Tuesday, January 31, 2017

Richard Friedman's cli-fi short story for the Age of Trump titled ''A Modern Day Cronkite'' [2,496 words]

Richard Friedman's cli-fi short story for the Age of Trump titled ''A Modern Day Cronkite'' [2,496 words] ''A Modern Day Cronkite''is part of a global cli-fi short story compilation [see italics below] in the Age of Trump, Year 1 A.D. "Anno Donaldo''

INTRODUCTON:: -- ''The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation'' (not a contest and no winners, but with an important purpose and chance to air your views as a short story writing in this Age of Trump, either pro or con Trump, all views accepted.) Stories will be published with your byline on this Facebook Group Page and on a separate blogspot blog with Twitter announcing the entire list of stories with links to the individual stories by the individual authors. Story length 800 - 2500 words. Byline should be your real name. Copyright belongs to you and you may publish the story elsewhere as well if you wish, but the story should be original and written in 2017 or 2018 in this Age of Trump. Time frames may be the past, the present, the near future, the distant future. As stories come in, they will be published here and on a separate blog. Stories should be cli-fi in essence and they should use the words Trump or Age of Trump in the text somewhere, perhaps in the title, too. Again, all POV are welcome so if there is a Michael Chrichton out there who wants submit a "State of Fear" kind of pro-Trump short story that is pro-Age of Trump, that is fine, too. However, one suspects that most entries will be taking aim at Trump and the Age of Trump. Stories may be Time Travel or Current Days or Near Future Days, whatever your imagination tells you to write. The compilation starts today, and will continue for a year or two or three or maybe 8 years. Time will tell. Stories may be Cli-Fi Lite, Cli-fi Dark, Cli-Fi Deep, or Cli-Fi Humor. All writers are welcome, all nationalities, all languages, all ages. Send in your stories by email to subject line ''The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation'' to this email address: danbloom@gmail.com
***"Curious, empathetic, compassionate: What we should be as human beings."***
THE ''Cli-Fi ''REPORT:
Hundreds of academic and media news links:
http://cli-fi.net

===============================
 
''A Modern Day Cronkite''
 
By Richard Friedman
 
My name is Spencer Parker. I went to Syracuse University and majored in Journalism. I wanted to be the 2019 version of Walter Cronkite, the esteemed journalist from my parent’s era.
After graduation, I took a job covering environmental stories at the Lake County News Herald, a small newspaper in Northeast Ohio. As Walter used to say in his sign off from television, “And that’s the way it is”.  This is my record of the most bizarre, and likely last few months of my life. I will continue to provide updates until my strength runs out. I pray this document proves useful to whoever finds it. And that’s the way it is. 
 
It’s early 2019, and Donald Trump moved the country backwards in every meaningful environmental way. He stripped the Environmental Protection Agency to the bone. He encouraged fracking and off shore drilling. He withdrew the United States from the Paris Climate Agreement, casting America as an environmental pariah.
 
It was at this moment when I received the call that changed my life.
A women’s voice said, “Mr. Parker?”
I said, “Yes. Can I help you?”
She paused, and said, “I’d rather not say it over the phone. Meet me tomorrow at Blossom Music Center. Three o’clock sharp.”
The called abruptly ended.
 
                The next day I arrived on time.
 
A voice said, “Hey, Pssst. Back here.”
 I said, “Where?”
She said, “You’re the reporter, figure it out.”
I followed the voice into the forested area.
She said, “Thank you for coming Mr. Parker. I hope you’re up to the task.”
I said, “I’d like to see your face.”
She said, “At this point in our relationship, I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
 I sighed, “What should I call you?”
A male voice said, “Why don’t you call her Mother?”
I said, “Okay, Mother, why are we here in the middle of winter?”
She said, “Thousands of people protested against the pipeline in North Dakota. It didn’t matter. Oil rich executives don’t care. They want profits at all costs. The planet is bearing the brunt of their self-indulgence.”
 
I said, “I feel helpless. How can one individual change the world?”
Guffaws and snorts echoed from the woods.
Mother said, “My constituency can’t wait. This is war. It’s us against them, and my side will prevail, no matter how many lives it costs.”
I said, “You’re saying the ends justify the means.”
Mother said, “Correct.”
I asked, “How many soldiers to you have at your disposal?”
She said, “Enough.”
“What kind of weapons do you plan on using?” I asked.
Mother said, “The kind that can’t be stopped.”
I asked, “Nukes or chemicals?”
Mother replied, “Nukes and chemicals would destroy everything. That’s the last thing I want. We have weapons from God.”
I said, “This is getting me nowhere. Why am I here?”
“You have the means to tell people what’s happening,” said Mother.
I said, “I’ll need to confirm this with a second source.”
Mother asked, “How about a bunch of dead bodies?”
Kiddingly, I said, “That’s a good start.”
 
A deep voice said, “I told you this was a waste of time. He’s chicken, like that little guy sitting next to you.”
The accused voice said, “I’m not afraid.  Not everyone is as tough as you are. I’m willing to put my neck on the line too.”
Mother said, “Don’t get your feathers ruffled, boys.  Let’s be mature about this. Mr. Parker, I have contacts in every continent ready to act.”
I said, “Right, the entire world. This has been fascinating. I’m outta here.”
I left convinced this was a hoax, yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that this woman was sincere. She was either a great actress like Meryl Streep, or certifiable. I needed to speak to her again.
 
While I drove, the meeting in the woods continued.
 
