From 2021 until 2024, while I was Secretary of the Interior, we worked to forge stability, create jobs in a clean energy economy, conserve more lands and waters for future generations, and secure clean air and water for communities in every corner of the country.

We treated everyone with dignity and respect鈥攙alues that New Mexicans live by. Today, the work we accomplished, alongside conservationists, farmers, ranchers, Tribes, rural communities, and cities is under attack.

In a time of questions and uncertainty in Washington, governors around the country will be on the front lines of defense against this president鈥檚 reckless firing of federal workers, massive cuts to services that people rely on, and general chaos. The Trump administration is vigorously defending its actions in court, and if they鈥檙e allowed to stand, the harm will only grow.

When wildfires strike, there will now be fewer federal firefighters to put out the flames. Jobs and livelihoods in the outdoor recreation sector are at risk. Families who plan to visit Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, Yellowstone in Wyoming, and other national parks will encounter longer wait times and possibly limited hours.

When folks are looking to gather firewood on national forest lands, they could have a harder time contacting support staff. Veterans who seek solace on our public lands might not have the access they once did. Hunters may notice that their organizations are losing funding, and their hunting grounds slowly disappearing and being sold off to the highest bidder.

I鈥檓 running for Governor of New Mexico because leadership matters.

Governors will need to meet this moment with bold and steady leadership, and I will be a Governor who stands up for New Mexicans and the public lands that we love. While I was Secretary of the Interior, we made tremendous strides to address climate change, expand access to public lands, address drought, and manage resources responsibly. This was all done with clear direction and respect for the workforce tasked with implementing our goals. We tried new things and shot for the moon, and we did it all hand-in-hand with the people most impacted.

We created meaningful change because we were a serious agency led by, frankly, serious people. The Interior was one of the largest agencies in the federal government with nearly 70,000 dedicated employees鈥攑ark rangers, firefighters, climate scientists, biologists, and more. These are the jobs in New Mexico that kids deserve to have when they鈥檙e grown.

As I travel around my home state listening to communities, I鈥檓 hearing time and again that people are afraid. I鈥檝e met federal workers who were worried about their jobs, seniors anxious about Medicare, veterans concerned about VA services, and families worried about their kids鈥� schools. Trump and Elon Musk are striking fear into our communities while failing to deliver the things they promised.

Governors have the obligation to protect our communities. I know I will carry the weight of standing up in the face of these attacks, but it鈥檚 a weight I will happily carry because I believe in a future where we all share in New Mexico鈥檚 bounty and success. It鈥檚 a vision that has sometimes been out of reach, but I believe that with my experience, we can change the system to work for the people.

Similar to the way I changed the system at the Department of the Interior by bringing Tribal Nations and local communities in as active participants in stewarding our lands, I will make that a reality for traditional communities and Tribes in New Mexico. I will also collaborate with other governors who recognize the threats posed by this administration and with the state attorney general to pursue legal routes to fight for the protection of our lands. I hope and expect that governors鈥攁s chief executives of states鈥攚ill work together to share and learn from their successes and find opportunities to pursue new solutions. We must recognize the urgency of this moment and lock arms against these very real threats.

As governor, I will make sure New Mexico鈥檚 state parks are maintained and accessible, and I鈥檒l work to break down barriers to access these treasures. If the national parks and other federal lands in New Mexico suffer further staffing and resource cuts, I will explore ways for the state to step up and provide support to keep federal lands safe and available. I will continue efforts to recruit and hire federal workers who have lost their jobs so that they can continue to share their valuable skills and training.

I鈥檓 running for governor because the experience I gained leading a federal department and working in Congress will help working people. And I will stand alongside all of the governors who will be on the frontlines to protect our beautiful landscapes, outdoor traditions, and natural resources for future generations.

Deb Haaland served as the 54th Secretary of the United States Department of the Interior.

The post Op-Ed: Public Lands Are Under Attack. State Leaders Should Protect them. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

On January 10, at Palisades Tahoe, an avalanche ripped down G.S. Bowl, a popular run right beneath the famed KT-22 chair, killing one person and trapping many others. As is almost always the case with inbounds avalanches, none of the skiers and snowboarders who were buried did anything wrong. And while investigations are ongoing, Palisades鈥� snow safety professionals鈥攖he patrollers that risk their lives in the predawn gloom tossing hand charges and ski cutting slopes to release avalanches before the public arrives鈥攑robably also did their jobs to the best of their abilities.

