Heartlessness

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Part of Associate Editor, Jeremy Warner’s, article for the Daily Telegraph on 3 March read as follows:

“In the First World War outbreak there was thus a lasting impact on supply, with many families suffering the loss of the primary bread-winner. This is quite unlikely to occur this time around. Not to put too fine a point on it, from an entirely disinterested economic perspective, the Covid-19 might even prove mildly beneficial in the long term by disproportionately culling elderly dependents”.

Formulated in semi-technical and anodyne terms for the most part (‘a lasting impact on supply’, ‘mildly beneficial’, neat opposition between ‘bread-winner’ and ‘dependents’), the piece tries to look neutral. But the word ‘cull’ is truly shocking – and resonates in a paper that actively advocates the culling of badgers and deer.

Warner is a senior editor, not a stringer or occasional contributor.  The strong association between the Telegraph, Tories and the prime minister is well known in the UK. The average age of the paper’s readership is 61.  It maintains an almost inflammatory right-wing editorial policy about the EU, the National Health Service, economics and tax policy – in fact, most political issues. Culling elderly dependents is about par for the course.  Getting people to follow the strong advice of health professionals, and looking out for vulnerable neighbours, are not a priorities. The irony is that the readership represents a population most likely to die from the virus and to the slashing of health spending beloved of conservative policies in past years.

It is strange how people seem to vote for and support those who in reality threaten their health and economic stability. Were Epicurus alive today he would be wanting to protect the old, the vulnerable and the poor, who are as entitled to health, peace of mind and a pleasant life as the well-off.

Fifty years of environmental regulations scrapped

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The following are just a few of the reversals of environmental protection laws in the last three or so years.

1. Pulling out of the Paris climate accord.

2. Easing of the regulation of methane emissions.

3. Scale-back of requirements for storing and releasing waste from coal-fired power plants

4. Increase in allowable levels of the herbicide Atrazine for use with crops and lawns.

5. Blocking of stricter efficiency requirements for common light bulbs.

6.  Rescinding of the Clean Water Act for streams and wetlands

7.  Reduction of the acreage of protected land in the US.

8.  Opening of more than 180,000 acres of national forest to logging

9.  Global emissions of HFC23 ( hydrofluorocarbon gas), a chemical expelled from cooling systems, and 12 times more potent than carbon dioxide, are increasing at an all- time record rate

If you agree with these measures you are not an Epicurean!  If you still feel global climate change is a  scam and you should be allowed to trash the natural world at will, well, words fail me…..

Epicureanism in practice

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My wife and I qualify for being in the “vulnerable” section of the population, owing to our ages.  Over the last two or three days, kind neighbors have come to our front door and have offered to run any errands we need in order to avoid us endangering ourselves in crowded food stores and long payment lines.

Isn’t that wonderful and heart-warning ? Community solidarity and caring for others!

The reality, in a large city, is that ownership of houses in our neighborhood changes rapidly, and we have lost track of exactly who some of our neighbors are. We do, of course, know the people who have come to our door, and bless them for that!  Party politics are being ignored in the cause of common good.  May this caring spirit continue and expand everywhere!

Half of UK 10-year-olds own a smartphone

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Fifty per cent of the UK’s 10-year-olds owned a smartphone in 2019, according to a report by media regulator Ofcom.   The number of young phone owners doubled between the ages of nine and 10, which Ofcom dubbed “the age of digital independence”.  In addition, 24% of 3 and 4-year-olds had their own tablet, and 15% of them were allowed to take it to bed ( oh, dear! Ed)

Ofcom’s annual report looks at the media habits of children, and the types of devices they are using. The 2019 study was based on more than 3,200 interviews with children and parents around the UK.   Among other things, it found that more older children were using social media to express their support for social causes and organisations, with 18% having shared or commented on a post, and one in ten having signed an online petition. (which is great! Ed)

Other key findings for 2019 included:

  • 48% of girls aged 5-15 played online games, compared with 71% of boys. Boys spent twice as long playing, clocking up 14.5 hours per week, compared with 7.5 for girls
  • Snapchat and Facebook remained the most popular social media platforms of older children, but 62% were also using WhatsApp (up from 43% in 2018)
  • 99% of children aged 5-15 used a TV set, 27% used a smart speaker and 22% used a radio
  • 80% of the children in the report watched video-on-demand, and 25% watched no live broadcast TV at all. One nine-year-old girl told researchers: “I don’t really like the TV because you can’t pick what channels are on it”.

Ofcom also interviewed parents about their concerns. It found that 45% of parents thought the benefits of children using the internet outweighed the risks, but there was an increase the number of parents who worry about young people seeing hateful content online and material that might lead children to self-harm.

Just under half (47%) of the parents spoken to were worried about pressure to spend money within games, especially on loot boxes, where the reward is not clear before purchase. And 87% of parents with children aged between 5 and 15  had sought advice about how to keep them safe online, and there are many  more conversations about staying safe online across the country. ( An edited version of an article by Zoe KleinmanTechnology reporter, BBC News)

My comment:  I fear that these phones are often a parental cop-out; that is, you give them this “toy” to keep them quiet and occupied, but the question is what are are really seeing on these websites, and how is it affecting their confidence and self-image, not to mention  their view of the adult world?
For a start Snapchat, Facebook , Whatsapp and the rest should be held to account for all sleazy content, violence, threats, grooming and exploitation.  If they can’t police their offering they should get a proper jobs!  I think this situation is very unhealthy, mentally and physically , too – they should be doing less sedentary activities.

 

Can planting trees save civilization?

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12055345767968669487.jpgRecently, the World Economic Forum launched 1t.org, a plan to plant a trillion trees. Even Donald Trump, who has withdrawn the US from the Paris agreement, has backed the initiative.

But can trees store enough carbon to buy us time to act on climate change?

A recent paper said 0.9 billion hectares could lock up 205 gigatonnes of CO2. Including land-use change, such as forests being cleared for farming, but the research was criticized because some think the research makes it seem like trees can do more than they can, exaggerates the amount of usable there is, and how much carbon could be stored. In response. A more feasible amount of CO2, it is claimed, could be 3 to 4 gigatonnes a year.

However, the research has prodded Shell Oil  to spend $300m over 3 years on re-afforestation to generate carbon credits for itself and others.  Whether this can make a real dent in climate change is another matter.  Emissions have to be cut as well, and  trees have to be planted at the right place and time. The species also have to be suitable for the climate and the soil where they are planted.  The subject is very complicated owing to the huge variety of, say, oaks, birches and other species.

In  order to lock up CO2 for centuries local people have to support the effort, understand the value of trees, have a say when and where the trees are planted,  and protect the trees once they are planted.   There is an idea that there is lots of underused land, which is a myth.

Lastly, if the CO2 locked away is to be accounted for properly, we will need to monitor reforestation for a long time. That is tricky. Deforestation is easy to spot – satellites show areas turning from green to brown. But they find it hard to detect new trees, which for the first few years will be tiny saplings hard to discern from space. Higher resolution images may help.

Meanwhile de-forestation is getting worse. Between 2014 and 2018 the world has lost forests the size of the whole UK , especially in the Amazon and Australia  (Adapted from an article New Scientist 29 Feb 2020).

My comment: We are talking about nothing other than mankind’s continued peaceful and pleasant life of the planet, because there is no other suitable nearby planet to evacuate to.  There are far too many people who claim this is all a lefty, made-up fuss, just as corona virus is a “short interlude” and will be over when the weather warms. How do we get our neighbours on the same page for the sake of our children and grandchildren?  Repeated storms, fires, and medical emergencies beckon.