Mother presented solemn news to the big guys in the back of the woods. “You deserve to hear it straight from me, and not through a series of underground messages. You’re going to die in this confrontation. And you won’t even fire a single shot.  You will perish on a scale of unprecedented magnitude. I have plans to ensure your family tree re-populates the planet.”
One spoke up, “Not a single shot? Are you sure? I thought we’d burn them to the ground, or die biting and kicking until the bitter end. I was hoping to live longer. I’m only in my early fifties!”
Mother was stern, “I saw your family cut down in the prime of their lives. There isn’t any among you that will escape death. Young and old, weak or strong, black, and white. I know what’s best! Your selfless act of suicide will lead us to victory.”
 
Those singled out murmured unhappily. This was not the plan they envisioned.
“Suicide seems out of character for us. You want us to lay down our lives without knowing why. That’s the ultimate leap of faith. I can trace my roots back to the cradle of civilization.”
Mother measured her words, “Your brain can’t comprehend my plan. I can’t go town to town explaining it all over again.  You’re big and strong, but not too bright. They say time heals all wounds. Time doesn’t heal the grievous attacks on our way of life.  They stole your land! Why? Greed! There was plenty to share. They wrote laws to protect us, and lied. Those lies are coming home to roost. We’re on the threshold of reclaiming our land.  Governments across the world will declare Martial Law as society descends into chaos. They’ll die quickly when they run out of food and water. Then I’ll have power over everything on the planet.”
Not everyone was impressed with her bluster. “I think this went to her head, don’t you?” Another said, “Talk about an ego? How did it come to this?”
 
Mother heard the complaints, “This is not about my ego. This is about protecting your progenies.  Even the weakest among you can contribute. Go about your business as usual. Interact with the enemy. If you see them on the road, give them access and stay clear. I don’t want to see you on television causing trouble. That’s the last thing we need. Let them assume you’re happy to be alive.”
A voice spoke up, shaking from the cold, “Should we be nicer than normal?”
This irritated Mother, “I know you have the mental aptitude of a squirrel, but seriously, aren’t you listening?”
“You don’t have to be cruel,” said the shivering one, wearing his thick winter coat.
Mother said, “I’m sorry for snapping at you.  I’m under a tremendous pressure. God would cry if he saw what has become of Earth.”
 
I spent two weeks searching to find her source of funding for a battle of this magnitude. Was there really was an army behind her swagger and braggadocio?
That night I sat near my window, convinced she was a fraud, my phone rang. I easily identified her voice.
I said, “I was thinking about you this very minute.”
Mother said, “I told you next time it would be you reaching out to me. Are you ready to make headlines?”
 I said, “I think you’re gaslighting me and making me a fool.”
Mother laughed, “Your recent article on fossil fuels did that without my assistance.”
I said, “Insulting me? Where did you learn your manners?”
Mother said, “His name was Father T.”
I seized the opening. “Are you referring to Father William Thomas from St. Ann’s church?”
Mother quickly changed the subject. “Shall we meet again? Same place. Tomorrow at noon?”
I said, “We’re expecting eight inches of snow. How about once the storm passes we set up our next meeting?”
Mother said, “Don’t be a worrywart. The roads will be fine.”
 
The snowfall for the area fell short of expectations, but even with three inches of the white stuff, I worked up a sweat getting to the same bench in the woods.
Mother chuckled at my perspiration, “Quite a cardiovascular test, huh? You haven’t written a word about what happening.”
I said, “There is no story until I report facts, not rumors.”
Mother said, “I’m prepared to make another offer to you. Think of yourself as a war correspondent like Cronkite in Vietnam. You’re too young to recall him telling America the war was unwinnable. You’ll record the events for posterity. Plus, you’re a tree-lover.”
How did this woman know of my admiration for Cronkite?
I shuddered, “I do care more about the environment than the portfolios of Wall Street billionaires.”
She said, “Sound’s like you’re feeling the Bern.”
I said, “He could have won if the democrats played fair. They got their chosen candidate and got burned.”
 
“Touché, Mr. Parker. Are you interested in the job?” she asked.
I promised to keep a journal of events as they unfolded.  When I was ready to depart, I asked her, “How will I know when it’s over? You promised I would see you. And what should I do with my report?”
 
Mother said, “I’ll make sure your report is read. A promise is a promise. In late April we’ll meet face to face.”
 
 
February 8th
 
The air is full of Carbon Dioxide and it’s getting harder to find clean air to breathe.
The continued warming of the planet had far reaching consequences. Scientists predicted we’d have until the year 2100 to worry about a global disaster.  CO2 levels in the atmosphere soared to record breaking highs. Scientists said the dramatic increase was due to intense acidification of the world’s Oceans and the sudden die-off of all the trees.
                So, what’s killing the trees? That’s the rub. We don’t know and we can’t stop it. If this keeps up, we’re finished.  The hospitals are full of older individuals with respiratory problems.  President Trump signed an executive order that stopped shipments of emergency oxygen to hospitals for anyone over the age of 55. I guess this is one time that AARP card doesn’t get you a discount.
Climate change deniers disappeared. Even Trump finally admitted it, “I always knew we were heating up the planet. You don’t have to be Bill Nye to see that! I’ll hire the best people to fix it.”
 
February 24th
I’m down to my last canister of oxygen. Nobody knows if more are coming. Militants hijacked yesterday’s delivery and fled to Canada. Scientists say the air is better closer to the poles. The trees are dead. I heard they were thriving in New Zealand. Their government sealed off the borders and nobody can enter, not even Trump. Asshole, serves him right. Ten billion dollars in his bank vault and he’d trade it all for a few thousand containers of oxygen or entry in New Zealand.
 
