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https://www.essence.com/lifestyle/travel/luxe-zanzibar-black-travel-vibes/
If you thought all there was to the continent of Africa was the poor and downtrodden clips you’ve seen on the news or in movies, you couldn’t be more wrong. From Morocco to South Africa, Mama Africa istarget=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener” aria-label=”beauty and luxury that can rival any Caribbean or European destination (opens in a new tab)”>beauty and luxury that can rival any Caribbean or European destination on your bucket list. And one of those destinations is Zanzibar.
Zanzibar is infused with a unique heritage full of Caribbean-like charm, yet still distinctly African and the perfect escape for travelers looking for a luxurious vacation. From 5-star resorts with overwater villas looking out into the endless blues of the Indian Ocean and unique dining
The post Black Travel Vibes: Live The Luxe Life In Zanzibar appeared first on Essence.
At this year’s World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, climate activist Greta Thunberg told corporate leaders, politicians, economists, and journalists, that “Our house is still on fire.” Thunberg, who’s castigated world leaders at public forums many times before, continued to harshly criticize them for failing to halt carbon emissions in any significant way. She did, however, note some optimistic observations about awareness of the issues at hand, and make clear that “This is just the very beginning” of the climate change movement.
In her eight-and-a-half minute speech (above), Thunberg told attendees of the annual gathering—which included presidents, billionaire CEOs, and award-winning journalists, among others—that “Any plan or policy of yours that doesn’t include radical emission cuts at the source, starting today, is completely insufficient for meeting the 1.5 or well-below-2-degree [Celsius] commitments of the Paris Agreement.” She added that from the perspective of environmental sustainability, world leaders from across the political spectrum “have all failed” in their charge of tackling “the climate… emergency and [creating] a cohesive and sustainable world.”
That 1.5-2.0°C change Greta highlighted in her speech is a reference to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report released in 2018, which states that a rise in average global temperatures by that amount would almost certainly result in catastrophic climate changes. Catastrophic climate changes including a loss of nearly all of the world’s coral reefs, a complete dissolution of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean once every decade, and annihilation of nearly a fifth of the world’s plants and trees.
Thunberg called for members of the forum to “immediately halt all investments in fossil fuel exploration and extraction, immediately end all fossil fuel subsidies, and immediately and completely divest from fossil fuels.” In terms of a timeline, she said that these changes shouldn’t be made in decades or even in 2021, but should be done now.
.@GretaThunberg has just given this message to Davos.
Read more: https://t.co/j80IqPOt2T@TIME #howtosavetheplanet #wef20 pic.twitter.com/NwHFHtBjXP
— World Economic Forum (@wef) January 21, 2020
Although much of Thunberg’s speech focused on criticizing the major producers of carbon emissions, she also took the media task. During a panel discussion that took place prior to her speech, Thunberg recapped the climate science described in the 2018 IPCC report, but then told members of the media that she didn’t think she had seen them once communicate this part of her message to the public. “I know you don’t want to report about this,” Thunberg told the audience attending the panel discussion, “I know you don’t want to talk about this, but I assure you I will continue to repeat these [IPCC report] numbers until you do.”
What do you think about Greta Thunberg’s remarks at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos? Do you think world leaders are finally primed to divest from fossil fuels and invest in renewable energy resources, or do there need to be a lot more popular movements before any real changes take place? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Feature image: World Economic Forum
The post At Davos, Greta Thunberg Says This Is ‘Very Beginning’ of Climate Movement appeared first on Nerdist.
A Brief Prelude
Transcribed from my RP Discord…
Me: Our decisions will have consequences and I am both terrified and excited for what comes next.
My GM: This has given me an idea.
Me: Did… did our decisions not have consequences before?
My GM: There are now new consequences.
Me: Oh no.
My GM: There were… less circumstances in the final encounter. Now there are more. Be brave. Be bold.
Me, internally and externally: %$#@.
A Brief History of Me and the Tabletops
Tabletops are where I explore my identities. Tabletops are where I take stock of who I am and what I have done. On the weeks where I felt more dejected, the promise of my alter ego’s adventure was usually more than enough to get me through. Because they never gave up. They may have died, but they never gave up.
