00Aaron

00Aaron, 5 days ago

@jasonkoebler "Would a customer bring their phone in to be repaired only to have it destroyed?"

That's the stuff of a dark comedy dystopia right there

00Aaron, 13 days ago

The foundation of the billionaire that pulled funding for The Intercept is trying to fix capitalism by using capitalism.

https://omidyar.com/reimagining-capitalism-4/

00Aaron, 13 days ago

Also this was published on the day I was fired from Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins for a series of events that resulted from my writing this column for a local paper, which my supervisor approved, but which upset some coward on the board for reasons that are still unclear

https://www.tompkinsweekly.com/articles/signs-of-sustainability-earth-day-is-only-a-place-to-start/

1/

00Aaron, 13 days ago

The Executive Director of Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins scolded me about the article but lied to me about who had an issue with it, saying it was her who had the issue.

She also couldn't figure out what the problem with the article was when I asked her, during that scolding. After a couple minutes of looking at it, she vaguely told me that some of what I wrote could be perceived as negative.

I later found out form HR that it was someone on the board who had an issue.

2/

00Aaron, 13 days ago

The following week I said that I'd resign, and gave 6 weeks notice since my position hadn't existed before.

The following week they said I had to be out by Friday. When I emailed my team to tell them why I was leaving, they promptly fired me for "misusing work communications"

The real reason is likely that I'd spoken with a manager about mistreatment, possibly due to my skin color, a couple months before. CCE Tompkins likely didn't want me to have documentation, so they locked me out.

3/

00Aaron, 13 days ago

to return to the point, my transgression was that what I had written upset the worldview & dominance of a board member too cowardly to tell me their name, who does nothing to support our work. (Multiple times I'd asked for equipment and was first ignored, then given less than 1/4 the min budget, as decided by the board, so I continued to use my personal camera and video equipment)

The oligarchic control is everywhere, and it's particularly sensitive to being challenged on a narrative level.

4/

00Aaron, 1 month ago

See page four of this document to find #Cornell's sneaky language that aims to give a longer lifeline to #fossilfuels

This is a recommendation from the increasingly reactionary institution to change the city building code-- it will help us fail at our #Climate commitments

https://www.cityofithaca.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Agenda/_04152024-2852

00Aaron, 1 month ago

Changing the phrasing (pg 4 in the above doc) from:

"Fossil fuel burning equipment shall not be used for space heating, [etc]" to

to

"New fossil fuel burning equipment shall not be installed for space heating, [etc]"

Is #Cornell's attempt at not phasing out their own #FossilFuel equipment, and wants to bring the rest of #Ithaca to climate hell with them.

00Aaron, 1 month ago

This is only the latest in a series of dysfunctions that prioritize the perception of risk and image over every single thing, including even accomplishing anything in the community.

The executive director kept saying "this is written like an editorial" in an astounding display of media illiteracy, even as I explained to her multiple times that it's literally a column so it is an editorial by definition and by requirement.

00Aaron, 1 month ago

After minutes of staring at my short article--the one that apparently had upset them greatly--the executive director basically made up some bullshit about why she was upset saying "the part about the same folks doing the same things in the same organizations can seem very negative and that can reflect badly on the organization."

That was it. That was my Great Transgression: I made the white people squirm. That's why they now want to micromanage me going forward.

But no, I'm done. I'm out.

00Aaron, 2 months ago

@CelloMomOnCars
I live in Ithaca and work in the climate space (the piece linked at the end of the NPR piece was written by me, as you may see) and this part of the article was a little too rosy and uncritical.

NYSEG has recently actually hiked electric rates at a higher rate than gas, making it less financially feasible to electrify buildings.

Second, if you look at NYSEG's public disclosures, you can see they are moving away from renewables increasing their use of toward natural gas

1/

00Aaron, 2 months ago

@CelloMomOnCars

If you look at these two public disclosures, you can see that in 2016, NYSEG had a greater share of renewables like hydro power and wind than it does today. Over those years it has also increased its share of natural gas in its energy supply mix.

Tricking NPR reporters is part of NYSEG's PR to stay out of trouble.

2/

A screenshot of the 2016 public disclosure document New York State Electric & Gas Corp.—NYSEG Among other things: Hydroelectric 10% (down from 15%) Wind: 1% (down from 3%) Natural Gas: 55% (up from 43%)

00Aaron, 2 months ago

"If Cornell University and Ithaca College paid taxes on all their properties, the property tax for an average house in Ithaca would drop between 40-45%."

Instead, our elected officials (all of them except one) stopped fighting for us, and next year, both renters and homeowners will eat the cost, and struggle to pay bills as we all subsidize #Cornell University, which has a $10bn endowment.

https://theithacan.org/50275/news/50275/