March 22th
I left my home in Cleveland Heights two weeks ago and I’m living near Wooster, Ohio, in army barracks with fifty strangers.  The guy next to me snores like a Bear. I’m trading a canister of oxygen to switch beds with a guy named Moses. He’s deaf, so the snoring won’t bother him. He won’t switch for free. Can’t say I blame him. Bartering is the new monetary system. That and sex.  My new friend Melissa says I’m an idiot. She would have traded the canister for sex. If I can’t stand witnessing what has become of the world, I might as well enjoy a few hours of sleep. At least in my dreams I breathe clean air.  There are marauding groups of thugs killing for sport, raping, looting, and scavenging for medicine. The most dangerous gang originated in New York City.  One of Trump’s campaign slogans is coming back to bite him in the ass.  He belittled Mexicans. Now they’re saying it about New Yorkers. It goes something like, ‘when New York City sends people out of their city, they’re not sending their best.  They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems to the rest of America. They’re bringing drugs, and crime, and rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.’
 Those good people from New York are desperate. They weren’t killers a year ago. They taught 9th grade Algebra, or worked at Starbucks. They were law-abiding people taking care of their families. When society broke down, even mild-mannered people lost their sense of humanity. I’m hanging on by a thread. They’re calling us for our weekly shower. I hope I can write again.  
 
April 11th
Our entire encampment is out of oxygen canisters. The air stinks and we spend nights rummaging for food. Whenever there’s a southerly breeze, we hope that the wind will bring fresh air, but it hasn’t.  One of guys in here is a chemistry professor from the College of Wooster. He rigged up a few air scrubbers, like the ones from the movie “Apollo 13”. If we had more of them, we might survive longer.  I was on my way to see the camp Doctor yesterday and I fell down and busted up my knee. He said I’ll probably get an infection because he can’t keep the wound clean and we’re out of antibiotics.
 
April 26th
Melissa told me today is Arbor Day. If that isn’t the sickest joke of all-time, what is? How can you celebrate Arbor Day without any trees? My leg is infected, and there was talk of cutting it off. I told them to forget it. If this is the end, and there’s a heaven, I’m going with two legs.
I saw my ghost from the woods last night. I was dreaming. I swear it was real. I knew the voice right away. Mother said, “You’ve kept up with your writing. I’m proud of you. Someone will find it and retell the story of how Mankind’s reign on Earth came to an end.”
I was able to make out an outline of her face. It glowed with an opalescent splendor. I felt loved. That was the worst part of 2019. Love was gone from the world.  Mother forced the trees to commit suicide. I didn’t know trees could do that. No more photosynthesis. Even the tall ones in the back of the woods accepted their fate. They communicated with each other through a network of roots running from coast to coast, even beneath the oceans. Mother already planted seeds to grow new trees. That won’t help us. We’ll all be dead by the time they grow tall enough to replenish the atmosphere. She did the same thing with the oceans.  They’re making a comeback too. She found no pleasure in our near extinction. She wanted you to know that. She left a few pockets of humanity for those to learn the sanctity of life for all of God’s creatures. I’m pretty sleepy now. I can’t feel my leg and my lungs are weak, breathing is a chore. I’ve written enough. And that’s the way it is.
 
THE END
 
Richard Friedman explains why he writes what I writes:

''My company keeps track of bad guys who wear GPS ankle bracelets in Northeast Ohio. We also install breathalyzers in cars for people convicted of multiple DUIs. I like to think that I’m saving Ohioans during the day, and saving the Earth at night. Might as well aim high! We can’t continue to dump poisons in the air, ground, and water and assume there won’t be any consequences.''
 
''I write for personal reasons too. My descendants won’t know much about me. They won’t know I was a long suffering Cleveland sports fan, or that I liked Stevie Wonder and Pink Floyd, but they will be able to look on the shelf and read about what contribution I tried to make to this world.''

I'' write at night and on weekends. Trying to mix work, family time, and writing is tough. If I can write 1,000 words a day, I’m a happy man. It doesn’t always work out that way. I’ve never used an outline. I usually think of the ending of my stories first, then work my way through the plot points to get there. I try to read a book from the list of cli-fi authors on this site as often as possible. I admire your hard work and well written stories.''

We have selected four books that explore the hot new theme of cli-fi.

Help select a cli-fi novel for the ''Overdue Book Club'' in America....at Madison College!

Dana Ryals and Kelley Minica, Librarians

The Madison College Libraries book club has a new name – the Overdue Book Club.  This semester, we invite you to cast a vote and help us choose a book for our book club discussion. We have selected four books that explore the hot new theme of cli-fi.  

 What is cli-fi, you ask?  It is a relatively new genre of fiction that deals with climate change and its effects on people and animals.


Following are descriptions of the four books. Look them over and place your vote by Feb. 17 on the book club website http://libguides.madisoncollege.edu/bookclub or find and click on our book club picture from the scrolling images on the library’s home page.

“Forty Signs of Rain,” by Kim Stanley Robinson.  

This is a hard science fiction novel.  The focus is the effects of global warming, and it is set in the early decades of the 21st century. Its characters are mostly scientists, either involved in biotech research, assisting government members, or doing paperwork at the National Science Foundation. There are also several Buddhist monks thrown in.

“A Friend of the Earth,” by T.C. Boyle.  

This darkly funny and, at times, tragic novel is a story of environmental destruction. The novel is set in 2025. As a result of global warming and the greenhouse effect, the climate has drastically changed and, accordingly, biodiversity is a thing of the past. Ty, a former eco-terrorist, recounts his life both past and present as he now works to save what is left.

