Ach es ist so schön im Garten. Ein schöner Garten will geplant werden. Das gelingt auf besondere Weise mit dem „Pollinator“. Hinter dem Pollinator verbirgt sich ein Kunstprojekt, das viele kleine Gartenkunstwerke zu einem großen verbinden möchte. Spannend ist nicht nur das Vernetzungsprojekt von vielen einzelnen Parzellen zu einem größer werdenden Gesamtprojekt (Aggregation), sondern der für Kunstschaffende gewohnte Perspektivwechsel. Aus Sicht der Bestäuber der Pflanzen und Blumen gesehen ergibt sich eine vogelähnliche Perspektive auf den Garten.
Der Parcour einer Biene oder eines Schmetterlings durch unsere Gartenparzelle regt zum Träumen an. Vielleicht hätte Franz Kafka nach der Parcour-Erfahrung ein anderes Insekt gewählt. Mir gefällt die 2D, 3D, 4D Perspektive, die es erlaubt, den blühenden Garten im Zeitraffer durch alle Jahreszeiten zu visualisieren. Das ist Gartenarbeit ohne die mühsame Kleinarbeit des Pflanzens und Unkrautjätens. Es wird nicht gleich ein Garten wie von Impressionisten in Argenteuil von Monet oder in Yerres von Caillebotte daraus, aber ein farbenprächtiges Kleinod allemal. Mein erster virtueller Versuch (Link) ist schon recht farbenfroh. Lateinische Namen auffrischen ist schon fast ein Beitrag zum gesunden Altern, besonders wenn der Garten einige Kilometer entfernt ist. Im Sommer lassen sich leicht neue Pläne schmieden. Herbst und Winter, Trockenheit und Hitze lassen uns das Gartenkunstwerk nochmals überdenken. Spielerisch ein Gartendesign gestalten, kann der erste Schritt für mehr Natur sein. Biodiversität macht Spaß und hilft uns allen. Kleinvieh macht eben auch Mist. 
Car Energy
The car industry sells more electricity-driven than diesel-cars for the first time in July 2023 (ACEA, 2023). This is a turnaround, considering the large share of the most polluting cars in the EU. It is difficult to see this as good news as newly sold diesel-cars will be around and polluting for many years to come. Hybrid cars are an own category and full of heavy additional material that allows 2 types of mobility. Tax reductions to push hybrid cars into the EU-market were very expensive for tax-payers and increasing inequality through co-financing rather expensive cars. 36,3%, the largest share, are still petrol-driven cars, with little awareness for further CO2 reductions. This is the slow evolution of the energy consumption pattern of the automotive industry in Europe.
On the energy production side there have been substantial efforts to invest in clean energy, too (IEA, 2023). With the world burning at several places already it is, after all, good news that investment in solar energy production on a global level has reached the level of investment in fossil fuels. Major drivers of this evolution are 1. China, 2. Europe and 3. The U.S. A. (unadjusted for population size) according to this investment report. Grids and storage investments rise equally to new heights, reflecting new distributional aspects of power provision within and between countries. We are in the race against the burning of our planet due to our shameless use of fossil fuels, worst in form of flying small jet planes. Besides the large company and state investments we need the spending and investment power of the masses to speed up the end of the fossil fuel age of polluting dinosaurs. Please do not replace one dinosaur (coal, oil, gas) with another one (nuclear). Too big to fail is maybe an economic rationale, but it does not withstand natural disasters (Fukushima), human failure (Tschernobyl) or war activity (Saporischschja).
(Figure source: IEA, Power investment in billion US$, 2019-2023, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/power-investment-2019-2023.
Strand
Strand kann so schön sein. Am besten mit viel Sonnenschutz. Das können dann auch schon mal Wolken sein. Das reduziert die UV-Strahlung ganz erheblich. Warum gerade dann besonders wenige Personen am Strand anzutreffen sind, werde ich nie verstehen. Regenschauer und Regenbogen verbessern die Luft und sorgen für Glücksgefühle. Wolkenformationen sind nicht nur attraktiv für romantische Personen, sondern auch für Hobby- Meteorologen. Das sind wir doch irgendwie im tiefsten Inneren alle mit dem täglichen Blick auf 1-2 Wetterapps für die Prüfung der Wetteraussichten. Beim Walking am Strand ist eben etwas für alle Sinne dabei. Cryothérapie inklusive. 