I cannot tell you the names of every single PC (playable characters) I have ever played, but I can tell you at least one story about each. I can tell you every thought going through my head as I Random Number Generator-ed my avatar into existence even if I can’t remember the stat blocks. I can tell you the type of person that I was and the exact moment I stopped being that person and moved on. Sometimes, it was the dice telling me that this wasn’t meant to be. Sometimes, it was the dungeon’s master decree. Sometimes, it was me in a moment of quiet revelation. That last one happened a lot in my Starfinder campaign from when my first Skittermander PC sacrificed himself for refusing to rat out his crew and this type of pensive self-sacrifice happened often.
There is a fundamental difference between the tabletop and the video game screen. I’m the type to become attached to any characters that represent me. I’m obsessed with this idea of the “persona,” the masks we wear and present to others. The visage we project in attempt to give us strength. We become Shepherd. We become our Guardian. But those PCs adhere to the rules of a distant realm, a developer with static options.
On the tabletop, there are rules, but those rules are easier to bend and break. The book is just a reference, and the world is collaborative and if you ask nicely enough, there can be some concessions, a trade off, a discussion. The lack of a graphic cards means that it also exists solely in our heads. You are your character: their voice, their conscience, their guide…until you’re not.
And like in any fiction, there is a point where the character becomes a separate entity from you, still closely entangled, but not quite the same anymore.
Some Time, Right Before The End…
After two and a half long years, my Starfinder campaign has reached the last act, the final confrontation with the Big Bag, the Grand Maw, intent on devouring this universe and leaving nothingness in its wake. In the moments before the final encounter kicks off, my character makes an uncharacteristic call for divine consultation. See, Pasatsat Multo (loving called Alt-Satsat) is a Maraquoi Witchwarper. The maraquoi are a species of macqueue looking alien with large bug eyes. The witchwarpers are spellcasters trained in piercing the veil of infinite realities, able to manipulate the environment and peer into the countless realities.
Alt-Satsat, as the name hinted at, is the alternate reality version of Satsat Mutlo, a Maraquoi Operative, who joined up with the Advent Calamity as a means to gain access to certain places he could not alone and had once listened to Baku’s 18 hour long podcast (a nod to Old Man Henderson). When news of a potential way to combat the Grand Maw by ascending to godhood presented himself, Satsat (and by extension me), took after his inspiration and took the gamble to try and become something greater. He (and I) knew that his specialized skill set of stabbing things would not be enough in the final battle. He had to become more, and alas he failed, and instead blazed a trail for Pasatsat to follow.
Alt-Satsat’s reality was consumed by the Grand Maw. Under Alt-Baku (who through vague narrative choices managed to survive up until the end of days), he trained his compound eyes to each of the realities the Grand Maw consumed, and has been bringing fragments of the doomed worlds to combat the evil that exists in this one. This world has a chance, ever so slightly, to be saved, and Alt-Satsat wants to take it.
Pasatsat Multo knows that gods are real in his universe, but he has not worshiped any. He has never really felt the need to, even when faced with oblivion. Still, in this moment of uncertainty, he calls out and instead finds me.
He asks, “Are you Ibra?”
Ibra is the god of balance, and I’m neither godly or balanced, I reply. No, I’m you. Or rather, a version of you.
He is confused, as he has the right to be.
“I do know why you’re here though. Like the previous version of yourself, you seek knowledge on how these things end,” I reply, “and funnily enough, I don’t know how things will end either.”
Alt-Satsats simmers, “how exactly is that funny?”
“Because you exist because I am so uncertain myself. You, Witchwarper, represent everything I wish I had. The ability to understand how the myriads of every which way unfolds, to see the alternate outcomes just before they happen, to change reality in the smallest ways. You’re a metaphor for catastrophic thinking, for seeing the worst outcomes, the greatest fears come to past, and you’re a metaphor for the deep breath that prevents me before spiraling out. Roleplaying you has given me such a strange courage. The bravery to ask a question and be ready for whatever the response is. To watch the waveform collapse. To remember to take stock of the moment and not just the written past and nebulous future. It’s funny, because even with the ability to see beyond the veil, the only thing certainty in your uncertainty and your only response is to push forward because that’s the only response that works.”