“Memory of Water,” by Emmi Itaranta.  

Global warming has changed the world’s geography and its politics. Wars are waged over water, and China rules Europe. The protagonist, a young Scandinavian woman, is growing into a position that holds great responsibility and great secrets.

“Odds Against Tomorrow,” by Nathaniel Rich.

The story takes place at an unspecified point in the future and follows Mitchell Zukor, a man obsessed with the inherent risks that surround us every day. After being hired as a catastrophe consultant to an insurance company designed to help corporations avoid paying out, his philosophy is put to the test when a cataclysmic flood threatens New York City. Kirkus Reviews touted the book as one, “With […] fits of paranoia and eerily prescient scenario, this book is not comfortable reading, but it’s also nearly impossible to put down.”

Cast your vote before Feb. 14 at http://libguides.madisoncollege.edu/bookclub.

The libraries will acquire several copies of the chosen book, and will meet to discuss our reactions.
While you are on the website, check out The Overdue Podcast and listen along as the librarians discuss the book club and other great topics.  
Happy voting, and have a great semester from all of us in the Libraries and Student Achievement Centers.

"Burning Worlds," a new monthly literary column by one of America's top literary critics Amy Brady, at The Chicago Review of Books -- dedicated to examining emerging trends in 'Cli-Fi'

 
 
Coming Soon In February 2017: "Burning Worlds," a new monthly literary column by one of America's top literary critics Amy Brady, PhD, at The Chicago Review of Books -- dedicated to examining emerging trends in Cli-Fi

*** 12 columns a year by a top literary critic in the USA, Amy Brady, at the Chicago Review of Books, an online literary magazine with a wide readership coast to coast and overseas in Australia and the UK, too.

Amy's earlier clips at the Chicago Review of Books -- https://chireviewofbooks.com/author/dramybrady/



"Burning Worlds," a new monthly literary column by one of America's top literary critics Amy Brady, at The Chicago Review of Books -- dedicated to examining emerging trends in 'Cli-Fi'

Sunday, January 29, 2017

ANNOUNCING: -- ''The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation'' (not a contest and no winners, but with an important purpose and chance to air your views as a short story writing in this Age of Trump, either pro or con Trump, all views accepted.)

ANNOUNCING: -- ''The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation'' (not a contest and no winners, but with an important purpose and chance to air your views as a short story writing in this Age of Trump, either pro or con Trump, all views accepted.)
 
 
 
ANNOUNCING:
 
'The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation''
 
(not a contest and no winners, but with an important purpose and chance to air your views as a short story writing in this Age of Trump, either pro or con Trump, all views accepted.)
 
Stories will be published with your byline on a designated Facebook Group Page and on a separate blogspot blog with Twitter announcing the entire list of stories with links to the individual stories by the individual authors.
 
Story length 800 - 2500 words.
 
Byline should be your real name.
 
Copyright belongs to you and you may publish the story elsewhere as well if you wish, but the story should be original and written in 2017 or 2018 in this Age of Trump.
 
Time frames may be the past, the present, the near future, the distant future. As stories come in, they will be published here and on a separate blog. Stories should be cli-fi in essence and they should use the words Trump or Age of Trump in the text somewhere, perhaps in the title, too.
 
Again, all POV are welcome so if there is a Michael Chrichton out there who wants submit a "State of Fear" kind of pro-Trump short story that is pro-Age of Trump, that is fine, too.
 
However, one suspects that most entries will be taking aim at Trump and the Age of Trump and his attitudes toward climate change issues.
 
Stories may be Time Travel or Current Days or Near Future Days, whatever your imagination tells you to write.
 
The compilation starts today, and will continue for a year or two or three or maybe 8 years. Time will tell.
 
Stories may be Cli-Fi Lite, Cli-fi Dark, Cli-Fi Deep, or Cli-Fi Humor. All writers are welcome, all nationalities, all languages, all ages.
 
Starting NOW! -- send in your stories by email to subject line ''The International Age of Trump Cli-Fi Short Story Writing Compilation'' to this email address: bikolang@gmail.com

Saturday, January 28, 2017

A tale of two newspaper styles: The New York Times lowercases the word "earth" when it should be "Earth," while the Taipei Times does capitalize the word "Earth" in the same exact article from the NYT wire service. WTF? ''BOO'' NYT! ''BRAVO'' Taipei Times!

A tale of two newspaper styles: The New York Times lowercases the word "earth" when it should be "Earth," while the Taipei Times does capitalize the word "Earth" in the same exact article from the NYT wire service.

 

WTF? ''BOO'' NYT! ''BRAVO'' Taipei Times!

Earth to NYT editors and style guide Phil Corbett: Earth is our home planet. Please capitalize the first letter.

RE: compare

 
It is getting closer to midnight.
 
On Thursday, the group of scientists who orchestrate the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic instrument informing the public when the earth is facing imminent disaster, moved its minute hand from three to two and a half minutes before the final hour.
 
vs.

 http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2017/01/28/2003663947

Nuclear ‘Doomsday Clock’ ticks closest to midnight in years

TRUMPED:The publisher of the ‘Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ said that they are concerned about Trump’s rhetoric and his lack of respect for expertise

NY Times News Service wire story in the Taipei Times in Taiwan


Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists board members, from left to right, Thomas Pickering, David Titley and chairman Lawrence Krauss, speak at a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington on Thursday.

Photo: Reuters

 
It is getting closer to midnight.