Moped
Im Osten Deutschlands schwören viele Moped Enthusiasten auf ihre Schwalbe. Italienische Mopedliebhabende wollen immer nur Vespa fahren. In den 70er Jahren gab es bereits eine kleine platz- und energiesparende Alternative. Das war die Honda Dax. Als Moped zu haben mit 50cm³ Motor bis zum Motorrad mit 125cm³ bekannt als Monkey-bike. Der 4-Takt-Motor erlaubte geräuscharme, niedrige Drehzahlen. Dazu gab es eine Fliehkraftkupplung, besser bekannt als Halbautomatik mit Fußschaltung. Tanken mit Benzin ohne Ölbeimischung, was die Mobilität einfacher machte und mal vom Reservekanister getankt werden konnte. Reichweite ohne nachtanken, ça 70 km.
Im Juli 2023 habe ich noch einige Exemplare in einem autoberuhigten Ferienort an der Nordsee gespottet. Das Motorrad wird 2023 mit 1,5 Liter/100km ausgewiesen. Eher zeitgemäß ist die elektrische Variante, die sich sauber in der Garage oder direkt an der Solarzelle laden lässt. Das hat ungefähr ein halbes Jahrhundert gedauert. Umweltbewusstsein fällt nicht vom Himmel. Der Elektromotor bietet mit 800W. Das ist mehr Kraft als ein Pedelec. Da steht einem Ausflug zu zweit, nicht zu weit, nichts mehr entgegen. Bevor die Emotionen die Überhand nehmen, mache ich meinen täglichen Spaziergang. 
Books
Some say, a book is a book, is a book. This is to reiterate the lasting effect a printed volume might have. Many books are a form of a documentation of facts. Creative writing in whatever form finds most of the time some way into a format of a book. For centuries books have facilitated the diffusion of myths and stories throughout societies including translated versions of the content. 2 aspects are constituent here (1) form and (2) content. Annual book fairs receive most attention for new content within more or less the same rectangular format. There are, nevertheless, interesting variations of the form to be discovered as well. Traditionally book binding was the art that gave shapes to the content. Images in form of film are yet another representation of the book content. All this is “dealt” with at the Frankfurt book fair #fbm23, particularly in form of dealing in and with copyrights. New forms of delivery of content, online or as e-book, have added to the variety of books. Pay as you go or as abonnement with monthly delivery is the old and maybe fashionable new way to digest abundant content. People trust in books. The format as book in general seems to remain an authoritative form to present content, irrespective of the truthful or fictional kind of the content. The more we live in insecure circumstances, the more we tend to be willing to hold on to a pile of paper nicely woven or clued. It is still a very powerful tool to guide imagination for all ages. It allows us to learn at our own rhythm as far as we are willing to go. We are, or seem to be, in control of the process as well as the likely outcome. And yet, the spice of life is the surprise. Book it.
Smurf SDGs
The smurf series of comics has been a world-wide success as children-books. Many adults enjoy re-reading some of their old comic books to their children or grand-children. Now let us try it the other way around. Our children try to sell us the concern for the environment by talking to us through the designs of smurfs, Schlümpfe or Strümpfe, as they are called in various translations. Maybe this way we are more open to take a serious look at the Strategic Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN. Easily accessible and getting us through an emotional connection might work better than tedious lengthy documents and statistics of continuous failure (e.g. on hunger) of most parts of the world.
Tell the story of the smurfs with the SDGs in mind. See how far you get in remembering the whole list of 17 stories. Build a narrative around each of the images. There is no way around getting nearer these goals for our very own survival as a species. Intergenerational communication works both ways from young to old as well as from old to young. Design your own characters, if you like, with the same SDGs in mind. Only this way we shall broaden the supporters for the goals beyond the expert circles of politicians and policy advisers. Happy drafting and rapid implementation! We can do it, if we want to. 
Hunger
The UN strategic development goals (SDGs) list after the eradication of hunger as number 2 no hunger by the year 2030. Following the report of FAO, the UN 🇺🇳 organization in charge of nutrition in a larger sense, the world is moving further away from reaching this goal in the 4 last years. The Covid-19 pandemic had disrupted supply chains and caused higher prices for basic ingredients. The poorest countries were most vulnerable to such price increases when even in the rich world government deficits were rising sharply. Before sufficient relief arrived Russia’s war in Ukraine destroyed crops, interrupted again supply chains from Ukraine to many of the poorest nations. Energy prices are a substantial part in the production of fertilizers for agricultural products. Same story Russia disrupted the whole supply chains for food production at affordable prices for the poorest parts of the world. Additionally, Indian food production was lower due to the drought, Pakistan had extreme flooding. Both countries are important export nations for feeding the world. Continuing climate change is likely to put global food production under additional pressure. Price rises will hit the poorest again and again. Feeding animals with crops that could otherwise alleviate hunger in other parts of the world puts the rich world’s consumption patterns also into the spotlight. Fighting global hunger is largely a question of how wealthy nations deal with nutrition. The struggle to fight obesity and hunger under the joint concern of malnutrition unites all parts of the world. Time to act together on both topics.
