Antidote to the chaos

 

Ólafur Arnalds performs live with his band from the volcanic wilderness of Iceland.

One of the comments on Youtube made me smile, because I can really relate to it:

While I was watching this, my boyfriend came home from work and told me "you're always listening to music that feels like I'm about to die." I laughed and realized that... yes. I do. This music makes me feel like I could die and it would still be okay. It makes me feel like I'm constantly trying to grasp the infinite wonder of this universe but I can never quite get there. It reminds me of how precious life on Earth really is. It makes me feel grief, awe, and hope, all at the same time.

It takes me to another world, which at the moment is probably not a bad thing. Atmospheric, other worldly and very soothing for a stressed out soul. 

Youtube: https://youtu.be/bMCiAKNUpTY?si=OitsSm74X3rCUWUI

2026 is the year of the Fire Horse. It's going to be a wild ride

Although it is still 5 weeks away I get the feeling the Fire Horse is showing its presence already. The Fire Horse year starts on the 17 February 2026 and ends on 5 February 2027. Apparently it is one of the most intense and fast-moving combinations in Chinese astrology.

The core themes of the Fire Horse Year are acceleration, disruption, courage and reckoning. The Horse represents movement, freedom and momentum. Fire adds heat, visibility and volatility. When you combine Horse with fire energy the result is an amplification of action, independence and volatility that moves things forward at an accelerated pace. 

On a world scale this manifests as rapid change and instability across the board. 

In traditional Chinese culture:

• Old structures can’t be maintained

• Individual will clashes with collective systems

• Truth comes out “in flames” rather than whispers

• In modern terms: the cost of denial rises sharply.

Expect:

• Sudden change 

• Bold decisions rather than cautious planning

• Exposition of uncomfortable truths

Unfortunately Fire Horse years also coincide with extreme heat events which is not something anyone wants to hear. Heat, drought, bushfires and energy stress. Hopefully it will lead to an increased focus on climate system collapse. We are seeing some extreme weather events happening right now.

On a personal level:

• Independence and self-directed action

• Plain speaking plainly

• Decisive action

People born in the year of the Horse will feel the impacts most strongly - 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002 and 2014. It will be a big year for reinvention but it will be important for these people to pace themselves. People born in the year of the Rat and Ox signs are predicted to experience greater friction and flexibility will be essential. Tiger & Dog signs are generally supported in leadership and advocacy roles.

Advice: Move but don’t rush blindly. Fire Horse rewards courage with awareness, not recklessness.

Image: https://easy-peasy.ai/ai-image-generator/images/flame-horse-dynamic-pose-vibrant-colors

'the hill I'm prepared to die on'

For the past few years I have been campaigning, with many others, to stop the WA government from deliberately destroying the SW of WA with its 'prescribed' burning program. Recently we had a small win. 

Thanks to a forest blockade in Walpole, Mt Clare - the home of some of the relatively few remaining Tingle trees - was taken off the burn list for this season. I remember one of my campaign friends saying to me one day: the Tingles are the hill I'm prepared to die on. We think the government had little appetite for a full blown showdown with 'greenies' who were prepared to occupy a forest to protect it, so they acquiesced - temporarily anyway. 

I only had a small role in this mercifully short campaign. I posted on social media via my partner's account (Facebook cancelled me midway through 2025). One of my posts had 15,000 views, which indicated how mainstream the issue of burning the Tingles is.

We know this department very well. They are an old enemy - a very, very old enemy for some who have been fighting them for more than 50 years. We haven't won. DBCA* will carry on their destruction somewhere else - most probably some other forest ecosystem they know we are very keen to protect like peats or granite outcrops. That's how they work. They will not be happy their power has been challenged so successfully, so God knows what they are planning. 

It is so very wrong that citizens are forced into constant vigilance, and must work so hard for no pay, to protect what our well paid government officers should be managing responsibly for the future of the environment and humans. Where is the government's 'duty of care'?

*DBCA refers to the Western Australian Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions

I need to ask a question

I think about climate change ALL the time. I constantly hear that we have passed this or that tipping point. The latest is that by 2030 there will be no summer ice in the Arctic. I despair for all the animals who rely on that ice, but ultimately, that includes us humans. 

I need to ask a question and I honestly don't know who to ask. But here it is. 

Has any government or local council carried out modelling for how they/we are going to deal with the impacts of climate system collapse? 

From where I'm looking most people are blindly making plans for a future based on what has been achievable in the past. It is highly unlikely anyone will get to execute plans for any normal kind of life from here on. We don't know how things will unfold, but they will unfold, and the only outcomes I can predict are catastrophe and chaos. 