On Thursday, the group of scientists who orchestrate the Doomsday Clock, a symbolic instrument informing the public when the Earth is facing imminent disaster, moved its minute hand from three to two-and-a-half minutes before the final hour. [And see last sentence below, too: re
“These failures of political leadership endanger every person on Earth,” it added.]


It was the closest the clock had been to midnight since 1953, the year after the US and the Soviet Union conducted competing tests of the hydrogen bomb.

Though scientists decide on the clock’s position, it is not a scientific instrument, or even a physical one. The movement of its symbolic hands is decided upon by the Science and Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.

The organization introduced the clock on the cover of its June 1947 edition, placing it at seven minutes to midnight. Since then, it has moved closer to midnight and farther away, depending on the board’s conclusions.
Thursday’s announcement was made by Rachel Bronson, the executive director and publisher of the bulletin.
She was assisted by theoretical physicist Lawrence Krauss, climate scientist and meteorologist David Titley, and former US ambassador Thomas Pickering.
Bronson, in a post-announcement interview, explained why the board had included the 30-second mark in the measurement.
She said it was an attention-catching signal that was meant to acknowledge “what a dangerous moment we’re in, and how important it is for people to take note.”
“We’re so concerned about the rhetoric and the lack of respect for expertise that we moved it 30 seconds,” she said.
“Rather than create panic, we’re hoping that this drives action,” she said.
In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Titley and Krauss elaborated on their concerns, citing the increasing threats of nuclear weapons and climate change, as well as US President Donald Trump’s pledges to impede what they see as progress on both fronts, as reasons for moving the clock closer to midnight.
“Never before has the bulletin decided to advance the clock largely because of the statements of a single person,” they wrote. “But when that person is the new president of the United States, his words matter.”
In 1990, at the end of the Cold War, the clock was at 10 minutes to midnight. The next year, it was a full 17 minutes away, at 11:43.
However, over the next two decades the clock slowly ticked back. By 2015, the scientists were back in a state of unmitigated concern, with the clock at three minutes to midnight, the closest it had been since 1984.
“Unchecked climate change, global nuclear weapons modernizations, and outsized nuclear weapons arsenals pose extraordinary and undeniable threats to the continued existence of humanity,” the bulletin said.
“World leaders have failed to act with the speed or on the scale required to protect citizens from potential catastrophe,” it said.
“These failures of political leadership endanger every person on Earth,” it added.

'Cli-Fi' for the Anthropocene -- a blog post by Kaisa Kortekallio in Finland

'Cli-Fi' in the Anthropocene

 
Kaisa Kortekallio
  • from the blog of Kaisa Kortekallio in Finland
Kaisa Kortekallio is currently working on a doctoral dissertation in the field of literary research. The dissertation examines how embodied subjectivity and nonhuman life are re-imagined in contemporary English-language speculative fiction and posthumanist philosophy. Kortekallio develops an ecological and enactive approach to fiction, mapping the ways embodied experience, fictional artefacts, and lived environments co-constitute each other. Kortekallio also teaches courses on contemporary speculative fiction and ecological theory, and acts as board member in The Finnish Society for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research (FINFAR).

Current interests: .... ''climate fiction'' aka Cli-Fi, a subgenre of Sci-Fi, Paolo Bacigalupi, Jeff VanderMeer
Supervisors: Dr Merja Polvinen and Prof. Bo Pettersson
 

So here is a reading list of novels  that speak to the current environmental predicament. The list runs from the very recent publications to the older ones, ending in Ernest Callenbach’s classic Ecotopia (1975). All of them engage radical environmental change in one way or another, and all of them provide insight into what forms human and non-human life can take in the middle of that change.
The list is loosely based on the “recommended reading” list I made for a course I am currently teaching at the University of Helsinki in Finland. I plan to post more material related to it during the next months.

Everything Change, cli-fi short stories anthology (2016)
The result of a recent cli-fi short story competition organized by the Imagination and Climate Futures initiative at Arizona State University, featuring an interesting array of imaginative responses to climate change. I have not read through the whole thing yet, but so far my favourites are the inspirational solarpunk adventure by Adam Flynn and Andrew Dana Hudson, “Sunshine State”, and the melancholic story of flooded Venice by Ashley Bevilacqua Anglin, “Acqua Alta”. The anthology also includes a foreword by Kim Stanley Robinson and an interview with Paolo Bacigalupi. It is accessible in several e-formats here.

In the introduction, the editors described their call for stories:
''We asked for stories that in some way envision the future of Earth and humanity as impacted by climate change; that reflect current scientific knowledge about future climate change; and that illuminate and invite reflections on a climate-related challenge that individuals, communities, organizations, or societies face today (e.g., daily decisions and behaviors, policy-making and politics, moral responsibility to the future). And of course, we were looking for high-quality cli-fi writing and storytelling.''
They hoped for reflections – but I think they got more than that. I think they got simulations, storyworlds that readers can access and play with, to test their models of reality. This is the action all the books in this list enable and encourage.

