent payment moratoriums as in France and, I've read, El Salvador. That would alleviate some worry, I suspect.)
It seems some form of short-term "universal basic income" [UBI] is going into legislation but what if it were combined with a possibility of universal service as well in this particular? What if we were thinking of this the way Churchill thought about Dunkirk and called out everyone who can help to help? What if we mobilized our own "little ship navy" to get all hands on deck to deal with this crisis?
Here are some more ideas from JAMA:
There is a 1975 study indicating that the material used in masks matters less than the fit. See Br J Surg. 1975 Dec;62(12):936-40. The efficiency of surgical masks of varying design and composition. Quesnel LB.
(And other studies suggest that any mask is better than none, down to a bandana across the nose and mouth.)
"On any surface, the virus dies off over time anyhow, so merely storing used masks for a week might adequately decontaminate them." I suspect exposing them to sunlight's UV radiation would be good too.
Sanitization for re-use:
Data from WHO suggests heat at 56°C kills the SARS coronavirus at around 10000 units per 15 min (quick reduction)
https:www.who.int/csr/sars/survival_2003_05_04/en
disinfect with alcohol and then dry at 60ºC of higher
gamma or e-beam radiation decontamination
SARS-coronavirus can be effectively eliminated at 56-65 deg C for 30-90 minutes. Heat PPE at 65 deg C in an oven for 90 minutes before reusing
(According to the CDC, flu viruses are killed by heat above 167º F
https:/www.refinery29.com/en-us/2020/03/9581543/how-to-wash-outside-clothes-coronavirus)
ultraviolet decontamination for reuse although this needs testing as UV may degrade mask quality
ethylene oxide (EtO) sterilization for n95 and all PPE
rationing
Reusable gowns for patients in contact isolation have already been deployed at large medical centers (https:practicegreenhealth.org/tools-and-resources/ronald-reagan-ucla-medical-center-reusable-isola
tion-gowns), with the primary motivation being an overall reduction in waste and greenhouse gas emissions associated with the manufacture, transportation, and disposal of one time use gowns. [Margin note: there's going to be a lot of waste with all these one use items. Already there are reports of littering with used face masks in areas where many are used.]
categorize patients and have batch examinations so caregiver can use one set of PPE
schedule batch medication administration times so nurses can use just one set of PPE instead of multiples for patient care
wash gloves while still wearing them with alcohol hand sanitizer
use of telemedicine services such as https:doxy.me
robots
World's smallest cheapest ventilator
https:www.electronicsforu.com/india-corner/innovations-innovators/world-cheapest-smallest-ventilat
or-made-india
Mass-bio list of materials & supplies currently needed in MA
https:www.massbio.org/news/blog/calling-on-all-life-sciences-and-healthcare-organizations-to-donat
e-supplies-to-fight-covid-19-151858
Novel Coronavirus Fighting Products
https:
www.americanchemistry.com/Novel-Coronavirus-Fighting-Products-List.pdf
So that is JAMA's crowd sourcing ideas (and crowd sourcing home production) for dealing with this health emergency with some addition I found along the way. It looks like a good start.
Oh, and washing your face as well as your hands is a good idea.
Here is another example of crowd sourcing:
"There is a call for scientist volunteers by Dr. Michael Wells at the Broad [Institute]. pls see this Google form below and sign up if you are interested and are able to.
https:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScXC56q2tPgz0WbPrhP7WareiclfxfaKQFI0ZbXg4FkKan5iQ/viewform"
Broad Institute is part of the testing effort in MA as well as a leading biomedical research institution based in Kendall Square, near MIT.
I'm sure there is an overwhelming amount of research work that needs to be done in order to find possible treatments and possibly a vaccine for Covid19. Again, if people who can help with this work can apply their enforced leisure to these efforts, would we be able to use that help?
For instance, could students be brought up to useful speed through such events as this study group?
Learning Circle: COVID-19, Tackling the Novel Coronavirus (Week 1)
Tuesday, March 31
6:00 PM to 8:00 PM Every week on Tuesday until April 14, 2020
Online Meeting
https:
meet.jit.si/covid19-learning-circle
THIS MEETING WILL HAPPEN ONLINE AT https:
meet.jit.si/covid19-learning-circle
Learning circles are free, facilitated study groups for learners who want to take online courses. More information about learning circles can be found on the P2PU website: https:
www.p2pu.org/en.
Starting on March 31st and for 3 weeks, BosLab will host a learning circle to help participants study the FutureLearn course "COVID-19: Tackling the Novel Coronavirus" from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (https:/www.futurelearn.com/courses/covid19-novel-coronavirus).
More of this will and should be happening. A lot of people stuck at home have plenty of time to study this virus and crowd-source solutions to our current health crisis.
If as many of us as possible spend the next two weeks or so of quarantine or shelter in place or social distancing devoting as much time as we normally devote to our favorite sports team(s) or the Presidential campaign, could we maybe crowd source the sh!t out of this m*therf^cker? Already?
by gmoke
Mon Mar 16th, 2020 at 02:51:03 AM EST
Mutual aid networks are being formed in the neighborhoods in Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Arlington, and other communities.
