If you still don't get it, convert from base 8 to base 10. That's all I will say about that line.

Anyway, it's the end of another month, and at least I'm writing on here a little more than I used to, although this may feel at times like some kind of glorified lorem ipsum blabbering. After this day ends, we enter the final two months of 2023. Some of us may already be planning ahead, to 2024 and beyond, but not everyone in the world has this privilege.

For example, the folks in and around Gaza are still dealing with unjust retaliation for what Hamas did on October 7. It need not be reiterated: the Hamas assault on innocents was heinous and unforgivable. But that's also true of the Israeli response. Two wrongs don't make a right in any case, and Juice Media are spot-on as usual. Score another one for the Australian folks behind that channel.

Besides that and the ongoing Ukraine invasion, earlier today I was told about a #SilentHolocaust in the DR Congo, tangled up with the cobalt mining exploitation that we have ignored for years. It is another layer of complexity in the war-torn region.

The Australian ABC video which I linked above spotlights Chinese mining companies' ties to the "artisanal" mines, but at least it also says who buys that cobalt: tech giants such as Tesla, Apple, and Microsoft. This makes us complicit as tech users, using devices powered by batteries.

A Deutsche Welle video sheds light on the supply chain, which reinforces the global nature of the challenge that we are up against. A global solution is needed for a complex global problem, especially when climate change is giving us reason to ignore these issues. Maybe one of the first things we can do is to reduce our day-to-day reliance on tech that runs on batteries?

I don't know what is easier for us to work against, but I'm sure we can not do it as isolated groups. Focus is an F-word for me, but if we hold hands and move in unison, keeping each other accountable and focused, I think we stand a tiny fighting chance.