Beverly Solow

It's an emergency so let's set a goal for 30 years from now!

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 10:00:28 -0800

A NYC non-profit working to fight climate change declared victory when negotiations resulted in watered down legislation to ban gas hookups in new buildings. Instead of banning gas hookups in one year, large buildings won't be affected for 5 more years. We won?

President Biden signed an executive order to make the federal government carbon neutral by 2050. (During the same month Congress approved a military budget of $768 billion. That budget figure signals a true priority.)

If something is an emergency, best not to wait to get it done in 5 or 30 years!

I'm looking forward to seeing a new film called Don't Look Up, about an imminent threat to our planet in the form of a comet, a stand-in for climate change. "Don't Look Up" is a slogan used to get people to avoid seeing the comet and instead pay attention to the distractions on their screens and accept life as corporations, politicians and social media platforms want us to see it.

Welcome!

Beverly Solow

Wed, 08 Dec 2021 07:39:24 -0800 last edited: Wed, 08 Dec 2021 08:06:42 -0800

Welcome Facebook friends,
This is for sure a social media platform and it's not like Facebook. It's a little like being a pioneer without the need to steal land from the original inhabitants. Facebook gives you a ready to use product but it comes with a cost. Facebook's purpose is to disguise their exploitative, commercial operation so they make it easy for you to do the things they want you to do without thinking about the cost. Real community takes more effort. ZAP gives you the tools to do that--but it is more effort to build a ZAP community.

Since ZAP is a federated social network platform, there are many instances, each with their own name. This instance is called Our Common Cloud ( https://zap.ourcommoncloud.social ). If you join, you will gain access to this local ZAP platform and be able to communicate with other federated platforms worldwide.

@Barry Solow set up and runs this instance and he is eager to help newcomers learn the basics of participation. He is thinking of setting up a group for that purpose. If you are interested in registering click on the link above. It will take you to a login page but you will want to click on the word "Register" below the login form. Since registration is by approval only, filling out and submitting the form will notify the administrator (i.e., @Barry Solow ) of your request and you will be sent email when your membership is approved. BE SURE TO CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER -- some systems seem to treat email from this site as spam.

I hope to meet you on this new venture!

Leaving Facebook after 10 years

Beverly Solow

Mon, 06 Dec 2021 14:30:15 -0800

Hello world,
I joined Facebook 10 years ago so I could see my grown children's photos as they bicycled from Cleveland to Austin Texas. It's still how I see friends' photos, keep in touch with my brother, learn about political events in NYC and the schedule of a women's walking group. I also connect with the "buy-nothing-give-stuff-away" community, wish people Happy Birthday, and keep in touch with many FB friends.

I want them all to move here so that we are not feeding the beast that is Facebook.

I recently finished watching the Hulu series Dopesick, about how Purdue Pharma deliberately masterminded the sales and distribution of oxycontin and the epidemic that destroyed brains, lives and communities. It strikes me that the same level of calculated malevolence is at work at Facebook--knowingly sowing discord and divisiveness politically and harming adolescents' mental health. In fact, both the pharmaceutical company and the social media platform were planning to market their products (addictive painkillers and Instagram) specially geared to children!

So, while I'll miss the ease of connecting with friends near and far on FB, I cannot continue to be complicit and add to its incredible power.

political