Jeff VanderMeer: Southern Reach / Area X trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, Acceptance) (2014) southern reach omnibus.jpg
An intense trilogy that accurately evokes the haunting feeling of living in the Anthropocene, without reverting to mindless horror. Human subjectivity is annihilated, but that might be considered a positive occurrence.
After reading the books, I had a serious desire for visiting the location that bled into them, St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge in Florida.
Finnish translations: Hävitys, Hallinta, Hyväksyntä
Simon Ings: Wolves (2014) simon-ings-wolves.jpg
If Southern Reach evokes the Anthropocene, maybe Wolves simulates late capitalism. The narrative teeters between scenarios of rapidly developing Augmented Reality (eerily foregrounding the Pokémon Go craze of 2016) and the somber preparations for the oncoming Flood. Life happens in the tension between these two conditions.
Ings has been keenly interested in the technologies of vision and cognition for years, both in his early novels Hot Head and Hotwire as well as in his 2008 nonfiction book The Eye: A Natural History. This shows.
Emmi Itäranta: Memory of Water (2014) emmi_itäranta_memory_of_water_cover.jpg
A lyric cli-fi piece of far-future environmental speculation for a wide audience. The novel portrays a storyworld in which water is scarce and the regime totalitarian. Despite this setting, Memory of Water makes for an uplifting and translucent reading experience. This is due to Itäranta’s stylized descriptions of landscape, insects, objects, rituals and movements – the material feel of the prose is quite enjoyable, and something in it reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki films.
The Finnish version is titled Teemestarin kirja.
Paolo Bacigalupi: The Windup Girl (2009) windupgirl.jpg
Paolo Bacigalupi’s near-future cli-fi here features grim storyworlds with underdog focalizers. The rich have access to fantastically advanced technology, the poor only have their wit, their skills, and their exhaustion. Bacigalupi’s debut novel The Windup Girl is set in famine-ridden Bangkok, with the Thais protecting the integrity of their country from transnational agribusiness companies and immigrant laborers. Representing all those who are exploited, the bioengineered girl Emiko strikes back at her oppressors.
I am currently writing a longer analysis of the manipulative narrative strategies of The Windup Girl, which makes me somewhat irritated at the novel. It is blatantly affective, graceless, and heavy with anticapitalist anger. And a very effective piece of writing.
Bacigalupi’s other novels – Ship Breaker (2010), The Drowned Cities (2012), and The Water Knife (2015) – also model climate change scenarios. Several of his short stories are accessible on his website.
Rudy Rucker: Postsingular (2007) + Hylozoic (2009)postsingular.jpg
Rudy Rucker’s fiction is an island apart – easy and entertaining to read, yet infathomably strange. This might be due to the combination of instantly recognizable sympathetic characters and radical sociotechnological invention. In Postsingular, the Singularity happens, and all matter is filled with life and intelligence. In Rucker’s universe, intelligence equals immense calculation capacity + creativity. Postsingular is the best evocation of the posthuman condition I have seen so far – mostly because it is modeled with such a great sense of humour. In its own psychedelic/vitalist way, the novel also develops a deep understanding of posthuman ecology. The novel does suffer slightly from a lack of editing – it is stitched together from several short stories, and the seams are not tidy – but this is easy to forgive because of its brilliance. The book is available under Creative Commons.
I have not yet read Hylozoic, but I have great faith in it.
You might want to hear Rucker’s TED talk on life and design in the year 3000, and read his Transrealist manifesto (pdf).
Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2005) under-the-skin.jpg
Even if you’ve seen the film (with Scarlett Johansson) do read the book. It is quite different. The novel Under the Skin manages to trick the reader into realizing their anthropocentric bias. It does so through ruthless, affect-laden manipulation. The experience is not pleasant. Be warned.

Kim Stanley Robinson: Mars trilogy (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars, 1993-1996) green mars.jpg
[Note: Robinson's new cli-fi novel debuts in March 2017 and is titled "New York 2140" and set in a half-submerged NYC in the year 2140. ] KSR is a writer for those of you who seek science-based scenarios. The Mars books lay out an impressingly well-researched scenario of the colonization and terraforming of Mars. The word terraforming might give the wrong idea, though – Mars is not Earth, and will never become like Earth, not in the geological sense, nor the biological, nor the societal. It is its own world. Robinson explores this world through multiple focalizers, each of them a fascinating creature. As the solar system and the species coevolve, character perspectives become increasingly strange. This continuum reaches its ultimate point in 2312 (2012), an independent sequel to the trilogy imagining life in a human-filled solar system. However, in comparison to Rudy Rucker’s fiction, Robinson’s psychological models are quite conventional.
Reading the Mars books now, in the middle of the Anthropocene discussion, I cannot help but draw parallels to the massive terraforming operations humanity has implemented on Earth itself. The Mars books give an appropriately terrifying image of humanity as a geological force.
Robinson’s Science in the Capital trilogy – Forty Signs of Rain (2004), Fifty Degrees Below (2005), and Sixty Days and Counting (2007) – was republished in 2015 as a single volume, Green Earth, of which the author has edited out 300 pages. In his words, this was a necessary move because “our culture’s awareness of climate change has grown by magnitudes” since the beginning of the project, and he no longer has to explain the basics so thoroughly. It is still a 800-page monument. I have it on my desk, waiting. [Note: Kim Stanley Robinson's new cli-fi novel debuts in March 2017 and is titled "New York 2140" and set in a half-submerged NYC in the year 2140. Google to see the cover. This novel 664 pages is the next big thing in climate fiction novels.]
Kurt Vonnegut: Galápagos (1985) Galapagos Kurt Vonnegut Cover 02.jpg
An exhilarating short satire on the adventures of the selfish gene during and after the end of civilization. Spoiler: the last human population evolves into a bunch of obliviously content seal-like creatures. The perfect weekend book for the self-respecting doomsday enthusiast.