My new age 60s hippy generation was told in no uncertain terms we must love everyone and not regress into tribalism (reinforced by my time as a Rajneesh sannyasin). But I predicted long ago that to have any chance of survival, humankind would be forced back into tribalism. Empires always collapse at the outer fringes because they grow too big to control. One united expansive world was never going to be possible. It is too unwieldy for most people to hold together in their minds. The logistics are impractical and unreasonable. 

Individuals and prepper couples won't survive climate system collapse because they won't be able to defend their hoard from the plundering hordes. It's why I rejected the idea of becoming one. I figured if I took that route, I would have to get a gun and be prepared to shoot people.

Humankind is in a mass stupor of self-distraction, hurtling blindly towards self-destruction - to an unknown and almost unimaginable future. This thought drives me quietly insane. Not because I think we can fix it, but because most of my fellow human beings are pretending it's not happening. 

And that makes me feel very alone.

Photo: NSW Rural Fire Service crews fight the Gospers Mountain Fire in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, Australia, Dec. 21, 2019. (EPA Photo) 

https://www.dailysabah.com/environment/2019/12/31/one-step-closer-to-climate-apocalypse-the-year-in-climate-change

The AI problem

I can see how useful AI is but it is insidiously removing our ability to think for ourselves. 

I have used it myself to get me out of a sticky study situation. (Not because I don't know how to research, but because of a systemic failure in a $2700 TAFE course). 

I am constantly raling against AI's voracious and insatiable appetite for other peoples' intellectual property. Now we are talking about ethics and trying to devise ways to place some limitations on it. What a joke. That horse has not only bolted - it has trashed the stable and left us with the mess to clean up.

I'll have more to say about this. But I need to do some research.

I'm back. Where do I start?

I haven't blogged for two and a half years. I gave up because it felt pointless. It probably still is. 

For many years I've been venting on Facebook. 6 months ago the AI Meta bots decided to cancel me. No real explanation. Maybe it was something to do with the Photoshopped memes of Donald Trump I had posted on my business account. Maybe it was my feminist, environmental, pro-planet, socially democratic views. Who knows. And who cares. I have a VPN and could get back in if I could be bothered, but Facebook is such an ugly platform, I'm probably better off without it. 

So I am back.

I don't quite know where to start, so rather than try and do a quick summary of what's been happening and where my head is at - I'll just reconnect with Blogger and add random posts when the mood takes me.

global boiling

Today the UN chief finally ditched the global 'warming' euphemism and shifted to 'global boiling'. Thank fuck for that. Next question - how the hell does the UN think that making these declarations actually helps?

I'm exhausted. I've been grieving for years now. Every time I see an expression of the beauty of this planet I cry, or I want to cry. I cry often.

 
Saying over and over again that we are in a crisis is completely pointless. Calling on fossil fuel companies to change their behaviour is pointless. The oil is produced for people, PEOPLE WHO WON'T STOP USING IT. People who still think they have a right to take an overseas holiday, fly around the world for important meetings, take cruises on ships that burn up God knows how much energy being built, then providing their customers with a luxurious 'experience'.

 
Wealthy humans are chasing 'experiences' all over the world. They refuse to rethink their lifestyle. They believe they deserve it, even if it is at the expense of future generations - their kids, their grandkids. Grey nomads and flood or COVID refugees have taken to the road. Australians are buying more fuel guzzling monstrosities than ever before, so they can tow their toys and have 'experiences'.

Nobody in the rich western world wants to give up anything. Try telling all those people climbing out of poverty in India or China or Africa that they should lower their expectations. They won't. Why should they?

 
This problem is too big. Many people think their individual contribution to global boiling is insignificant, so they don't bother. They are also so used to getting what they want and think they need, they just keep on doing what they've been doing.

The UN needs to stop giving the world vacuous updates. It's not helping. It's not doing anything. Calling for governments, who have no real power, to DO more. Do what? DO WHAT???? As soon as they try big business gives them a clip over the ear, and their citizens vote them out.

We could start by turning off the lights in cities and towns at night. It's low hanging fruit yet we haven't even talked about it. How can governments stop their citizens from going on overseas holidays, buying big fuck you 4WDs? How? They can't even provide homes, healthcare or support for victims of domestic violence.

 
I drive 15km to the beach to maintain sanity. Should I stop doing that? I live a very low impact life as it is. Does it matter anyway? For every small thing I do, there are a million selfish or wilfully ignorant bastards out there giving up absolutely fuck all.

I don't know how people with children are coping. My guess is they are so busy meeting their kids' needs on a daily basis they don't get time to think about it most of the time. And when they do, they push it out of their minds or go quietly insane in the wee hours. I want to ask them how they are doing, but it seems like a cruel thing to do, so I don't.

The UN chief was right about one thing. This is just the beginning. Hang onto your hats, your loved ones - and learn to meditate.

 
Cartoon: Jim Pavlidis, The Age.