Author: CZed

Expensive Hope

~ CZed

Originally a twitter thread:

In my day job, one of the signs of progress and health is the ability to look at a situation as it is, without either catastrophizing OR denial. So yes, sometimes the goal of the next set of therapy is to come to terms with a terminal dx or the end of a relationship.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with setting eyes on This Thing and recognizing that This Thing is now THIS. Maybe it used to be THAT, but it is no longer THAT and the chances that it will ever be THAT again are very small. Or not in this lifetime, with these circumstances.

Coming to terms with This Thing can be hard, and slow, and painful, but the emotional honesty of coming to terms with it is much healthier than the usual alternative — denial.

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Winter Preparedness

~ CZed

Author’s note: This was originally written… a few years ago (?), to help a friend move to snow country. And then got some additions to maybe turn it into a series, and then I apparently got distracted. I’m posting it as is for now; I may come back to it and finish the series.

Power failures happen. Trees get overloaded with ice and fall through power lines. A car accident into a transformer or substation can blow the local area. High wind drops lines and tree branches. A pair of birds squabbling on high tension lines an create an arc from one line to another. The grid can be delicate, but it’s also extremely robust, because it works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with more than 99.999% uptime. Most power failures are local inconveniences that last no more than a few hours.

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Cradle To Gate, End of Life Costs

~ CZed

Originally a twitter thread, 26 August, 2021; commentary on cotton shopping bags

Hey, let’s talk about a couple of terms that are going around: “cradle to gate cost” and “end of life cost”. (Also sometimes “cradle to grave cost”). Cradle to gate measures what an item costs to manufacture, ship and get through the point of sale. Tracking stops after sale.

It’s a really useful metric for manufacturers, and for disposable, single use items, because single use items may see a small amount of travel before they’re used and discarded, but it’s a very minor addition to the cost of the item.

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Peelian Principles and American Policing

~ CZed ~ 1 Comment

Originally a Twitter thread, April 24, 2021


A long thread on the primary alternative to the US model of policing, with some history, mostly for context.
Long thread. References used at end. (And yes, there is synthesis here.) 

The US police system is an independent evolution vs the rest of the Anglosphere. And a blighted evolution, since ours developed out of systems specifically intended to support racist institutions. The American system started with slave patrols. It’s fruit from a poisoned tree.

But our system is not the only system.

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The Monstrous Arrogance

~ CZed

Originally written on Twitter, February 21, 2018.

Nothing has changed, except it’s gotten worse.

Reposting it here, now, because there is no room in my heart to say this again.

(Note: read the link if possible. I like the gifs.)

I’ve spent my entire professional career putting people back together after trauma, especially gun trauma. 19 years.

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Case Study of the Insecurity & Anxiety of Gun Hoarding

~ CZed

Originally written on Twitter March 18, 2018

In my pinned thread, I talk about insecurity & anxiety of gun ownership. This piece is a textbook example.

He needed talk therapy for decades. Instead, he bought guns.

After his family died, he threatened to kill himself. So the police took his guns.

⬆️ This Washington Post article inspired this. Read it first.

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