Ernest Callenbach: Ecotopia (1975) ecotopia.jpg
An earnest attempt at modeling for an ecological utopian state. In California. The depiction of an ideologically divided North America is more relevant today than ever – and even some of the societal and technological reform ideas seem to on their second round right now. The most impressing thing about the novel, however, is its psychological insight: it explores the connections between environment and emotion in a philosophical style that left me quiet for weeks after finishing the book. The overall tone might be too romantic and/or didactic for the postmodern cynic, but for those of you who have grown tired of ennui and disaster, Ecotopia is a source of hope.
Anecdotally (from the foreword of the 4oth anniversary edition), Callenbach’s thought experiment began from the challenge of designing an environmentally sound sewage system.


Read these too if you haven’t already
Stanislav Lem: Solaris (1961)
J. G. Ballard: The Drowned World (1962) (and all other sixties Ballards)
Ursula Le Guin: The Word for World is Forest (1972), The Dispossessed (1974), The Eye of the Heron (1978), Always Coming Home (1985)
Octavia E. Butler: Patternist series (1974-1984), Parable series (1993–1998)
Margaret Atwood: A Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Maddaddam trilogy (Oryx and Crake, Year of the Flood, MaddAddam, 2003-2013)
Greg Bear: Blood Music (1985)
Joan Slonczewski: Brain Plague (2000), A Door To The Ocean (2011)
Peter Watts: Blindsight (2006), Echopraxia (2014)
Nancy Kress: After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall (2012)

Friday, January 27, 2017

James Cameron




VULTURE ASKS: With all these bloated franchises and collapsing civilizations, how optimistic are you about the world right now?

CAMERON ANSWERS: I always say, as a father of 5 , it's my job to be optimistic. Look, there's a lot of negative indicators. We're sliding right now. We're in a skid. We need to start controlling that skid, and right now we're not steering into it, we're just making it worse. I think anybody that has a conscience and is socially responsible and well-informed has to stand up and make their voice louder right now.

''Global Warming is a Greater Threat to Health Than Nuclear War'' -- an Oped by Dr. George Lundberg, MD

Is Global Warming a Greater Threat to Health Than Nuclear War?

by

| Disclosures | January 26, 2017

          ''Global Warming is a Greater Threat to Health Than Nuclear War'' -- an Oped by Dr. George Lundberg, MD, [80 years old ]--
http://cli-fi-books.blogspot.tw/2017/01/global-warming-is-greater-threat-to.html

Hello and welcome. I am Dr George Lundberg and this is At Large at Medscape.

Is the climate changing? Well, yes, the climate of planet Earth is changing—always has, always will. In that case, what's the big fuss about? The fuss is about the relatively recent general recognition of the rate and scope of change and the anticipated consequences, which are likely to be dramatic.
Specifically, is planet Earth warming? Yes; there is no question about that. But it is the rate at which the temperature of the globe is rising and the extent of projected warming that is a really big deal. Accepting that this warm-up is real, can anything be done about it?

The intense argument that goes on has to do with the extent to which human activity contributes to the changing climate, and whether and what can and should be done to stop or at least slow it. We all know that money is central to the debate. Who is profiting from the activities that produce climate change and would stand to lose money by altering those activities? And who can profit from the activities necessary to slow, halt, or reverse the temperature rise?

But Medscape is a medical site. What does this have to do with health?

My earliest recollection of global warming as a health issue dates from January 17, 1996, when we at JAMA led an international group of 36 journals in 21 countries on all continents to publish concurrently more than 200 articles on the theme of "emerging and reemerging global microbial threats."[1]

The lead Original Contribution was titled "Global Climate Change and Emerging Infectious Diseases,"[2] by Jonathan Patz and three colleagues at Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and George Washington Universities. This article, consistent with the declared theme, was all about how diseases such as malaria, dengue, hemorrhagic fever, arboviral encephalitis, schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, trypanosomiasis, cholera, and others were affected by global warming. The authors included several paragraphs with references as to the observations, projections, uncertainties, and likely effects of climate change, including extreme weather events, effects on agriculture and nutrition, and immunosuppression.

They also reported ongoing studies by the National Academy of Sciences/Institute of Medicine and the leadership of the World Health Organization, which asserted that global warming would be one of the most important challenges to public health in the 21st century.

The number of publications about global warming and health was quite limited at that time—only in the hundreds from 1990 into the next century.

Fast-forward 10 years, to March 17, 2006, while I was the editor of MedGenMed (Medscape General Medicine). I published a webcast video editorial entitled Global Warming May Be a Graver Public Health Threat Than Nuclear War.
Comparing the two threats, and calling for physician leadership against global warming similar to that which had been successful in the movement to prevent nuclear war, I wrote:
The threat of nuclear war is still with us, but now leading environmental scientists have unambiguously documented onrushing climate change called global warming, produced largely by excess human use of fossil fuels that builds up more gases like carbon dioxide than can be tolerated by our fragile planet's environment. Some scientists say it is already too late to save our world for humans; almost all say we are nearing the point of no return. How would global warming kill billions? Heatstroke, drowning, famine, new and old diseases out of control, and war for competitive survival on a greatly decreased inhabitable land mass near the poles. How soon might this cataclysm be upon us? As early as the end of the 21st century.

Surely, the medical and public health communities are working really hard to prevent such a catastrophe? Sorry. Guess again. For the most part, physicians and their organizations seem to be ignoring the threat, preferring to fight over issues like malpractice or the size of their fees, in effect rearranging the deck chairs on this sinking Titanic while exercising denial. But don't the doctors care about their great-great-great-grandchildren? Looks like they may never have any. You have got to be kidding. The risks must be overblown! Hope so; don't think so; ohmygod!
A lot of 2006 readers loved that piece. Others called it unnecessarily alarmist.