My Nextdoor account (https:/nextdoor.com) is filling up with people offering help to others as MA goes into shut down. Pause..... and reset.
My notes on Rebecca Solnit's A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disaster, which shows how people often respond to emergency and disaster through mutual aid and community support but that "elite panic" is a term of art in disaster studies, are available at http://hubeventsnotes.blogspot.com/2016/07/notes-on-rebecca-solnits-paradise-built.html
Cambridge Mutual Aid Network
https:docs.google.com/document/d/1x_gLUobYEodWYI4VBAC1hhjv0imZvQiM-uEEDxyZ3oE/edit#
Mutual Aid Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) network
https:docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1RtYZ1wc8jxcSKDl555WszWhQWlOlSkNnfjIOYV0wXRA/mobilebasic
Food for Free (for Cambridge and Somerville) volunteers
https:docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSed0cSIoOc7-Fvoms3VHR1Lc44fjql-vTNknz_a-7T_sKDnrw/viewform
from State Rep Denise Provost
"Help Feed Others: These three Somerville organizations need volunteers to help distribute food during this emergency. All three food service organizations are practicing COVID-19 safety, which requires more volunteers than usual:
SOMERVILLE FOOD SECURITY CONNECTION
http://somervillefoodsecurity.org/get-involved/
Contact: Lisa Brukilacchio at lbrukilacchio@challiance.org
FOOD FOR FREE
Food For Free ( https:foodforfree.org ) is mobilizing a volunteer team via the google form below. They will be in touch with interested folks regarding opportunities as they arise:
https:/docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSed0cSIoOc7-Fvoms3VHR1Lc44fjql-vTNknz_a-7T_sKDnrw/viewform
PROJECT SOUP
Project Soup ( https:www.somervillehomelesscoalition.org/food-security ) is looking for volunteers to help at its community food center, and its food bank. It could also use assistance with toiletry drives, including diapers. Please contact: Ben at bwyner@shcinc.org or djacobs@shcinc.org or phone 617-776-7687."
These mutual aid networks are probably happening around your neighborhood too.
by gmoke
Sun Dec 22nd, 2019 at 11:15:55 PM EST
The Green New Deal for Public Housing Act (these comments come from the draft https:/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/sites/ocasio-cortez.house.gov/files/OCASNY_053_xml.pdf but the actual bill has now been filed at https:/www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5185/text) (thanks to DocGonzo for the clarification) is the first binding legislation drafted. It will reconstruct "the entire public housing stock of the United States, as swiftly and seamlessly as possible," into zero-carbon homes, "a highly energy-efficient home that produces on-site, or procures, enough carbon-free renewable energy to meet the total annual energy consumption of the home" within a decade.
Public housing stock will be eligible for deep energy retrofits, including
energy-efficient windows;
super insulation of roofs and exterior walls, including the addition of new cladding to buildings and the rerouting of plumbing and electricity;
electrification of water heating and building heating systems using electric heat pumps;
and electric heat pumps to provide air conditioning, where feasible;
materials and technology to increase airtightness of the building envelope, including air sealant paints; the acquisition and installation of heat-recovery ventilation systems;
and energy monitoring devices including smart meters and smart thermostats.
There will be grants "to build and expand community energy generation in public housing, including
the construction of and ongoing costs associated with renewable energy rooftops;
renewable energy generation;
photovoltaic glass windows;
the bulk purchase of clean energy supply from energy utilities;
and community-scale energy storage."
What the bill is calling a zero carbon home is also known as zero net energy housing or, more commonly, net zero energy buildings, structures which produce as much energy as they consume and such buildings have been built in just about every Earthly climate, from the Arctic Circle to the South Pole; at single family and skyscraper scales; at low, moderate, and luxury prices. I've been collecting examples of Zero Net Energy buildings and technologies for years at http://solarray.blogspot.com if you want to see what is operating now, is being built, and some of the design visions for the future. CA is already transitioning to a net zero energy building standard for all low-rise residential buildings now (2020) and the EU is moving to a "near net zero" standard now too. Both will have a net or near net zero building standard for all buildings, including rehab, by 2030.
There are positive net energy buildings as well (see http://solarray.blogspot.com).
In 1979 Jimmy Carter's energy plan called for insulating 90% of American homes and all new buildings and use solar energy in more than 2.5 million homes by 1985. There were 1.3 million solar installations in the USA in 2017 by one count and may be 1.9 million in 2019 by another. The DOE is predicting there will be 3.8 million solar homes by 2020.
Carter also wanted "20% of our energy coming from solar power by the year 2000." Renewables, wind, solar and hydro, are at just about that level now, 20 years behind his schedule.
Carter was thinking in terms of his next four years in office. Extinction Rebellion is demanding that "Government must act now to halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025." The Green New Deal has a 10 year timeframe.
Jimmy Carter in 1979 was more ambitious than we are now.