After a multiple-fatality slide at Silver Mountain, Idaho, in 2020, I gave some general advice about how to protect yourself inbounds. I also explained why inbounds avalanches happen in 2019 after a similar tragedy at Taos Ski Valley, in New Mexico. The unfortunate reality is that avalanche science is pretty good at assessing the likelihood of slides, but it cannot predict exactly where and when a slope will break loose. Nor will we ever know with total certainty that avalanche terrain鈥攁ny ungroomed slope above 30 degrees, which includes pretty much everything above a blue square in the west鈥攊s 100 percent safe to ski. Mitigation doesn鈥檛 work that way. Resort snow safety teams live in a continuum where they can always be good, but they can never be perfect. In a 100 percent safe scenario, KT-22 would never spin.

The fatal slides at Palisades, Silver Mountain, and Taos highlight a disconnect in ski resort messaging that I’ve witnessed throughout my lifelong involvement with snow sports, including 25 years covering the subject as a journalist. Time and again, I see skiing marketed to the masses as , or as a luxury lifestyle choice for the wealthy. The truth, of course, is that skiing can be hazardous, and sometimes it can be deadly. But rarely have I ever seen resorts communicate the dangers of the sport to customers with the same vigor as they do plugging the fluffy accouterments. Ski resorts should start treating customers like adults, and stop pretending skiing and snowboarding are as safe as a fancy cruise鈥攎inus the hot tub norovirus.

There are reasons why approachability eclipses danger in resort messaging, of course. During my time covering the sport I’ve regularly seen executives promoted to the C-suite from marketing and guest services positions, but rarely have I seen ski patrollers rise to the same levels. Take a look at bios for executives at the two biggest resort companies in the world鈥� and 鈥攊f you want proof.

Yes skiing can be family-friendly and luxurious, but it is also risky to varying degrees. That鈥檚 true of that blue run you just dragged your rookie boyfriend up without a lesson, and it鈥檚 also true of the steep avalanche terrain that you鈥檙e standing on top of waiting for the rope to drop. After a few flurries of inbounds avalanche fatalities in the past two decades, I believe most seasoned skiers and snowboarders understand the avalanche risk. Everyone else should read the lengthy online waiver that greets you before you buy your pass.

Except nobody reads waivers. I鈥檝e addressed the need for skiers to be a bit more self-reliant in previous columns. But I think that marketing departments for ski resorts also need to do a better job of acknowledging and even鈥攅gads鈥攁ddressing the risks: collisions on overcrowded slopes; long falls on iced-over runs; tree well suffocation; and yes, inbounds avalanches. Scan headlines from local newspapers over the past few months you will see of at North American resorts. Communicating the dangers of skiing in an adequate way will require a cultural shift at many resorts. That’s because the business model is about attracting the highest volume of customers and resorts don鈥檛 want to scare anyone off.

Resort skiing has always been a volume play. Lift lines in the seventies were routinely an hour long. They used to sell hot dogs and beer as you waited, and you had time for a second beer. Today, the lines move faster, but the resort conglomerates carry on that volume-first tradition by selling cheap season passes. I鈥檝e argued in the past that those products are good because they can help bring new users, and maybe someday, diverse users, into skiing and snowboarding, which otherwise would have gone into a steady decline. But high volume comes at the cost of the experience and the safety of the guests. Ask any patroller at a resort where you feel as though you鈥檙e dodging other humans like bamboo gates why most accidents happen, and off the record he or she will say, “It鈥檚 the crowding.”

Again, I鈥檓 not calling out any specific ski resort here, certainly not Palisades, which, besides a misguided notion to rebrand one of the steepest ski areas in North America as a family ski hill about a decade ago has a well-earned extreme vibe and, last I heard, one of the best snow safety teams in the business. (I was complicit in that softer marketing. I produced their marketing magazine, which was full of low angle skiing and snot-nosed kids and by edict from above none of the steep skiing the mountain is famous for.) What I鈥檓 calling out is this: Resorts can feel free to market the that they love so much in these days of massive income inequality, but they also need to message that skiing comes with challenges and struggle and self reliance and, yes, risk. Even mellow resort skiing requires as much dedication to skills training and fitness as mountain biking and surfing. Backcountry skiing comes with the gravitas of whitewater, big wave surfing, and alpinism. Skiing on avalanche terrain鈥攏o matter if it’s inbounds or out鈥攕hould take years of skills development to get to that level. Skiing and snowboarding are epic because the sports beat you down. Mountains are iconic because they鈥檙e unforgiving.