Peace and AI
Rather than asking AI to draft a peace treaty, I used AI to generate images to illustrate my blog entry on strategic thinking and peace deals. My own bias for impressionistic images in art have guided my choice previously. The alternative suggestions from AI based on BING reveals the progressive as well as stereotypical creation of images through algorithms. Same gender in all images, even if the women only image is rather progressive, but as a matter of fact women still tend to be involved less in warfare. The racial stereotypes of AI in image creation also needs attention as the 2 POC persons are depicted in an unfavorable way, not one of strength as for the caucasian stereotype. Living with AI is a joint learning process, likely to be a long one, too. Critical assessment of output remains a human task and we need to train people how to critically and carefully analyze the flood of images in addition to photos.
Peace Deal
In peace times we tend to forget about the deal making function of diplomacy. The Russian war in Ukraine brings back the fact that war times are a strategic operation from before the start, from start to end, and even afterwards. More than 500 days into the Russian aggression a lot of strategic efforts on all sides are concerned with the best strategies to pursue in order to prepare for starting positions for diplomatic peace talks. As Russia is currently pursuing again 4 nights and days of missile attacks on Kiev around the 14th of July (AFP), Ukraine is showing its continued resilience to Russian bombings assisted through modern missile defence systems.
Russia seems to demonstrate its willingness to continue assaults far into the terrain of Ukraine, the Ukrainian forces, step by step, increase the immense costs of a prolonged war to Russia. Russia is sacrificing a whole generation of youth for the neo-imperialist claim on Ukrainian territory. Ukraine currently demonstrates the ability and willingness to fight back its territory even in a protracted war.
Both sides battle for starting positions in case negotiations for the time after the hot war are about to begin. Russian bombing of Kiev might address more the western allies of Ukraine who might be more reluctant to send personnel to start rebuilding the country beyond financial efforts. Russia’s loss of soldiers, lots of material and facing the militarisation of the whole country incurs another historic loss for completely the wrong reasons.
Another analogy to the strategic game of chess becomes obvious. Many games end with a “remis” or a 1/2 point for each side. In chess it is an outcome of when 2 strategists weigh the chances of loosing as high as winning even if they continue for hours to play. It is the endpoint of an evaluation of own strategic options as well as those of the opponent. The handshake to conclude a remis needs careful preparation. Part of this is to demonstrate the ability to be able to sustain a prolonged battle despite the costs as a kind of threat to the opponent. We might believe that not much has changed since Thucydides and Clausewitz. However, Putin’s forceful opening of the war irrespective of loss of lives and against international law has lost its impetus and, with the turning of the tide. Ukraine is slowly winning back land, square mile after square mile. Strategic thinking is back in the foreground, but this is exactly the moment when diplomacy comes in. Negotiating for peace is the art of warfare. It is a formidable task to reach a peace deal when bombs are still killing people every single day. (Image: AI using Bing.com Text: impressionist oil painting of two soldiers from different countries shaking hands and making peace). 
Züge
Wer heutzutage mit dem Zug verreisen möchte braucht starke Nerven. Eine lange im Voraus geplante kostengünstige Reise kann dann schon mal zu unerwarteten Kapriolen führen. Jede Person wird wissen, dass eine Reise zum 14.Juli nach Paris ein besonderer Anlass ist. Normalerweise wird Revolution gemütlich gefeiert und nicht Revolution gemacht. Die Befürchtung ist jedoch im Juli 2023 könnte das anders sein. Die Gewalt an Jugendlichen und in der Folge von Jugendlichen war schließlich erst vor einigen Tagen mehrfach eskaliert. SozialwissenschaftlicherInnen führen dabei nebenbei Feldstudien durch.
Aber eigentlich war die Reise mit dem Zug schon Monate vorher geplant. Jetzt kommt es anders. Die THALYS Gesellschaft hat in ihrer App allerdings eine Gebühr für das Umbuchen fest verankert, selbst wenn es eine erzwungene Umbuchung ist. Also rein ins Geschäft, Wartenummer ziehen und Warten, Warten und nochmals, na was schon, Warten.
Zum Zeitvertreib wird ein Geschichtendrucker bereitgestellt. Ouf, Kurzgeschichten und Comics. Das macht Hoffnung beim, na was schon, Warten. Aber irgendwann fahren wir dann ganz schnell mit dem Hochgeschwindigkeitszug nach Paris. Aber da wir doch bitte 30 Minuten vorher auf dem Bahnsteig sein sollten, wissen wir schon, wir werden, na was schon, Warten. Mein Mantra bleibt: Mit der Bimmelbahn mag ich gerne fahren, die fährt langsam und kommt trotzdem an.
