The Coffee House-Come and Chat With Us!(January 2020)

[Sax]

Hopefully this new coronavirus outbreak fizzles out before more people die. It originated from a live animal market....I wonder if epidemiologists have quantified how much risk of pandemic is the result of animal agriculture.

I'll be ****** if I catch an animal agriculture originated disease. But it would be a kind of poetic justice if humanity was wiped out by one.

 

[Lou]

Hopefully this new coronavirus outbreak fizzles out before more people die. It originated from a live animal market....I wonder if epidemiologists have quantified how much risk of pandemic is the result of animal agriculture.

I'll be ****** if I catch an animal agriculture originated disease. But it would be a kind of poetic justice if humanity was wiped out by one.

Unfortunately, they think this new virus is now communicable thru the air. So you don't have to eat an animal to catch it. But a pandemic is only the third most likely disaster to kill mankind.

These are the 12 things most likely to destroy the world

Vox is a general interest news site for the 21st century. Its mission: to help everyone understand our complicated world, so that we can all help shape it. In text, video and audio, our reporters explain politics, policy, world affairs, technology, culture, science, the climate crisis, money...

www.vox.com

 

[TofuRobot]

Just found out that the baseball coach that died in the helicopter crash that Kobe in was my boss's brother-in-law... What a terrible tragedy for all involved

 

[shyvas]

I watched the 75 th memorial service comomerating Auschwitz this afternoon. It was so sad to see the survivors who will no longer be present for
the next big memorial. Such wonderful,humble people that it's hard to imagine what they have lived through.

Auschwitz: Survivors gather to mark 75th anniversary of camp liberation

Alberto Israel, 93, who was detained at the camp in Poland in 1944 when he was 17 years old says he still has nightmares about it.

news.sky.com

 

[Poppy]

My emojis aren't working at the moment, but I'm sorry TofuRobot.

 

[KLS52]

My emojis aren't working at the moment, but I'm sorry TofuRobot.

I’m noticing that too.

 

[Forest Nymph]

Random - on the topic of oatmeal, which I typically only make on the weekends of my days off (I put so much stuff in my oatmeal I just don't have the time when I have to get up at 4:30 just to get to work by 7), I tried making overnight oats a few days ago and it was a total fail. I'm thinking of sometimes just cooking the oatmeal and chopping my nuts and dates the night before so I can just toss it all in a bowl and microwave it. But I don't know if I will have it that together once classes start next week.

Today at work I took a phone call (which I do ALL day long) and the first thing I hear is "This is a sign-language interpreted call..." ...An hour and 10 minutes later I was able to help the hearing-impaired instructor get signed in to her email on 2 devices which had been migrated to another service, with the help of the interpreter. I had to open a ticket for the rest of the things she needed help with as they weren't working. I have so much respect for sign language interpreters and the hearing impaired people they help. I wasn't even doing any interpreting but it was mentally exhausting. I'm not sure people really think about how difficult it is to have to communicate through a 3rd party, and without any audible speech involved. I was reminded how I once wanted to do that, way back when I was 20-something. I am now re-visiting that idea, along with my desire to be a polyglot... It's never too late, right?

People have different types of intelligence (visual, auditory, verbal, intrapersonal, interpersonal, kinetic, mathematical, naturalistic) and it may be exhausting for you because you're not visual. I think people who do sign language interpretation have to have high visual and interpersonal intelligence. We had to learn about this when I studied Environmental Education.

My highest are naturalistic (environmental/nature/science intelligence - it's the newest one they added lol), intrapersonal and then verbal. My verbal intelligence is mostly written, and intrapersonal means....you understand yourself and abstract philosophy. Well. It pairs well with auditory or visual for musical or artistic, but in my case it means I'm very personally offended about environmental things a lot. I'm looking for an out. My auditory is decent, though. Maybe I should write songs about animal rights or conservation for children, because my auditory isn't high enough to be a musician for adults, just a fan.

 

[Forest Nymph]

It is my opinion that people that eat overnight oats, mostly, live in warmer climates. I can't think of anything less appetizing than cold oats in the morning, for most of the year. Also, how else would I use up the amazing Canadian maple syrup. lol

Emma JC

Same. In Northern California things like overnight oats and smoothies only appeal in the summer. Climate and weather affect us hugely. I am very different than I was in LA.

 

[Forest Nymph]

The good news I have is that I LOVE all of my classes this semester. I can't believe how much I love my classes!

Environmental grant writing is a second chance! This is the most exciting one (but hardest class) because rather than writing my thesis as a grad student in the program, I'm learning how to apply for money to complete a semester project on plant-based diets for environment. What if????!!!


Then I'm taking an Anthropology that is almost entirely Anthrozoology. It's everything vegans talk about. It could be called "Vegan Education." We have already talked about speciesism, we'll talk about human meat eating, the difference between ourselves and other animals, our conceit as humans separating ourselves from other animals, what it means for the environment, zoonotic illness, and more. I love this class. I wish my grad program was Anthrozoology. So I've finally applied for that on-line private school in New York, despite it being for millionaires. If this is what I'm born to do, no cost is too much, and maybe I'll earn so much money it eventually won't matter.

Finally, Environment and Religion is so cool. I can't exactly describe why it's so cool, but it shuts me up. I listen a lot, which means it's impressive. The professor talks about religion helps people not to lose hope or despair over climate change, and that matters because any one person giving up could tip the scales to failure. I like her a lot and I even signed up for a religious retreat in May at a Chinese vegetarian Buddhist monastary, that is included in my precious tuition, only costs me 48-72 hours of my life, and is only pass/fail. It's also reputable to make such an impression on past graduates that even students from 25 years ago say this is the most meaningful experience of their college career. Here I is. Climate change has made me desperate.

 

[shyvas]

It's quite windy today but the sun has come out.

I made some comfort food in the slow cooker (up since 5 am) and an very busy sewing pouches for the Australian wildlife. Busy, busy.

 

[TofuRobot]

People have different types of intelligence (visual, auditory, verbal, intrapersonal, interpersonal, kinetic, mathematical, naturalistic) and it may be exhausting for you because you're not visual. I think people who do sign language interpretation have to have high visual and interpersonal intelligence. We had to learn about this when I studied Environmental Education

Thanks for your input, @Forest Nymph . Interestingly, I just yesterday took a learning style quiz online (for curiosity and because it was asked as part of a discussion for one of my classes) and it said that I was 35% auditory, 40% visual, and 25% tactile. As I am fairly empathetic, I think I was picking up on the fatigue that the interpreter was probably feeling on the other end of the call (most interpreters work for only 30 mins at a time due to fatigue), and the fact that I couldn't see them or interact with them visually. Of course, it was also a rather rewarding experience, too. If I'm being totally honest, when I first got the call, my gut level instinct was 'who can I pass this call to??", but that's not my style... And in the beginning, the call started with "I want to speak to a manager", but I ended up resolving 2 of the 3 problems the user was having, and wrote a ticket for the rest. It was a good experience in the end.