Underground

 Locating data centers underground seems an attractive alternative to the current crop of huge surface-level installations.  There are numerous adtantages to building beneath the surface:

• Large existing spaces such as abandoned mines are available in many places around the country.

• Constant low temperatures avoid the need for massive preemption of scarce water sources for cooling.

 • Noise and air pollution can be greatly reduced for surrounding communities.

• Freed up surface area makes space available for alternatives to fossil fuel driven power sources including solar and wind (particularly relevant options in the windy and sun-rich Southwest).  The Rio Grande Valley, whiich has been targeted for data center development, also has great untapped potential for geothermal exploitation.

What those considerations point to in the present moment is the wisdom of a moratorium on data center construction as proposed by New Mexico gubenatorial candidate, Deb Haaland.  There will never be a better time to evaluate the current rush to throw up intrusive industrial complexes, and the practicalities of under-surface location.

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New Mexico and El Paso Spent Millions on Climate Plans. Three New Data Centers Could Undo Them.  (This ProPublica article examines how southwest states' climate and industrial development plans are at odds and how air polution knows no boundaries )

Critical Distance

 I have asked for recision of the six foot rule.

 The request is under consideration.

The Online Grievance Industry

 Today's Nation leads with 

Rebecca Solnit’s (Mis)Adventures in the Manosphere. 

Solnit provides an historian's perspective on how most of the internet today is dominated by what is usually described as a cultural shift in how young men often see life.   She asserts that it is really an expression of economic exploitation by the billionaire media moguls.

 At the end of the article there is a link to Solnit's website. 

 The guiding principle of the website is expressed succinctly on page one:

"Every emergency is in part a storytelling emergency."

"Hope does not mean saying this is not bad, and it does not mean saying that we can defeat it. It just means saying we will keep showing up. That we will not give up. ...we do not know how it will unfold, and neither do those we oppose."   

I have enjoyed reading Solnit's columns, articles and books for a long time.  I'm pleased to have found this new-to-me trove of thoughts about the big issues of our time. 

Solnit often spends part of the summer in New Mexico.  In an August article she talks about the state's changing climate, including longer and hotter summers and air filled with smoke from wildfires. 

Breakfast at VM

 VM Coffee is the most elaborately designed of Albuquerque's many coffee shops.  The downtown location makes it most accessible by car (or bicycle for the more fit coffee drinkers).  Margaret had been treated to a brunch there recently, so she insisted we visit the place on a Saturday morning to partake of the coffee and a big carnitas burrito, which we shared.

 The fellow in charge of roasting the coffee beans treated us to a guided tour of the shop's roasting machinery in the big warehouse space behind the inner bank of widows.

 Adjacent to the shop is a large parking lot museum of vintage signs and vehicles collected and restored by the shop's owner.

Dinner at Five

 Until I got this zoomed-in shot I did not notice the missing tip of the left ear.  So a little bit of the life history is known. 

Not sure about much else, including the gender.  Looks quite healthy, with a nice coat.   Evidently a good scavenger and hunter.  

The Window Garden

 

A New Acquaintance

 I decided to try taming this feral cat that has been hanging out around our house for a month or two. 

 

I had some dry food that the dog refused to eat.  Not surprisingly, the cat was fine with it.

We mostly had seen the tail end of the cat disappearing under the deck before.  Now, it is willing to come up on deck to eat, and has even laid on the chair cushion in the sun for a bit.