War in Europe, weeks 90 and 91, weeks 6 and 7

The war in Ukraine drags on, and the Tsar continues to slaughter innocent civilians for his personal gain.

Unfortunately, the Tsar has found a new ally in Europe – the Dutch have elected a far-right politician for president. Together with Hungary’s president, the two ultra-nationalists do not bode well for our efforts to protect the Ukraine and thus ourselves against the Tsar’s imperialist ambitions.

The Arab-Israeli war has entered a new phase, with a temporary truce and the exchange of hostages. For the sake of the people living there, I hope they will soon reach a step toward lasting peace!

But I am skeptical; the military leaders of Hamas, like the Tsar, have no interest in protecting the lives and well-being of civilians; their only interest lies in their respective ideologies of power and the illusion of their own grandeur.

Two weeks from now, the Earth Social Conference will start in Casanare, Colombia. The program is almost complete, logistics are in place, and I can’t wait to meet all the other climate activists from around the globe to build a realistic alternative to the COP.

KubeCon in Chicago was good but less energetic than the spring conference in Amsterdam. And there were new Geekos!

(Geekos on the shelf, Cologne, 11/16.23)

Summer Break

The war is raging on, and all other crises are also going strong.

It’s time for a break – the blog will return in September.

Here’s a selection of upcoming climate rallies and protests:

See you there!

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(AMAIM Warrior at the Borderline, Crunchyroll, 8/7/22)

War in Europe, week twenty-three

The heat has lessened, but the crises remain:

  • The Tsar is trying to expand his empire and murdering everyone standing in his way; he’s showing his apparent disdain for western democracy and our open and tolerant way of life.
  • Prices are rising, especially for energy, and might soon lead to social unrest.
  • The climate is collapsing since we’re not stopping the use of fossil fuels fast enough.
  • Pandemics are on the rise, and we’re not acting fast enough for fear of upsetting a vocal minority of fear mongers.

Sometimes I miss the early 2000s when I still believed flying, driving a car, or eating meat and animal products were okay. And sometimes, I feel powerless as an individual looking at the magnitude of change that will be necessary to survive as a species.

So, what can we do? Live our life as it is necessary to overcome the crises and safeguard our planet for future generations!

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(South Bridge, Cologne, 7/18/22)

War in Europe, weeks sixteen and seventeen

As the crises continue, I’m running out of things to write:

  • The Tsar is still killing people
  • The Climate Emergency is still killing people
  • The SARS-CoV-2 virus is still killing people

These three disasters are connected, and we can tie them to using fossil fuels and over-consumption.

Unfortunately, our governments are not doing much about these issues besides lip service. So, what can we as individuals do?

  • Send money to Ukraine
  • Switch to bicycles and public transport
  • Wear a mask and get vaccinated

And join the rallies worldwide, trying to pressure our governments to look up and act!

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(Bicycle rally, Cologne, 6/19/22)

War in Europe, week fifteen

There is nothing new to report: The Tsar is still waging his bloody war against Ukraine, causing pointlessly immeasurable suffering.

My government is still not acting to support the people of Ukraine and keeps hiding quite cowardly behind formalities.

There is also no decisive action from their side against the impending climate emergency and no preparation whatsoever for a resurgence of Covid-19 in the fall.

Oh well.

At least there is United 24 to offer direct support to Ukraine as an individual.

The incidence rate in Cologne is flat at 210 right now.

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(Gloomy rain, Cologne, 5/29/22)

War in Europe, week fourteen

“At times like this, all we can do is practice the world we’re trying to live in.”

(Quote taken from TeenVogue: Roe and Privacy Rights by Namrata Verghese)

And indeed, this is all we can do if we do not want to succumb to despair.

I am utterly disgusted by the inaction of my government towards the war in Ukraine – they are altogether abandoning any pretense to support the people there but focusing solely on economic gains.

Covid-19 is in the usual summer slump but far from over – the incidence rate in Cologne is at 210 right now; we can expect new viruses to emerge relatively soon.

And don’t get me started on the climate emergency – even though the danger is a little less immediate than the war, it is a much more significant threat to our planet and species. Just look up!

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(100 Maps and the War, Katapult Magazine, May 2022)

War in Europe, week thirteen

The tsarist autocracy is still waging its bloody war against the people of Ukraine. And our government is still holding back on support.

I had expected much better from the ruling Social Democrats. Still, they are unfazed in their allegiance to Russia, even though they suffered a massive defeat in the last state elections.

Especially our chancellor seems to be utterly tone-deaf to the needs of the Ukrainian people and public support for them in Germany.

But this is only one of the three crises we currently face: There is the climate emergency and the fossil fuel lobby that is trying to reverse the course towards renewable energy and the 1.5-degree goal. And Covid-19 is far from over, as the current spread of monkeypox shows.

We staged a state-wide rally this Saturday to pressure our politicians to address all three crises, stop importing energy from Russia, and secure a future for our planet.

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(NRW rally, Roncalli Platz, 5/21/22)

War in Europe, week ten

The war continues, with more atrocities coming to light every day.

I can only assume that the Tsar wants to reestablish the Iron Curtain and shutter his country off from the world.

There is slight movement from our government; we have agreed to send at least light tanks, and also, we no longer oppose a ban on oil imports. Having said this, a ban on gas imports is still not on the table.

Last week also was Take Our Kids to Work Day, so we decided to showcase the work that climate activists do – we had 30 pupils attending, and we covered several topics, such as organizing a rally or creating banners. We were pretty happy with the event and will do it again next year!

The Covid-19 incidence rate in Cologne is further down; it’s at 480.

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(Take our kids to work day, Alte Feuerwache, 4/28/22)

War in Europe, week nine

The war in Europe continues to ravage Ukraine, and our government is still not doing even remotely enough to support the people and fight the tsarist autocracy.

Same for the other two crises: If RWE gets to use all the lignite at the Garzweiler mine, we’ll be right on our path to 3 degrees warming. It’s not very likely that we as a species will survive that.

The Covid-19 incidence rate in Cologne is again slightly lower, at 530. By now, almost everybody I know has had Covid-19 at least once. And we do know that every infection depletes the immune system. Do the math.

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(Opening rally, Immenrath, 4/23/22)