Some resorts already get that. They tend to be the ones that market themselves as ski 鈥渁reas鈥� not ski 鈥渞esorts.鈥� Arapahoe Basin in Colorado, which was just purchased by Alterra, and cut skier volume a few years ago to preserve the experience, is one. I hope that management style will continue. Fernie, which is avalanche-challenged by slopes above the resort, is another. Alta, Utah, the birthplace of snow science and avalanche mitigation in the U.S., is a third. When the Alta sheriff tells you to move your car because it will get buried overnight, you tend to pay attention. In Europe, everyone knows that if you ski off-trail you are in the backcountry and you could die.

The corresponding spatial awareness, mountain sense, and self reliance you see at burlier ski areas can and should be encouraged everywhere. When Bridger Bowl, Montana, first opened the short and steep zones that runs above the lower ski area, they required skiers to carry avalanche beacons鈥攖he rest of the avy gear is advised. They carried on that tradition when they opened the steep Slushman鈥檚 zone in the 2000s. There鈥檚 a similar deal at Delirium Dive in Canada鈥檚 Sunshine Village. There鈥檚 only one way to access that legit extreme terrain, and you need gear and a partner to do it. Crystal Mountain, Washington, has a related, if grayer, policy for its Southback zone which they mitigate for avalanches but recommend skiing with avy gear and a partner at the access gates.

My favorite ski area in North America is Silverton Mountain in Colorado. The year Jenny and Aaron Brill opened Silverton, I skied and reported a story there for Powder magazine. The wider industry and avalanche community was predicting doom for the enterprise because every inch of Silverton Mountain is avalanche terrain in one of the most slide-prone parts of the world. The Brills sold Silverton recently, but the ski area they founded succeeded through endless mitigation, a guided-only policy in mid-winter, and a no-bullshit attitude that emphasized showing respect to the mountain. At Silverton, the guides will ridicule you rather than let you get cavalier. This is both hilarious and necessary. When it comes to unguided skiing and snowboarding, Silverton customers treat the terrain like backcountry. At Silverton, you feel a little nervous twinge before you ski. We shouldn鈥檛 turn that switch off at fancier resorts just because they have marble counters in the shitters.

It will likely never happen because of legal concerns and greed, but in my worldview, many North American ski areas should require avy gear and partners in certain zones. The requirement brings a lot of benefits. For one, it can reduce the stigma or perceived stigma of carrying safety gear inbounds. In Utah recently during a big storm cycle, I watched a few locals snicker at some vacationers skiing with packs inbounds. Yeah, one skier had a shovel strapped to a hydration pack and didn鈥檛 have high style points, but his mindset was correct. When gear is required for certain zones, more guests will be wearing beacons in transmit mode. That鈥檚 an easy win. And second, like the strenuous hike up Aspen Highlands鈥� eponymous bowl, gear helps to filter skiers. Meaning, the people that probably shouldn鈥檛 be skiing your gnarliest terrain might think better of it.

The timing is right for this cultural shift. Backcountry skiing and snowboarding are no longer niche pursuits. There are enough skiers with gear and training to change how avalanche terrain is managed. Hell, while requiring gear won鈥檛 bring your ski area more cash, it will bring more cachet. You can market adventure again instead of pots of molten cheese and those hot stones they put on your back at the spa.

But the bigger benefit in nudging this cultural shift forward is that in carrying gear and trusting in a partner, skiers also learn to trust themselves. If we as skiers and snowboarders do that, then maybe the insanity of an inbounds powder day can move subtly in the direction of smarter skiing, with customers having conversations about the hazards, buddying up, poking around cautiously at times, and looking out for one another. That last bit might be wishful thinking. But even if all ski areas do is require safety gear and partners in certain zones, at the least we鈥檇 be a lot faster on the rescues.

