Environment

Fire Doesn't Go There

A lot of fire thought it was a car, Iceland is about to erupt, Tesla pissed off Swedish workers, an update on the situation in Gaza, and a worldwide milestone was crossed.

Endeavorance

Nov 15, 2023 — 3 min read

Shits On Fire, Yo

Los Angeles has declared a state of emergency after a raging fire took over the interstate, which is where cars are supposed to go (note: fire is not cars).

The fire reportedly started nearby a stretch of interstate 10, but rapidly spread, eventually overtaking the road itself and creating a hellish scene as hundreds of first responders attempted to get it all under control.

The interstate is currently shuttered as crews are cleaning up and evaluating the damage to determine if it is remotely safe to use at this point. According to California Governor Newsom, it is an ongoing "24/7 operation."

Commuters are being encouraged by the state to work from home or take public transit. Because of the, y'know, fire.

Icelandic Volcano Time!

A volcano in the southwest of Iceland is due to erupt any moment now, as thousands have been evacuated from a nearby small town.

Over a thousand earthquakes have been detected in the region in the days leading up to the expected eruption. Most have been too small to truly matter, but you typically don't want to ignore them after the first 500 quakes, y'know?

I want to note that scientists in the area have stated that the eruption is likely going to be less violent than previously expected. There is a small chance it could be severe and have far-reaching effects on air quality around large parts of the globe, but more than likely, it'll be rather uneventful, at least outside of the immediate area.

Tesla Done Pissed Off Swedish Workers

You're not supposed to do that.

Workers in Sweden are demanding recognition and collective bargaining contracts with Tesla, which is the norm for workers in the country. Over a hundred metalworkers have walked off the job at service facilities around the country, as other unions join in to help how they can in a show of solidarity.

Unionized dock workers are refusing to facilitate Tesla deliveries. Unionized paint workers are refusing to work on Tesla vehicles. Additional unions are threatening to join over the coming weeks should Tesla continue to refuse to listen to their workers.

Tesla is loudly anti-union, especially with Elon Musk at the helm, who has previously gone so far as to publicly tweet threats to his own employees when they were trying to unionize.

An Update on Gaza

Israel is continuing their assault on Gaza, as the civilian death toll in the open air prison has surged past 11,000 human beings.

Recently, Israeli forces stormed the largest remaining hospital in Gaza, which was actively housing patients, including newborn babies. The doctors, nurses, caretakers and other staff of the hospital have chosen to stay behind during evacuation orders and risk their lives to try and save others, despite the looming threat of an airstrike at any moment.

Soldiers breached the hospital as Israel continues to claim—without providing evidence—that the hospital is being used by Hamas as a command center. This claim has been used to justify targeting many civilian buildings in the past, beyond just these past few weeks. Evidence is rarely provided, if ever.

Now, could Hamas be there? Sure. I have no interest in taking Hamas' response of "nuh uh!" at face value. But it does not matter. Israel continues to commit war crimes, and continues to receive military support that comes from my tax dollars. I would prefer my taxes not go towards supporting a military that thinks they can just shout "HAMAS!" and attack hospitals without question.

On This Day…

On this day in 2022, the estimated population of the Earth crossed 8 Billion human beings, in a day designated as the "Day of Eight Billion" by the United Nations.

Apparently the Philippines picked a baby to be the symbolic "8 billionth person" and I have zero clue how I would feel about receiving that designation.