Fast-forward another 10 years. A lot of water has washed over the dam since 2006 and a lot of carbon has been released into the air. There is now a global consensus among informed scientists and science-informed politicians, as well as the educated general public, that this is a super-serious threat, that we are getting farther and farther behind, and that it is imperative that a mass change in human behavior as regards energy production and use now take place.
 
This is not an issue to be dealt with by measuring the quarterly shareholder reports of capitalism's lions.
 
This is not an issue to be dealt with by measuring the quarterly shareholder reports of capitalism's lions. Nor is it an issue upon which to cast doubt à la the tobacco industry's great success at delaying tactics. The basic science has been settled for a long time. The applied science determining the best ways forward can benefit from ongoing research and new engineering.
Worst-case scenario: If all of the fossil fuels are burnt, a rise in the sea level of some 200 feet is likely, but this would take hundreds of years. Thinking only about your lives and the lives of your children and grandchildren is natural but so selfish. We should be thinking about all life, human and other, forever, on planet Earth, writ large. The human animal and various world cultures can deal with this, but enlightened leadership will be required in large doses. If we can make positive energy economics the driver, the human race has a fighting chance.
COMMENTS 3


3 comments
 
Are   we  hyped   excessively  about   this   scientific  observation  of  global  warming   trend  , projected  by
their  sophisticated  climate  models , that  is  supposed  to  be  caused  by anthropogenic  human  made  forces
&  natural  variables.
The  way  I  see  it  &  most  of  us  think   that  as  most  of  earthly  regions  still  have  heavy  snow  &  harsh  winters  for 4-7months  of  year &  crops  are  growing  good  in  summer  monthes,harvest   extends  into  fall  in  certain  parts  of  world  & there   is  progressive  sustainable  economic  improvements   have  occurred   in  developed &  developing  countries  on  this  planet. This  sounds  good , better  than  expected  for  all  practical  reasons.
Should  we  be  realy  concerned  about  earthly  temperature  rising 2degees ?  or  rather  worry  about  air  quality?
I  am  worried  about  the  atmospheric  pollution  that  has  caused  by  these   gases & emissions  which  has
increased the  human  ailments  of  respiratory  illnesses &  blood  cancer ,  but  the  heavy  rainfalls  has
settled  the  pollutants  on  the  ground , that  is  good  effect as  well  ,can't  be  ignored  either.
 All  &  all  ,I  worry  about  the  drilling  in  the  ground  that  occurs  with  excuse  of  oil  search  within ground
 for  release  of  pressure  from  gases  created  inside  the  earth  &  then  there  is  violence  in  society  &
 greed  for  money  &  power , are  other  important  concerns ,  worth  paying  attention for.
 By  the  way ,  nuclear  energy  is  good  if  safety  is  observed  in  production & storage &  pollution  free ,
 Great  thinking.

Correct Stephen, but I think he does believe he's the greatest and most beloved (fill in the blank) that ever lived or will ever live. I suggest we all reread Orwell's 1984. We now live in that age of "newspeak" no=yes, wrong=right, war=peace and slavery =freedom. Change the definition of a word and you co-opt it and open the door to confusion and misunderstanding. If you do this to a language, you eliminate the population's ability to express themselves and any dissent or democratic ideas cannot be properly expressed, and in doing so create slaves.
The Big Brother of Orwell speaks in generalities that conflict,... everything in absolutes,....always the most, least, biggest, worst, always the extremes, no middle ground is permitted, no shades of gray that comprise this analog universe and make sanity possible. A dialog of hate, totality, chaos and fear uttered in a tone of true wisdom to be believed..... Or else.
One thing Big Brother is never absolute about is the concept of truth. Truth use to be an absolute, .... the universal solvent that dissolved argument, quelled fears, built society, and restored sanity. It WAS the light that vanquished the ignorant darkness. Oh, what has it become, but a twisted, relative, transient device to pervert, invert, subvert and spin the mind of anyone sane. What must be the motivation behind such deeds if not power, control, vanity, greed....surely nothing laudable, honest, or of betterment to ALL our future survival. No, the basis is fear, hate, and evil intentions of those minds. They must reason their only chance to survive is to conquer, hinder, destroy, kill or drive insane all who oppose them. They "reason" they can only really be safe on this planet when there is no opposition from anyone, hence, they will only survive when everyone else is dead! That is the computation of an insane being. That IS true insanity, and in any civilization, that society lasts only as long as its ability to say "NO!" to such people. Truth, reason, personal integrity, education, competency, and above all,  courage are the tools that keep people free, societies free, and the show on the road for our great, great, great great..... grandkids as the very good Dr. Lundberg put it.
Personally, I'm apolitical. I vote my conscious and for who I think will do the most good and the least harm; this usually turns out to be the most sanest one of the bunch. As we go forward into a much warmer world where (as models done by Brookings, WHO, and I believe the CDC are showing) by 2087 most of northern Africa and LARGE parts of the middle east will be uninhabitable due to >127deg F average temps, famine, disease, conflicts over resources will kill millions and force mass migrations into more livable areas, putting a tremendous load on the social and medical fields that, even as we speak, are under attack by the uninformed and self-centered. I thank Dr. Lundberg for his contributions not only to his field but to society itself, as only a brilliant, kind and courageous person can accomplish. I wish him long and good health and the continued ability to do what he does best.... help all of us do better through his teachings and comments.


P.S. Those of you that know me know I'm NEVER this verbose!  In my defense I will say, the Dr. struck a nerve and I was "compelled" to comment. lol
Peace.
Dr. Bob DEmidio