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Tesla faced an avalanche of online mockery聽after a video was posted to Reddit on December 12 showing a prototype Cybertruck that had to be towed out of a snowy hillside. By a Ford, no less. The vehicle, carrying a solitary Christmas tree in its bed,聽lacked the traction to free itself from the slippery terrain聽in the Stanislaus national forest, despite running all-terrain tires that, per Tesla鈥檚 marketing,聽鈥�

The Forest Service capitalized on the viral blunder by issuing a pithy public statement that proposed聽a partnership with Tesla to promote awareness and education of their motor vehicle use maps. 鈥淲e feel confident that had the driver of the Cybertruck had a better understanding of the topographical feature indicated on our maps, practiced Leave No Trace principles, and generally been more prepared, this whole incident could have been not only avoided, but also provided much-needed education to many new off-road users,鈥� said Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Jason Kuiken in a

The聽maps, which the forest publishes online, illustrate which roads and trails motorized vehicles are allowed to use. If the road is out of bounds, it鈥檚 for good reason: the unsuspecting off-roader will likely get stuck.

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The video, which was shared widely on Reddit and Instagram, prompted vitriol about Tesla, its founder Elon Musk, and San Francisco drivers infamous for misbehaving on snow. Each year, the hordes of fintech and coding bros descend upon the Sierra Nevada and wreak havoc upon small mountain towns, these commenters say.

It seems they don鈥檛 teach comp-sci students in systems architecture classes that 80 percent of any vehicle鈥檚 traction capability comes from its tires. But maybe the driver鈥檚 18.5-inch TV in the middle of the dashboard became a distraction, and led them to drive off off the road and into a ravine.

The vehicle was a prototype, so it may not have been equipped with the Cybertruck鈥檚 production tires, but taking it off-road in the snow was a particularly boneheaded move if the product tester knew the truck was under-equipped.聽Tesla, who blew up its PR department back in 2020, has not commented on the incident. For their part, the National Forest spokespeople 聽they were dead serious.

A better driver would have aired down the tires, which would lengthen the contact point and make the tires more flexible, or brought a traction device like Maxtrax. This driver was probably more focused on adding meme coins to his crypto portfolio than planning ahead and preparing for an excursion into the forest.

It鈥檚 heartening to see someone make use of the Stanislaus National Forest鈥檚 free , even if the tree itself will probably be decorated with benign ornaments that won鈥檛 offend whoever AirBnBs their Tahoe cabin that they visit once a year.

We hope the tech company takes the national forest up on its offer. It could use the PR, and perhaps engineers will聽add grippier tires to the next fleet of Cybertrucks. For an upcharge.

Tesla鈥檚 marketing materials say the truck was built to perform on 鈥渁ny planet.鈥� Maybe it would鈥檝e gotten better traction under Jupiter鈥檚 gravity.

The post Tesla鈥檚 Stuck Cybertruck Was a Christmas Gift to the Internet appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Working as the minority female amongst a varsity team of alpine jocks can be difficult. Some days, you will feel ignored or unheard and question whether you should wear a low-cut v-neck or your baggiest pair of Carhartt鈥檚 to balance out the lack of acknowledgment. On other days, you鈥檒l feel like you鈥檙e part of the band of brothers.

Yes, I know: Most shop boys aren鈥檛 judgmental bros. They want to play around with shiny objects and expensive toys and never give into the structure of a 9-to-5 salaried job. Relatable! It鈥檚 not their fault their ideas are being constantly reinforced by their male counterparts who have little to argue about other than the placement of the new retail racks or which idiot bought 500 units of Edgie Wedgies. Every once in a while, you get to listen to an emotionally charged debate over which technician is better at their job. (At this point, you should pat them on the head and give them a lollipop.)

However, being the token female, or even one of three women in the ski showroom, you must quickly find your niche and establish your dominance amidst a sea of salty bros that have a hard time hearing a woman鈥檚 voice over their daily monologue of sales goals, humble brags, and poop jokes. To establish your own Shop Cred, you鈥檒l need to back up 鈥渢hat pretty face鈥� with equal parts intelligence, kindness, and a thick skin coated with sassy comebacks to protect perceived weaknesses that may be exposed to the elements.

As with most male species, they have a limited comfort level with gray area topics and opinion-based conversations. Here are some tips to get you started.

Comments You Should Steer Clear Of:

Your feelings and emotions.