There is a pause. He chuckles, “I guess that is funny… But still, I want to know if there’s any respite for me and companions in the future.”
I break the bad news, “you were actually supposed to have a Beach Episode, but the Advent Calamity decided to beat the evil pirate instead.”
“What’s a beach episode?”
“For you, a chance to rest in some hot springs with your compatriots.”
“I think I’m glad I fought beside them. I think I’m glad I’m fighting beside them. I am certain of this.”
“I know.”
Take a (Deep) Breath
The conversation with myself in my head ends, and I’m back at the tabletop with my best friends. I remember to take a deep breath before confirming that Alt-Satsat got his divine pep talk and is ready for the next session: the final boss.
I laugh to myself because it’s funny how I sometimes forget to breathe. I get so caught up with all the variables, all of the pathways, all of the what-if’s and could-have-been’s, and sometimes forget the most natural thing: to breathe, to feel the air enter and exit the body, give the brain a chance to rest from parsing out an endless count of binary tree branches.
My PCs tend to be representations of my anxieties at a particular time, a test case for how to deal with anxiousness in the sandbox of a game. And Alt-Satsat is just the latest character to help process all the catastrophic thinking I was running in my head yesteryear. And I don’t know how the game or life will end, but I guess I do know one thing I’m certain about.
Our decisions will have consequences and I am both terrified and excited for what comes next.
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Season: 4 / Episode: 14
The raid against the Shie Hassaikai was successful. Deku tapped into One for All’s power at 100% thanks to Eri and managed to defeat Overhaul with a pocket healer/terrified girl tied to his back within nothing but their senpai’s cape. But the mission was successful, although it was not without its cost.
After a recap of Deku’s little fight clinic, we get a quick glimpse of Suneater saving Eraserhead and the hero groups slowly starting to regroup underground. Topside, Eri’s unable to properly control her power and we get one last glimpse to the twisted psychology that is Overhaul before Eri’s reverts Overhaul (and his henchmen) to his original states, giving Uravity a chance to apprehend him with the patented Gunhead Martial Arts. Eri’s reversion continues to plague Deku, but thankfully Eraserhead is able to stop him from getting erased from existence.
The battle’s over. And now the aftermath begins…
Heroes and villains are taken to their respective hospitals (which of course, there would be separate hospitals for heroes and villains). Wounds are triaged and damaged is assessed. Most everyone is relatively fine, spare Sir Nighteye who doesn’t have the brightest prognosis with the gaping hole in his midsection. But he seems more shocked about how Midoriya was able to twist the future. But by 9:15AM, the rescue is a confirmed success.
However, the day is still young, and Overhaul’s police escort has a run with the League of Villains who continue to prove they are every bit as dangerous as you’d expected an organization named the League of Villains would be. After completely destroying the convoy, the League of Villain and their leader Shigaraki proceed to dismember Overhaul so that he will never be able to use his quirk every again, and then steal the quirk erasing bullet for good measure. Talk about brutal.
Back at the raid site, the post-game statistics are compiled. Four houses were collateral damage, but thankfully only three civilians were injured, and even then only just scratches. Part of it was the fact it was a weekday morning in a residential area and part of it was because Deku took the fight to the goddamn skies and then back to the pit like the soon-to-be pro. Deku ignores the fact that his arm is messed up again, and we see that most of the heroes are en route to a healthy recovery. Eri’s a little feverish and under quarantine, but Eraserhead reassures Deku that she’s going to be taken care of. However, there is one bit of somber news.
As Deku is ushered to the basement level of the hospital, he is greeted by a surgeon, Recovery Girl and All Might who all inform him that Nighteye is not going to make it to the morning. What follows is a tearful reunion between Hero and Sidekick. Sir Nighteye and All Might makes amends and realizes the future is not as immutable as he once thought, and that all of the energy from the heroes’ intent to save Eri managed to twist fate. But Nighteye’s final act Nighteye tells his greatest pupil, Lemillion, that he’ll become a finer hero than anyone else and then telling everyone to smile, because other society would not have…
Watching My Hero Academia? Check out BNP’s other reviews of the series here.
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