鈥淒o you think he鈥檚 hot?鈥�

鈥淲ould these bibs look cute on me?鈥�

鈥淚 mean yeah, the topsheet graphic sort of matters.鈥�

鈥淚 do not enjoy Coors Light.鈥�

Safe Topics:

Farts

The weather

What to order for lunch

Freeride World Tour

Motorsports

The Token Female will likely run into a few mansplaining situations while at the ski shop. The term mansplaining was derived from the male species鈥� frequent assumption that a woman does not understand something a male might understand. Often prompted by a simple question, the male engages in an unintentional yet compulsive desire to deliver an answer in a highly in-depth manner that is best suited for educating a 5th grader. Reactions from women trapped in a mansplain range from interest to annoyance to hot, silent fury.

鈥淪o, as the ski slides over snow you will begin to engage your knees and bend them enough to rotate the ski onto its edge, at which point the skis will carve in the direction you have bent your knees-鈥�

鈥淚 didn鈥檛 ask how to ski鈥� I asked how the ski 鈥榮kis鈥欌€︹€�

鈥淥h鈥� Like how it feels? Suuuuuuper surfy. You鈥檙e gonna love it.鈥�

(Pat on the head, then lollipop, remember?)

A small but notable percentage of the 50-80 age group may converse with you exclusively to find an experienced male employee who can answer the same questions. But of course, a young girl such as oneself could not understand the complexities of a ski鈥檚 shape, structure, and composition! They will look straight through you as they meander towards the ski wall, floating on a cute little cloud of ignorance. I鈥檒l chalk this one up to generational differences.

On the opposite end of the customer inquiry spectrum is the elder who hasn鈥檛 skied in 25 years and is ready to pick the sport back up. This customer missed the time their beloved 210cm parabolic skis transformed into what used to be called waterskis. Their first steps back into a shop must be a shocking and confusing time, as you can imagine.

This customer presents the Token Female with a pivotal moment in her retail career. She must utilize the fundamental tactics of mansplaining to patiently describe new-age ideologies and technologies that said elder seemed to miss during the past two decades. Unlike the male, the female will offer a soft blow of information balanced with a gentile discussion of the changing times as she lends an ear to a 20-minute commemorative reflection of an intrepid adventure in the San Juans on their beloved set of Elan skis.

The action sports world may dominated by men, but that doesn鈥檛 mean our place in that world should be defined by gender. You will experience eye-rolling conversations no matter what field you work in. The key is to take the good, bad, and the ugly in with charisma, confidence, and pride. Ski fast, take chances, and the rest will follow! Just make sure to keep a few lollipops in the back pocket.

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Everybody has a dream鈥搒omething that motivates them, gets them out of bed in the morning, compels them to pick themselves up again even after they fall down face-first in the mud. For an athlete, it鈥檚 clinching a championship. For an actor it鈥檚 winning an Academy Award and haranguing everyone about your political beliefs. And for the bike-hater, it鈥檚 implementing some sort of scheme whereby people must obtain a license and registration in order to ride a bicycle.聽聽

Here in New York City, the latest attempt comes from State Senator Simcha Felder, who, in the wake of a recent bike-on-bike fender-bender in Brooklyn鈥檚 Prospect Park, made :

Speeding lawless bikers & E bikers cause accidents, injuries & fatalities with others using them to flee crimes. I proposed a package of bills to force all bikes & e scooters be registered, plated and insured. Right now, with no regulation, victims have no recourse! 1 Road-1 Rule

There is a time I鈥檇 have flown into a rage over such a proposal鈥攁s a cyclist, I recognize this plan as an obvious attempt to subvert the act of bicycling. As a human being, I also know that the best way to advance a moronic agenda that preempts critical thinking is to hide it under a thin veneer of fearmongering and concern for public safety. Cars are big, powerful, and potentially dangerous to everyone around them, so It makes sense that people operating them should have to not only to demonstrate a minimum level of proficiency, but also carry insurance in the event that a lapse in that proficiency results in their . Meanwhile, most people can鈥攁nd should!鈥攁ttain proficiency on a bicycle before they鈥檙e even tall enough to see over the dashboard of a car, so adding a layer of bureaucracy to all of that can only serve to discourage them from doing so and ultimately undermine the very accessibility that makes the bicycle the universal conveyance that it is.

Think about it: riding a bike is a fundamental part of growing up, as essential as learning to tie your shoe. So if you applied bicycle licensing logic to other basic life skills, you鈥檇 have a country full of 30 year olds who can鈥檛 make toast or do their own laundry because they couldn鈥檛 be bothered to get their government-mandated kitchen-use certification. (Sure, there are plenty of people like this already, but they鈥檙e mostly confined to colleges and universities.)

I still feel the same way about bicycle licenses鈥攚hich is that they鈥檙e stupid, in case that wasn鈥檛 clear)鈥攂ut do I feel differently about politicians who attempt to legislate them. This is because I find reassurance in history. See, bicycle licenses aren鈥檛 new; in fact they鈥檙e nearly as old as the bicycle itself. For example, back in 1896, noted how far the bicycle had come. 鈥淭hey were restricted to the use of pedestrian paths in the parks during certain hours, and for even this poor privilege a license was necessary in some cities.鈥� But eventually bicycles became ubiquitous, acceptance followed, and cycling ultimately enjoyed 鈥�patronage by both sexes, among all classes.鈥�

Meanwhile, in 1897, Chicago introduced an 鈥搘hich was declared unconstitutional and nullified shortly thereafter. One significant reason the bicycle licence wasn鈥檛 viable was that it was impractical to enforce: for example, what if someone rides into the city from someplace else where licenses aren鈥檛 required? A modern-day bicycle licensing scheme in New York City would be similarly stupid, especially when you consider that large swaths of the greater metropolitan area alone extend well into New Jersey and Connecticut, with thousands of riders a day crossing the George Washington Bridge to get to Manhattan.

Nevertheless, bicycle licensing schemes continued, though as the automobile rose to prominence they became less about raising revenue and more about shifting blame from drivers to bicyclists. See, at first cars were merely the playthings of the rich, and in New York City enforcement came from the 鈥溾€濃€攃ops on bicycles who chased reckless drivers. A reports that a New York City bicycle policeman named O鈥橞rien busted banker A.F. Kountze for speeding in an automobile and driving without a license. (He was doing 18mph.) Reading an article from 1950, however, we can see that the cars have won, drivers don鈥檛 want to be inconvenienced by other road users, and it鈥檚 children who have to pay the price鈥攏ot just in danger, but in personal freedom. 鈥�Highway hazards created for motorists by the 18,000,000 bicycles in service in this country, mostly piloted by teen-agers, are an increasing problem in the campaign to reduce accident rates,鈥� says . 鈥淎s a remedy to this evil, Mr. Harvey (of the Association of Casualty and Surety Companies, dontcha know), urged that city and town officials adopt programs that call for registration and licensing of bicycles and the power to suspend and revoke these credentials and impound the vehicles.鈥�

Municipalities listened, with predictable results. In 1957, half the kids who took one such test in the Long Island hamlet of Manhasset flunked. And that鈥檚 how you get children to 鈥�take away their mobility until they鈥檙e old enough to drive

Today, bicycle licensing and registration has mostly disappeared from the American landscape, probably because the automobile鈥檚 victory has been so complete and total there鈥檚 no real need for the gratuitous subjugation measures in a post-automotive world. Honolulu bizarrely , but that鈥檚 about it. Nevertheless, every so often, when someone somewhere gets annoyed by a bicyclist, some pandering legislator raises the specter of bike licenses yet again, and Senator Felder is one of the more recent examples.

So what to do about it?聽 Well I say bring it on. Go ahead, make New Yorkers get bicycle licenses. Whatever, we鈥檝e seen it all before. No doubt the city and state will be be just as successful enforcing them as they are with , which are everywhere now, despite . And if drivers are freaking out about , just wait until they find out they鈥檒l also be underwriting a Department of Bicycle Registration, and an Office of Bicycle Enforcement, and a Bicycle Czar to run it all. It鈥檚 easy to complain about bicyclists until you actually have to pay for it. And if Felder actually does manage to get this thing passed, I鈥檒l just pull some kind of residency scam鈥攜ou know, . Having to dodge a bike license is a short-term inconvenience which would be worth it when the sheer ridiculous of it ultimately bites him in the ass.

So yeah, good luck with your lousy bicycle license.聽聽

The post A Very Dumb History of the Bicycle License appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

It鈥檚 common knowledge to mind your p鈥檚 and q鈥檚 at the holiday dinner table. You likely know to keep your elbows off the table, hold back on wine鈥攁nd avoid taboo topics.聽 But the truth is, we have an obligation to have a discourse about social issues, humanitarian concerns, and even politics.聽

ICK! I just made you itch, didn鈥檛 I?聽

There鈥檚 no need to squirm in your seat – we have a guide through even the most delicate subject matters. A good place to start a conversation surrounding these tricky topics is by using (SDGs). The SDGs are the world鈥檚 global issues organized into one list鈥攁nd it鈥檚 a doozy. It includes 17 problems the international body is set on mobilizing by 2030, including poverty, hunger, health, education, gender equality, sustainable cities, and climate action. (Talk about a hefty homework load to get through by 2030.)

, an associate professor at the University of Waterloo, says it鈥檚 our responsibility to have open dialogues about these issues. 鈥淭alking about the climate crisis, the humanitarian crisis, or any political crisis is important because some of our actions and behaviors on a day-to-day basis can impact these issues,鈥� she says.

If we don鈥檛 talk about them, how are we supposed to mobilize around anything?

How to start a difficult conversation at the dinner table

As you settle in for a holiday meal this year, I鈥檓 not suggesting you throw yourself into a heated debate over figgy pudding. There鈥檚 no reason to ruin the holidays with hostile accusations and arguments. Instead, open up the dialogue with actions鈥攔ather than words.聽

Boluk offers an example touching on the topic of climate action. This year, you may choose zero-waste gift wrap or eco-friendly bags for holiday presents. By engaging in these practices, you can open a wider dialogue about the response to climate change. Maybe a cousin comments on the design of the sustainable wrapping paper and asks where he can purchase it for next year. This comment gently opens the door to discussing climate change, rather than forcing someone into it. 鈥淚n terms of engaging in a dialogue, I encourage people to be empathetic,鈥� Boluk says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot going on in the world in terms of what we鈥檙e faced to reconcile with. I think we need to be empathetic if someone does wrap their gift, for example, with regular wrapping paper 鈥� maybe now isn鈥檛 the time to critique that but simply lead by example. Maybe they鈥檒l be inspired to try it next year.鈥�

Methods to a productive discussion

If you鈥檙e discussing one of these hot topics at the dinner table, you likely have a range of opinions sitting with you. You have family members who are open to all kinds of dialogue鈥攁nd those who鈥檇 rather not participate. Both are okay.聽

If someone expresses a hostile reaction to the conversation, Boluk suggests continuing the discourse with those who are interested after the meal.

鈥淐hoosing the time to talk about it and knowing who is willing to talk is key,鈥� Boluk says. 鈥淏ut there is an art to carrying people along and sometimes someone鈥檚 positionality does change when you draw upon examples and different perspectives.鈥�

Be open to different opinions. Instead of approaching the conversation with the idea that you鈥檙e the only one who鈥檚 right, Boluk suggests coalescing around the idea of collective action and problem-solving.

Why you should talk to teens about tough topics

A poll conducted by shows that young people are 50 percent more likely than older generations to believe the world is becoming a better place. The same poll also reports the impatience young people feel for action on climate change and other global concerns.聽

However, many young people don鈥檛 feel their voices are taken seriously.

鈥淭his research I conducted shows that聽 a lot of the crisis we鈥檙e talking about falls on the shoulders of young people,鈥� Boluk says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really unfair that we don鈥檛 listen to their voices, because they鈥檙e really cleaning up the mess we made.鈥�

Maybe this year you take a trip to chat with those relegated to the kid鈥檚 table. Regardless of whether they鈥檙e 13 or 24 (When do you get to sit at the adult table?), their perspectives on these topics are important and valuable.聽

Be Realistic. We鈥檙e Not Solving World Peace over the Holiday Ham聽

The holidays remind us to wish for peace on earth and good will. While even open minds and thoughtful conversations won鈥檛 create monumental changes overnight, if these open discussions happen at dinner tables around the world, we鈥檒l be doing our duty to bring awareness to these topics.

鈥淲e have to engage in hard conversations in order for us to grow and our communities to grow,鈥� Boluk says. 鈥淲e can skirt around safe topics, but we鈥檙e not going to move the needle at all if we don鈥檛 engage in these types of conversations.鈥�

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